Top 10 Kimono Photo Spots in Kyoto

2. Sannenzaka — the stepped lane

A stone-stepped lane of wooden shopfronts, lanterns and tiled eaves running down from the temple. The photograph looking down the steps from the top is the most-recognised Kyoto kimono image there is. Best time: before 10:30; by noon it is shoulder to shoulder. Access: two minutes from the temple gate, downhill.

3. Ninenzaka — quieter and gentler

Sannenzaka's shorter, calmer continuation, with cafés and craft shops on both sides. The slope is mild and the crowd thinner, which makes it the better of the two lanes for full-length portraits where you need a clear background. Best time: any time before 11:00. Access: at the foot of Sannenzaka.

4. Yasaka Pagoda (Hōkan-ji) — the tower at the end of the street

The five-storey pagoda rising above the tiled roofs of a narrow lane is Kyoto's second signature composition after Sannenzaka. Shoot from the lane below, looking up, and stand at the side of the street. The alleys around it are the least crowded part of Higashiyama and the best place for close portraits against plaster and dark wood. Best time: mid-morning; also lovely at dusk. Access: five minutes from Ninenzaka.

5. Kōdai-ji and Nene-no-michi — the stone path

The paved path along Kōdai-ji's walls is shaded, quiet and free; the temple garden inside is a paid entry with a bamboo grove of its own that is far less crowded than Arashiyama's. Best time: late morning, when the lanes below are filling up. Access: five minutes north of the pagoda, on the flat.

6. Yasaka Shrine and Maruyama Park

Vermilion halls, rows of lanterns and a great gate opening onto the top of Shijō-dōri — no admission charge, and open ground with benches to rest on in Maruyama Park behind. In spring the park's weeping cherry is the centre of the city's hanami. Best time: any; the lanterns are lit in the evening. Access: ten minutes from Kōdai-ji, mostly downhill. This is a natural turning point for a half-day loop back to the shop.

7. Gion: Hanamikoji and the Shirakawa canal

Hanamikoji is Gion's main street of wooden teahouses with bamboo blinds; Shirakawa, five minutes north, is a willow-lined canal with stone bridges and the quietest water in the centre of Kyoto. Both are public streets. Photograph Hanamikoji in the late afternoon when the lanterns come on; Shirakawa is best in soft morning or evening light. If you see a maiko on her way to an engagement, step aside — a photograph from a distance is fine, following is not. Access: five minutes from Yasaka Shrine.

8. Pontochō and the Kamo River

A narrow lane of restaurants between Shijō and Sanjō, with the river a few steps away. At dusk the lanterns of Pontochō and the light on the water are worth the walk; in summer the restaurants build wooden terraces over the river. Best time: the hour before sunset. Access: ten minutes west of Gion across the Shijō bridge — about the limit of a comfortable walk in geta from the Kiyomizu shop, so consider a next-day return (¥1,100) if you want this at dusk.

9. Fushimi Inari Taisha — the thousand torii

The tunnels of vermilion gates climbing Mount Inari are the most photographed shrine in Japan, and in kimono the colour match is extraordinary. The catch is the crowd: the lower gates are dense with people from mid-morning. Go early — the shrine never closes — and photograph the first few hundred metres of gates, then turn back; the full climb takes two to three hours and is not a kimono walk. Best time: 07:00–08:30. Access: a train ride from central Kyoto; five minutes' walk from Inari Station. Do this as a separate morning, in your own shoes, and put the kimono on afterwards — or accept a day in kimono that starts very early.

10. Arashiyama — the bamboo grove and Togetsukyō

The bamboo path is the other famous image, and the light through the stalks is genuinely beautiful for the first hour after dawn. After that the path is a slow-moving queue. The Togetsukyō bridge over the river, with the hills behind, is a wider and calmer picture at any hour. Best time: the grove 07:00–09:00; the bridge all day. Access: a train ride west of the city; the district is flat and easy in geta, but it is a separate half-day rather than an add-on to Higashiyama.

A quick planner

Two days or one?

Spots 1–7 are one comfortable half-day in kimono from the Kiyomizu shop, in that order, and they are the pictures most people came for. Spots 8–10 are better done on another day: Pontochō as an evening with a next-day return, Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama as early mornings in ordinary shoes, or as a second rental day if the outfit is the point. For seasonal timing — cherry blossom in Maruyama Park, maples at Kōdai-ji — see our guide to the best season for kimono.

Get dressed where the spots are: OlaChill Kyoto Kiyomizu — choose a plan and a 09:00 slot. Fourteen plans from ¥3,000, tax and accessories included, 10% off online, free cancellation up to two days before.