City Guides
Kyoto on a Budget: Temples, Tea and 500-Yen Lunches
Japan's ancient capital has a reputation for expense. Locals know better — here is how to do Kyoto for less than 60 euros a day.
By Julien Marchetti · 14 March 2026 · 7 min read
Kyoto can swallow a travel budget whole — or it can be one of the cheapest cities in Japan, depending entirely on where you eat and sleep. The temples cost the same either way.
Sleep in a machiya guesthouse or a business hotel near Gojo or Shijo stations: clean, central, and half the price of the ryokan belt around Gion. Eat where the students eat: the area around Kyoto University is thick with curry shops and teishoku set lunches for 500 to 800 yen.
The greatest hits are free or nearly so. Fushimi Inari's ten thousand torii gates cost nothing and are best at dawn. The Philosopher's Path, the Kamo river banks, and the bamboo grove are all free. Reserve your entrance fees for two or three paid temples — Kinkaku-ji and Sanjusangendo repay the ticket.
Get a 700-yen bus day pass, start at the northern temples and walk south through the old streets of Higashiyama. Kyoto rewards the slow traveller more than any city in Asia.
