Kyoto has been my favourite part of Japan to date. It feels the most authentic and whilst it’s modern, it seems to retain a lot of Japan’s heritage which helps me understand why they call it the cultural capital of Japan

We’ve spent two days in Kyoto and haven’t even touched the surface. I’d recommend longer if you get a chance.

We started early at Fushimi Inara which was amazing. We got their at 8am in rainy overcast weather, but I’d actually recommend a 7am start if you get a chance as it’s very busy at 8am already.

This puts the traffic into perspective at 8am. It was tough finding an empty spot.

Due to having young kids, I couldn’t go to the top but we had planned to get to the Bamboo Forest elsewhere so I will try get to this spot on another trip.

The next stop off was Arashiyama which means stormy mountain. The bamboo forest at Arashiyama is incredible and well worth the trip. Again, getting there early is paramount or you’ll have to contend with crowds. This is what it looked like at 2pm.

We took a Rickshaw ride which was a great family outing. It also goes through some private areas of the bamboo forest so if you’re going out midday

The Sogenchi Teien gardens are amazing. They’ll be incredible when the colours change completely.

The street photography also offers some good options, although I just haven’t spent long enough here to take advantage of it.