Japan
Kyoto
Match
58
- Beach first52
- Culture first65
- Food & nightlife68
- Family trip54
- Nature first50
- Good weather52
- On a budget59
The nine measures
Each scored 0 to 100 against fixed anchors, so a score means the same thing on every page. Open a row for the figures behind it.
Beaches & swimming. Scores 17 out of 100.17
| Score | 17 |
|---|---|
| Swim season months | 5 |
| Beaches 10 km | 0 |
| Coast distance | 47 km |
| Water distance | 47 km |
Sea reaches 21 °C or more in 5 months, 0 beaches lie within 10 km, and the water is 47 km away.
Places to eat. Scores 84 out of 100.84
| Score | 84 |
|---|---|
| Restaurants within 2 km of centre | 5,023 |
| Effective number of cuisines within 2 km | 22 |
5023 restaurants within 2 km of the centre, spread across an effective 22 kitchens.
Museums & heritage. Scores 72 out of 100.72
| Score | 72 |
|---|---|
| Museums within 10 km | 132 |
| Museums within 2 km of centre | 51 |
| Share of museums within 2 km % | 39 |
| Unesco sites within 50 km | 4 |
132 museums mapped within 10 km, 39% of them within 2 km of the centre, and 4 whole UNESCO inscriptions within 50 km.
Nightlife. Scores 80 out of 100.80
| Score | 80 |
|---|---|
| Drinking venues within 4 km | 3,215 |
| Drinking venues within 2 km of centre | 2,363 |
| Share of drinking venues within 2 km % | 73 |
| Nightclubs within 4 km | 26 |
3215 places to drink within 4 km, 26 nightclubs among them, and 73% of the drinking venues within 2 km of the centre.
Nature & day trips. Scores 22 out of 100.22
| Score | 22 |
|---|---|
| Protected land share 50 km % | 2 |
| Landscape blanket share 50 km % | 2 |
| Land share of disc % | 100 |
| Park area within 2 km | 45 hectares |
2% of the 50 km disc around the city is protected land, and there are 45 hectares of park within 2 km of the centre.
Good for families. Scores 66 out of 100.66
| Score | 66 |
|---|---|
| Tourist attractions within 2 km | 62 |
| Park area within 2 km | 45 hectares |
| Theme parks within 30 km | 4 |
62 tourist attractions within 2 km beside 45 hectares of park, and 4 theme parks within 30 km.
Sights concentration. Scores 52 out of 100.52
| Score | 52 |
|---|---|
| Notable places within 2 km | 79 |
| Min wikipedia languages | 5 |
79 notable places within 2 km of the centre, counting places with a Wikipedia presence in at least five languages.
Value for money. Scores 70 out of 100.70
| Score | 70 |
|---|---|
| Price level global | 62.4 |
| Daily budget | — |
National price level of 62.4 against the United States at 100, scored on a fixed scale from 20, the cheapest countries anyone travels to, to 160, the most expensive.
Year-round weather. Scores 62 out of 100.62
| Score | 62 |
|---|---|
| Monthly daytime high | 8.6 °C to 32.4 °C |
| Monthly rainfall | 40 mm to 232 mm |
| Dry months | 0 |
Daytime highs run 9-32 °C across the year, with 0 month(s) at 40 mm of rain or less.
When should you go?
The figures behind each month, shaded against this city's own year: the deepest cell is its best month for that measure and the palest its weakest.
Temperature and rainfall are thirty-year climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Kyoto: 1971-2000 (sunshine 1991-2020) normals, Kyoto (3.2 km from centre).
Getting there
| Flying from | Kyoto |
|---|---|
| SeoulICN, GMP | 1 h 40 m €107-142 KIX · 81 km |
| TokyoHND, NRT | 1 h 10 m €118-135 ITM · 39 km |
| ShanghaiPVG, SHA | 2 h 10 m €237-303 KIX · 81 km |
| SapporoCTS, OKD | 1 h 55 m no fares ITM · 39 km |
| BangkokBKK, DMK | 5 h 35 m €288-317 KIX · 81 km |
| OkinawaOKA | 2 h 5 m €120-154 KIX · 81 km |
| ParisCDG, ORY, BVA | 12 h 0 m €859-891 3 stops KIX · 81 km |
| HonoluluHNL | 8 h 25 m no fares ITM · 39 km |
| Abu DhabiAUH | 9 h 40 m €810-860 3 stops KIX · 81 km |
| BusanPUS | 1 h 20 m €86-233 KIX · 81 km |
The busiest departure cities for Kyoto, with a place kept for each other part of the world. Busiest means arriving passengers where an official count exists, and where none does, the number of non-stop services flown: official route statistics are published by the European reporting countries and by nobody else, so a table ranked on them alone would offer a reader in New York or Tokyo ten European cities. Flying times are estimated from the distance between airports, and every row is a city flown non-stop. Where the typical offer connects anyway, the stops are shown. Under each figure is the airport the flight lands at and how far that is from the centre, because the nearest airport is not always the one a route is flown to. Typical return fares for 2026-08 to 2026-10, cached market data up to 7 days old. The figure is the middle half of the offers found, so a single price means they agreed and a range means they did not; for a typical route that middle half spans about a quarter of the median, and for the least settled routes rather more than the median itself.
Before you go
| Measure | Kyoto |
|---|---|
| Official language | Japanese |
| Currency | Yen (JPY) |
| Sockets | AB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region |
| Driving side | Left |
| Time zone | UTC+9 |
| Emergency number | Police 110, fire 119 |
| Elevation | 51 m |
| Main airport | Kansai International Airport (KIX)81 km from centre62 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 16 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Kyoto |
|---|---|
| City population | 1,463,723 |
| People per km² | 1,768 |
| Museums within 10 km | 76 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 4 |
| Distinct cuisines in the centre | 89 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 5 months |
Compare Kyoto with
Every comparison with a written verdict behind it.