11 must-visit temples and shrines in Kyoto

Kyoto’s astonishing assortment of temples and shrines is one of the city’s big draws, as these symbolic structures feature some of the most magnificent religious architecture on Earth. With over 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shintō shrines packed into a relatively compact area, there are enough to fill a lifetime of visits.

Plan your trip to Kyoto by adding these best temples and shrines to your itinerary. 

1. Kinkaku-ji

Best known for its Golden Pavilion and UNESCO World Heritage status

A visit to Kinkaku-ji doesn’t take long to warm up. A minute after heading through the entrance, the gravel pathway opens up to one of the defining images of Kyoto: a golden pavilion seen across a pond that’s designed to catch the pavilion’s reflection.

Though there is nothing else quite like Kinkaku-ji in Japan, the temple’s creation does follow a familiar story. Originally, it was part of the villa of 14th-century shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who requested its conversion into a Zen temple upon his death. Its official name, Rokuon-ji, was taken from part of Yoshimitsu’s posthumous Buddhist name. Kinkaku refers only to the golden pavilion itself, with -ji (temple) added to create the temple’s familiar name: the Temple of the Golden Pavilion.

• Location: Northwest Kyoto 

• Opening hours: Open year-round, 9am-5pm

• Admission: Adults: ¥500 (US$3), students: ¥300 (US$2)

• Accessibility: The path to the Golden Pavilion is wheelchair accessible However, the garden is not barrier-free. If using a wheelchair or stroller you will need to return to the entrance to exit the grounds.

2. Kiyomizu-dera

Best known for its wooden veranda 

One of the city’s most revered World Heritage sites, Kiyomizu-dera is a temple with over 1200 years of history. Founded at the site of a holy spring, it has long been a place of pilgrimage and is famed for its impressive 13m-high (42ft) wooden veranda, Buddhist art collections and a shrine for those seeking luck in love.Most visitors arrive at the temple at the foot of the Niō-mon, a magnificent two-story vermilion gate crammed with intricate artisanship, which towers at the top of some stone steps – it’s an iconic and popular spot, so you’ll need to visit very early or late in the day to experience it without the crowds. 

• Location: Gion & Southern Higashiyama

• Opening hours: 6am-6pm (these times change seasonally and during special events)

• Admission: Adults: ¥400 (US$2.60), students: ¥200 (US$1.30)

• Accessibility: This main hall and wooden veranda can be accessed by wheelchair and have ramps. The website has a map for wheelchair users. 

3. Nanzen-ji

Best known for its expansive grounds and Leaping Tiger Garden

Built as a retirement villa in the late 1200s by Emperor Kameyama, before he became a monk and donated it to Buddhism, Nanzen-ji would go on to develop into a sprawling Zen complex with multiple sub-temples. Today, it remains home to some of Northern Higashiyama’s finest landscaped gardens and traditional works of art.

• Location: Northern Higashiyama

• Opening hours: 8:40am-4:30pm (closed December 28 to 31)

• Admission: Adults: ¥600 (US$4), students: ¥500 (US$3), children: ¥400 (US$2.60)

• Accessibility: Wheelchair access is limited to the Hojo Garden and precinct. There are many stairs and slopes within the temple grounds. 

4. Tenryū-ji

Best known for its 14th-century Zen garden

A fitting centerpiece for beautiful Arashiyama, the Zen temple complex of Tenryū-ji is a UNESCO World Heritage site and boasts one of the city’s oldest and most celebrated landscape gardens. A morning stroll here, whether amid spring peach blossoms or ruby-red autumn maples, is an experience not to be missed.

Established in 1339 and belonging to the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, Tenryū-ji is one of Kyoto’s leading Zen temples. Sprawled across a great swathe of Arashiyama, it boasted 150 sub-temples at its peak, though most of its lands were lost during the religious reforms of the Meiji era. 

• Location: Arashiyama 

• Opening hours: 8:30am-5pm

• Admission: Adults: ¥500 (US$3), students: ¥300 (US$2), young children: free

• Accessibility: Many parts of the temple grounds are wheelchair accessible. 

5. Sanjūsangen-dō

Best known for its 1001 statues of Kannon

One of Kyoto’s most remarkable sights and a definite must-see, Sanjūsangen-dō is a temple founded in 1164. This temple impresses visitors immediately with its 120m-long (393ft) temple hall, said to be the longest wooden structure in Japan. Inside is even more mesmerizing, however, as 1001 statues of Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy) line up to face you. 

In the center of the hall sits a large, wooden 1000-armed statue of Senju-Kannon, carved in 1254, and flanking her on either side are 500 smaller but still human-sized statues. All in all, it makes for an awe-inspiring sight.

• Location: Gion & Southern Higashiyama

• Opening hours: 8:30am-5pm (April 1 to November 15), 9am-4pm (November 16 to March 31)

• Admission: Adults: ¥600 (US$4), students ¥400 (US$2.60), children: ¥300 (US$2)

• Accessibility: Wheelchairs are available for rent. Wheelchair-accessible toilets are available.

6. Ginkaku-ji

Best known for the “Silver Pavilion” and picturesque views

Ginkaku-ji translates as the Temple of the Silver Pavilion – an unusual name for a temple that has never been decorated with even an ounce of silver. Nevertheless, with its raked sea of sand, mossy pond garden and classic architecture, the silver-less Ginkaku-ji is still one of northern Higashiyama’s shining lights. Ginkaku-ji was originally built by shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa in the late 15th century, before being converted into a Zen temple. As well as being a residence, it functioned as a hub from where Yoshimasa’s patronage helped to develop traditional arts and craft – a cultural movement now referred to collectively as Higashiyama Culture.

• Location: Northern Higashiyama

• Opening hours: Open 8:30am-5pm (March 1 to November 30), 9am-4.30pm (December 1 to the end of February) 

• Admission: Adults: ¥500 (US$3), students: ¥300 (US$2)

• Accessibility: Some areas cannot be visited by people using wheelchairs or strollers. There are stairs at the Observation Deck, Benzaiten, Ruins of Sosen-tei and Ochano. 

7. Chion-in

Best known for its secluded mountainside temple with magnificent architecture 

A sprawling hillside site of grand and imposing buildings and attractive courtyards, Chion-in is the head temple of the Jōdo school of Buddhism, the largest Buddhist sect in Japan. Always bustling with activity, Chion-in is the place to get a glimpse of Kyoto’s spiritual underbelly, or simply marvel at the fabulous architecture and rare cultural treasures.The origins of Chion-in go back a long way. Sanmon gate was established in 1234 at a spot where the monk Hōnen, the founder of Jōdo Buddhism, taught and eventually fasted to death. Jōdo Buddhism (literally meaning “pure land”) is based on the premise that salvation can be had by anyone with faith in the Buddhist deity Amida. Until that point, Buddhism was reserved for only literate monks and aristocrats, and so this new sect became very popular with the masses, and still has millions of adherents to this day.

• Location: Gion & Southern Higashiyama

• Opening hours: 9am-3:50pm

• Admission: adults:  ¥500 (US$3), children: ¥250 (US$1.50)

• Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible with wheelchairs available upon request.

8. Daitoku-ji

Best known for its many excellent Zen gardens

A secluded Zen sanctuary in the heart of the city, Daitoku-ji is a joy for those willing to walk and explore a little, as this sprawling, walled temple complex is a haven of peaceful sculpted landscapes and rock gardens, and exquisite Zen architecture. As it is a little out of the way, Daitoku-ji is rarely overrun with visitors.

Daitoku-ji is the head temple of the Rinzai sect’s Daitoku-ji school of Japanese Zen Buddhism. The impressive main buildings are not usually open to the public (although they can be glimpsed through the pines), but a number of the surrounding sub-temples are – and they’re all quite distinct from one another, making the district well worth a thorough exploration. Note that separate entry fees are required for each temple.

• Location: Near the Imperial Palace 

• Opening hours: Open year-round, 9am-5pm (until 4:30pm December to February)

• Admission: ¥500 (US$3.20)

• Accessibility: The temple is mostly barrier-free and easily accessible for wheelchair users.

9. Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Best known for its thousands of bright red gates

Chances are you’ve seen photos of the flame-hued tunnel of torii (Shintō gates) at this shrine to Inari, the god of rice and prosperity. But Fushimi Inari-Taisha is more than just a selfie op or a movie location – it’s a world unto itself, populated by fox guardians and woven together by wooded trails. There’s magic in these hills.

Fushimi Inari-Taisha is older even than Kyoto. Historical records date the shrine’s founding to the early 700s, though it is believed that Inari, a Shintō kami (god or spirit) whose name means “carrying rice,” was worshipped in Japan before the arrival of Buddhism in the 6th century. In the 10th century, Fushimi Inari-Taisha was promoted to the highest rank afforded to shrines, receiving imperial patronage. Today it serves as the head shrine for over 30,000 Inari shrines nationwide.

The approach to the shrine is a press of crowds, souvenirs and snacks, and that’s before you’ve reached the palatial Rōmon (tower gate), which leads to the Honden, the main shrine hall. Most visitors head directly to the Senbon Torii, the shrine’s spectacular avenue of vermilion gates, planted shoulder to shoulder to form passageways on the slope. Torii are said to mark the boundary between the physical and spiritual, symbolizing the passing of prayers from people to gods, so walking through hundreds of them in a row is a serious spiritual trip. As sunlight glints fleetingly between torii as you climb, the effect is hypnotic.

• Location: Kyoto Station & South Kyoto

• Opening hours: 24hrs, 7 days a week, all year

• Admission: Free

• Accessibility: Visiting Fushimi Inari-Taisha is essentially hiking up a small mountain with some stairs. 

10. Heian-jingū

Best known for its red shrine featuring one of the biggest torii in Japan

Compared to most of Kyoto’s temples and shrines, Heian-jingū is a fresh-faced newcomer, built in Okazaki Park in 1895 to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of Kyoto’s establishment as Japan’s capital. From anywhere in the Okazaki Park area, you’ll see Heian-jingū’s Grand Torii, the tallest in the country when it was built. Without an admission fee, you can pop inside the main compound to see a collection of vermilion-colored buildings arranged around a vast courtyard – a smaller-scale replica of Kyoto’s original Imperial Palace. If you are interested in traditional landscaping, however, pay ¥600 (US$4) for a walk around the shrine’s gardens.

Covering 2.4 acres, the gardens are split into four distinct sections that together reflect the varied garden designs developed since Kyoto’s establishment. They begin with the Minami Shin-en (South Garden), a stroll garden based on Heian era (794–1185) landscaping that’s best known for weeping cherry blossoms that bloom pink in spring.

• Location: Northern Higashiyama

• Opening hours: Open year-round, times vary depending on the season

• Admission: Free; garden admission ¥600 (US$4)

• Accessibility: The left side entrance has a set of ramps for wheelchair access.

11. Shimogamo-jinja

Best known for an ancient shrine steeped in history, with a lovely tree-lined approach

A UNESCO World Heritage site, this Shintō shrine dates back to the 7th century, making it one of the oldest and most important in Japan. Nestled close to the convergence of the Kamo-gawa and Takano-gawa, the Shimogamo-jinja main shrine is best approached along a path through the atmospheric Tadasu-no-mori, a forest where 600-year-old trees grow and where it is said lies cannot be concealed. 

A number of smaller shrines dot the site, including an intriguing one dedicated to rugby, while Kawai-jinja bestows visitors with beauty, Aioi-no-yashiro is for luck in love, and at Mitarashi-sha people wade through the nearby stream in the summer for purification and respite from the heat – you can dip your omikuji (fortune paper) in the water to reveal its hidden message too (use a translating app to decipher it). 

• Location: Near the Imperial Palace

• Opening hours: Open year-round, 6am-5pm (subject to change due to religious ceremonies)

• Admission: Free

• Accessibility: The shrine is mostly barrier-free and easily accessible for those in wheelchairs. 

Tips for visiting temples and shrines in Kyoto

Here are essential tips of etiquette to keep in mind when visiting Kyoto’s various religious sites. 

Temple and shrine etiquette

Unless you’re taking part in meditation or some other instruction, there are no particular rules for visiting a Buddhist temple, other than taking your shoes off when climbing the stairs to the main hall. Note that indoor photography is generally prohibited. Visitors to shrines traditionally follow a basic procedure, although it is not a requirement: 

• First, at the stone chōzuya (basin), rinse both hands and use the hishaku (bamboo ladle) to pour water into a cupped hand to rinse your mouth; spit it out onto the gravel (and not in the basin!). 

• Next, head to the haiden (worshippers’ hall) in front of the main hall where you can toss a coin into the offering box, and then shake the rope that hangs below a bell to “wake the gods.”

• Bow twice, loudly clap twice and bow twice more (once deeply, then lightly) before stepping back and to the side.

The best time to visit

Most shrines are open 24 hours a day and temples from around 9am to 5pm daily. But for some temples, this varies by season, with slightly shorter hours in winter and longer hours in summer; some also have evening light-ups and other seasonal events.

The best time to visit will almost always be early in the morning or earlier in the day, before the crowds of worshippers and visitors arrive. 

Transportation options

Kyoto is easy to navigate, and has an excellent public transportation system and mostly flat streets, making it a great destination for exploring by bike or on foot. 

This article was adapted from the Kyoto guidebook published in November 2024.