2 Days 1 Night Keihanshin Railway Tour

#OsakaItinerary #OsakaTrip #OsakaTravel #OsakaFreeTravel #FirstTimeInOsaka #GlobalTravel #FamilyTrip #osaka #Uji #Kyoto #Nara #SobadokoroNagano #NakamuraTohki #Itohkyuemon #FushimiInariTaisha #KiyomizuTemple #Kamazaa #Hanamikoji #YasakaShrineMainHall #SaganoSightseeingRailway #ArashiyamaBambooPath #KyotoMamean #NaraPark #NakataniDo #AjinoyaOkonomiyaki

The "Play to the Full" series usually means choosing to take a red-eye flight, so you have to make the most of rest time on the plane😴 After landing and picking up our luggage, we took a short break at the airport before taking the JR train to Kyoto. We first went to the hostel to drop off our luggage and organize our bags, then started the itinerary~

Day 1
Morning:
Our first stop was Uji, famous for the World Heritage temple Byodo-in and Uji matcha 🍵 We hadn’t eaten much after landing and were getting hungry, so we went to Sobadokoro Nagano to try their two-tone soba noodles. The presentation was quite nice, and their soba noodles had a pleasantly chewy texture😍 Of course, we had to try the local green tea products~ I’m sure everyone is familiar with Nakamura Tohki and Itohkyuemon. I specially came here to buy souvenirs and found their matcha products really different. All the matcha foods focus on the tea itself, so they’re never too overwhelming👍🏿 But if you’re not a fan of the bitter taste of matcha, these might not suit your palate~

📍Sobadokoro Nagano
Renge-25 Uji, Kyoto 611-0021 Japan
Kyoto Prefecture, Uji City, Uji Renge 25

📍Nakamura Tohki Byodo-in Shop
Renge-5-1 Uji, Kyoto 611-0021 Japan
Kyoto Prefecture, Uji City, Uji Renge 5-1

📍Itohkyuemon Byodo-in Shop
Renge-31-1 Uji, Kyoto 611-0021 Japan
611-0021 Uji City, Uji Renge 31-1

Noon:
Next, we visited Fushimi Inari Taisha and saw the famous Senbon Torii (thousands of torii gates) that attract many tourists. The scenery here is solemn yet mysterious, like exploring another world😎 You’ll often see fox statues or images in the shrine because, since ancient times, the Japanese have regarded foxes as messengers of the rice deity "Ukanomitama no Kami." They help catch mice that steal grain, so people have a sense of gratitude towards the 🦊.

📍Fushimi Inari Taisha
68 Fukakusa Yabunouchicho, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, 612-0882 Japan
Kyoto City, Fushimi Ward, Fukakusa Yabunouchicho 68

Afterwards, we took a train to visit Kiyomizu Temple, which is also a great spot for autumn leaves😉 Besides many temples in the area, there are plenty of eateries where you can rest and grab a bite when tired. We tried Fujinami’s soy sauce dango (small dumplings), which were quite special served hot, with a soft and chewy texture and a slightly charred surface. You can dip them in soybean flour to taste😍 The weather was cold, so we wanted something warm. We saw good reviews for Kamazaa, so we tried their steamed fish bowl set and assorted tempura, which were indeed delicious🤤 Then we continued walking towards Gion and Yasaka Shrine, and after visiting, returned to the hotel to rest~

📍Kiyomizu Temple
1 Chome-294 Kiyomizu, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0862 Japan
Kyoto City, Higashiyama Ward, Kiyomizu 1 Chome 294

📍Fujinami Sannenzaka Main Store
338 Kiyomizu, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0862 Japan
605-0862 Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, Higashiyama Ward, Kiyomizu 338

📍Kamazaa
363-12 Masuyacho, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0826 Japan
605-0826 Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, Higashiyama Ward, Masuyacho 363-12

📍Gion
Hanamikoji-dori, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, Japan
Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, Higashiyama Ward, Gion Town South Side

📍Yasaka Shrine Main Hall
625 Gionmachi Kitagawa, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, 605-0073 Japan
Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, Higashiyama Ward, Gion Town North Side 625

Day 2
Morning:
After a simple breakfast near the hotel, we headed to Sagano to walk through Arashiyama’s bamboo path 🎍 The peaceful environment was very relaxing👍🏿 Then we walked back to Togetsukyo Bridge area, where there’s a shopping street with many snack shops; among them, Kyoto Mamean’s ice cream 🍦 was the most fun because it doesn’t fall even when turned upside down🤣

📍Sagano Sightseeing Railway
Sagatenryuji Kurumamichicho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto, 616-8394 Japan
616-8394 Kyoto City, Ukyo Ward, Sagano Ogurayama Taduchiyamacho 4-2

📍Arashiyama Bamboo Path
Sagaogurayama Tabuchiyamacho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto, 616-8394 Japan
Kyoto City, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto Prefecture 616-8394 Japan

📍Kyoto Mamean
2-1 Sagatenryuji Tateishicho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto, 616-8375 Japan
Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, Ukyo Ward, Sagano Tenryuji Tateishi Town 2-1

Noon:
After spending the morning in Arashiyama, we returned to the hotel to pick up our luggage and took a train to Nara to see the deer🦌 There are lockers at Nara Station to store luggage. After storing our bags, we headed to Nara Park~ The deer here are quite cute, and you can buy deer crackers to feed them! They even seem to know how to cross the road like humans🤣 After playing with the deer, we got a bit hungry and went to nearby Nakatani Do to buy their popular mugwort red bean mochi. They perform fast mochi pounding several times a day, but it’s canceled if the weather is bad, which attracts many spectators. Their mochi is chewy and warm, and even I, who don’t usually eat red bean, wanted to have more🤭

📍Nara Park
Zoshicho, Nara, Nara Prefecture 630-8211, Japan
630-8211 Nara Prefecture, Nara City, Zoshicho

📍Nakatani Do
29 Hashimotochō, Nara, 630-8217 Japan
Nara Prefecture, Nara City, Hashimoto Town 29

📍Daibutsu Pudding Kintetsu Nara Store
Japan 〒630-8225 Nara, Higashimuki Nakamachi, 29 Kintetsu Nara Station B1F East Ticket Gate Side

After Nara, before leaving, we bought a local specialty, persimmon leaf sushi, which has a rustic flavor but the sushi rice vinegar taste is quite strong. Returning to downtown Osaka, we dropped off our luggage at the hotel again and went out for dinner😺 Ajinoya Okonomiyaki is a popular old restaurant where you can make your own Osaka-style pancake, which is very fun😎

📍Ajinoya Okonomiyaki
Japan 〒542-0076 Osaka, Chuo Ward, Namba, 1-chōme−7−16 Gendai Koisan Building 2F
Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City, Chuo Ward, Namba 1-7-16 2F