Destinations · Kyoto
Kyoto
9 Nights · The old capital, and the whole of Kansai around it.
✦ Base yourself once in the temple quarter. Every private guide, car and transfer handled
Destinations · Kyoto
9 Nights · The old capital, and the whole of Kansai around it.
✦ Base yourself once in the temple quarter. Every private guide, car and transfer handled
Nine Nights, One Base
Kyoto rewards the people who stay a while. Base yourself once in the old capital and the whole of Kansai opens up around it: a thousand temples and tea houses, the bamboo and river of Arashiyama, the deer and the great bronze Buddha of Nara, the tea fields of Uji, and Osaka’s food an easy train away. Nine nights, no packing and repacking, and a car and a guide when you want one and nothing at all when you don’t. Gay-owned, and welcoming to all.
The vermilion torii climbing the hill at Fushimi Inari, the wooden terrace of Kiyomizu-dera above the rooftops, the Golden Pavilion, and the lantern-lit lanes of Gion after dark. The greatest concentration of beauty in Japan, on foot from the door.
The tall bamboo grove, the moss temple, and the Hozu river running through the western hills. A morning here early, before the crowds, is one of the quietest and loveliest things in the whole country.
The great bronze Buddha and tame deer of Nara, the tea fields and the phoenix hall at Uji, or Osaka’s food and energy, each a short private day with a car and guide of your own. Kyoto is the perfect base for all of them.
Where You Stay
A Parisian maison in the heart of the city, moments from Nishiki market and the Gion lanes. Chic, intimate and gently indulgent, with the best rooftop view in Kyoto from the top-floor restaurant and Fauchon’s own patisserie downstairs. The characterful way to base yourself right in the centre.
A little piece of Paris in the old capital, in the centre of the city between Nishiki market and Gion. Chic, warm and quietly indulgent, with the best rooftop view in Kyoto.
The Classic Journey · 9 Nights
Where You Stay
Built around an 800-year-old pond garden in the temple district of Higashiyama. A serene, faultless five-star with the most storied hotel garden in the city, a beautiful spa, and the polish Four Seasons is known for. This is the tier most of our clients book.
Wrapped around a pond garden eight centuries old, in the heart of the temple quarter. The most serene address in the city, with faultless service and Kyoto’s loveliest hotel grounds.
The Club Journey · 9 Nights
Or, Kyoto at its most rarefied
A forest retreat on the wooded slopes north of the city, reached through its own private garden of moss and maples. Minimalist pavilions, a hot-spring onsen, and complete stillness a short drive from the temples. The most secluded and rarefied stay in Kyoto.
Hidden in a forest of maples and moss below Mount Hidari Daimonji, reached along its own stone path. Minimalist, silent and complete: an onsen, a handful of pavilions, and nothing to intrude.
The Aman Journey · 9 Nights
Beyond the Hotel
Every journey above already includes its private guided days — three, or four on the Aman — with a car and guide, one of them a day out to Nara, Uji or Osaka. These are the experiences worth adding on top, each priced to the day once you have your dates.
Not the tourist version: a genuine ceremony in a machiya tea house with a master, the whole slow ritual explained, in the city that invented it. We can pair it with the tea fields of Uji, where the finest matcha in Japan is grown.
Priced on request
The wooden terrace of Kiyomizu-dera above the city, or Fushimi Inari’s torii tunnels, walked at first light with a guide who knows exactly when to go. The single best decision you can make in Kyoto is to see the famous places before anyone else is awake.
Priced on request
A walk through the wooden lanes of the geisha district at dusk, and a seat at a kaiseki counter you would never find alone, arranged around exactly what you like to eat. Kyoto after dark is a quieter, older world.
Priced on requestGood to Know
Spring brings the cherry blossom and autumn the maples; those are the two windows people remember. Summers are hot, winters clear and cold, and Kyoto is wonderful in any month.
Kyoto has no airport of its own. The direct way is into Osaka’s Kansai, about seventy-five minutes by car, or one stop from most US cities. Many clients pair it with Tokyo and take the bullet train down. Either way, a driver meets you and there is nothing to arrange.
Kyoto has fewer luxury rooms than its fame suggests, and the best of them are small houses. Six months is comfortable most of the year. For the blossom and the autumn maples the top rooms sell out first, so a year ahead is wise.
Gay-owned · Welcoming to all
We book Kyoto ourselves. We know which rooms open onto the garden and which face the car park, which temples to see at dawn and which to skip, and a driver meets you rather than a voucher and a train map. Tell us your month and we will price it to the dollar.
