Japan Runcation Itinerary, Part 1: Kyoto and Nara
View of Kyoto at the Kiyomizu-dera Temple
I had the opportunity to run the Tokyo Marathon in 2025 and it was an incredible experience. When planning for this trip, I knew I wanted to explore other parts of Japan other than just Tokyo. This was my first time to Japan and since it’s a long flight from the States (over 13 hours for a direct flight from Chicago), I was going to make the most of it!
Something I’ve learned from my other international travels, though, is not to schedule or plan too much, especially when a marathon is the main reason I’m traveling. In the past I’ve gotten overwhelmed and exhausted on trips from doing too much, and that’s not how I wanted to feel before running a marathon.
I booked my flight to land the Monday before the Tokyo Marathon, mostly because it was the best deal with my credit card points. If I were to plan this trip again, however, I would 100% arrive a week early. It allowed me to get rid of any jet lag far ahead of the race, and I was able to explore Kyoto with fewer tourists.
If you are planning a trip to Japan to run the Tokyo Marathon or just traveling to Japan for fun, this post (and part 2) is a breakdown of what I did each day, what I recommend, and what I still want to see in those respective cities.
It’s worth noting that I’m the type of traveler who likes a mix of seeing popular tourist locations (they’re usually popular for a reason) and wandering around without a plan. I don’t like rushing from place to place to see everything and I don’t make a ton of reservations for popular restaurants, as that stresses me out. Everyone has a preferred way to travel, so keep that in mind as you’re reading this!
If you’re looking for tips for the Tokyo Marathon specifically, check out this post. And if you want to run it in the future, check out this post for how to get in!
DAY 0: Travel day + arriving in Japan
I left Chicago on Sunday, February 23rd, around 10:30am, on a direct flight to Tokyo. I arrived in Tokyo around 3pm on Monday – it’s a 15 hour time zone difference + a 13ish hour flight. I took the Keikyu line to the Shinagawa station and bought a ticket for the bullet train to Kyoto once I arrived. You can buy tickets for the bullet train [Shinkansen] in advance, which I did for my return trip to Tokyo (from Kyoto), but because I didn’t know how much time it would take to get to Shinagawa from Haneda Airport, I waited until I got there to purchase my ticket to Kyoto. February isn’t considered a peak time to travel in Japan, but if you are traveling during a busy tourist time, you may want to consider buying Shinkansen tickets in advance if you’re on a strict schedule.
It was a little over 2 hours to Kyoto on the Shinkansen. I ate food I picked up at the convenience store in the train station and occupied my mind so I didn’t fall asleep. It was a smooth and easy ride.
Once I arrived into Kyoto Station, I look a taxi to my hotel. There were a bunch of taxis outside of the station, including some labeled “foreigner friendly” and they took credit cards.
After checking into my hotel - I stayed at the Royal Park Kyoto Sanjo and it was a great hotel, I picked up some snacks and food for breakfast from the 7-eleven a few blocks away, made a loose plan for Tuesday, and forced myself to stay awake until 9-9:30pm to get on the local timezone.
DAY 1: Kyoto
This was a big day of seeing popular tourist sites. I woke up early and got dressed for my morning run. I love destination running when I’m traveling so I can kill two birds with one stone. In this case, I ran to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple for a beautiful view of Kyoto. There were hardly any people when I arrived around 7:30am…but there were quite a few more people when I left.
From there I ran to Sannenzaka Street to see the famous view of the Hokan-ji Temple. I didn’t actually know the name of this street ahead of time, but I had seen enough photos to know what it looked like. I had passed it on my run to the first temple and ventured down the street on the way back. I got there around 8am and there were some people, but it wasn’t crowded. This street does tend to get busy, so if you want a picture without a bunch of people in the background, get there early.
On Sannenzaka Street with the Hokan-ji Temple in the background
After taking some pictures and videos, I ran to Weekenders Coffee, which I had seen a few times on social media. It’s a small coffee shop essentially in a parking lot, and it wasn’t too far from my hotel. I had a delicious pour over and highly recommend this spot if you like good coffee. I chatted with a few guys from LA as I drank my coffee and ran back to my hotel to shower and change.
Weekenders Coffee
After showering, I did a bit of work (email + checked in with some athletes), ate, and then went back out to explore. I was starting to feel the jet lag, so I went to another coffee shop – Drip and Drop Coffee Supply. They have a few locations in Kyoto. I had a delicious oat milk latte and ended up buying a bag of beans. There is a brewery that shares the same space and I chatted with the guy working at the brewery, who was from the UK.
In the afternoon, I walked around the Gion District, got ramen for lunch (from Musoshin, it was so good and no wait), and explored a few other temples. I headed to Fushimi Inari Shine (the red gates) around 4:30pm, with the hopes to avoid big crowds. There were people there, but much less than the middle of the day.
My biggest tips for Fushimi Inari Shine are: 1) wear comfortable shoes, as the entire loop is about 3 miles and there are lots of stairs; 2) keep walking up – most people stop and don’t do the entire loop, so if you keep going you’ll be able to take photos without a ton of people; 3) go early in the morning or near sunset if you want to be around less people. It’s open 24 hours, so you can go when it’s dark. It was getting dark in the second half for me, but there are lights to guide the way.
Fushimi Inari Shine
I met up with a new friend for dinner at a sushi place. The first one we went to actually closed earlier than the listed time, and I found this happened somewhat often for smaller spots in Japan. But we found another spot (Sushi-Kappo Yamabiko) and it was very good.
DAY 2: Kyoto + Nara
My train to Nara left around 11am, so I had some time in the morning to explore. I decided to go to the National Palace + Gardens. It was about a mile from my hotel so I walked. Admission is free and there wasn’t much of a line.
Because I was in a time crunch, I walked through pretty quickly as I mainly wanted to see the garden. The garden was beautiful and I’m happy I went. Unless you’re a history buff and want to thoroughly explore and do an audio tour, I don’t think you need to spend much time here. The grounds of the palace would be a great place to see cherry blossoms, though, if you’re visiting during cherry blossom season. It would also be a good place for a run, as the grounds are pretty massive (outside of the actual walls of the palace).
National Palace Garden
I made my way to the train to go to Kyoto Station, from which I would go to Nara. There are a few smaller places to take day trips (if you like matcha, check out Uji), and I chose Nara to see the deer roaming freely. I took the Sightseeing Limited Express "AONIYOSHI" train, which I would recommend if you want a more unique train experience. You need to book this ticket in advance, though. I booked mine about 3 weeks in advance and grabbed one of the last tickets on the train. It doesn’t run as frequently as the other Limited Express trains.
Nara was pretty crowded with tourists when I went. I don’t know why I was expecting it to be less busy, but that wasn’t the case. I still enjoyed the visit, though, and I think it’s worth a day trip from Kyoto or Osaka.
Here are all the things I did in my ~4-5 hours in Nara and what I think is worth it (or not):
Kasugataisha Shrine: It’s close to the train station and first spot with a bunch of deer, so it’s easy to see. You’re not missing anything if you don’t go see it, though.
Kofukuji Temple: Sure, it’s pretty like other temples but I don’t think it was worth the trek to get there. The temples in Kyoto are more impressive and it was just like any other temple to me. My feet were hurting and there were lots of tourists and it just wasn’t worth the walk for me.
Nara Park: This is where you’ll see the greatest density of deer roaming freely. You can buy deer biscuits to feed them. Be careful, though! There are a lot of deer who are quite aggressive if they see you with food in your hand. There are deer just chilling all over Nara, so you won’t miss them if you don’t go to Nara Park, but I do think this is worth it. Fun tip - bow to the deer and they will bow back!
Deer roam freely in Nara
Isuien Garden: This is a must if you want a quieter spot to get away from all the people and like to be surrounded by beauty. There is an admission fee of 1200 yen [about $8 USD] and it’s cash only. But I think it’s worth it. It was gorgeous and I spent some time reading on a bench to get off my aching feet. There is a tea house in the garden, as well, but it was closed for the day at the time I was there.
Nakatanidou Mochi Shop: This is the famous spot where you can see mochi being made. While I missed a show, I did buy a mochi to try. It was really soft, but I’m not a fan of the red bean paste they put inside mochi in Japan, so I wasn’t a fan. But it’s worth trying, as it’s only 200 yen for one.
Ongaku & Coffee: Just off where the mochi shop is located, is a row of shops. I wandered around and found this small coffee shop to read and relax. It’s cash only. Coffee was good.
Isuien Garden in Nara
DAY 3: Kyoto
Given how tired my feet and legs were from the first two days of 30K+ steps, I decided that today would be a more chill day. I still ended up getting close to 20K steps, but it’s pretty tough not to when you’re traveling.
I started the day with a short run along the river. There’s a great path and I was staying close to it. From there I ran to check out another local coffee shop called Tarel. It’s in an old shipping container. I had an oak milk latte that was delish and it was nice enough to sit outside. I ran back to my hotel from there to shower and change.
Delicious post-run coffee at Tarel
I had seen a donut spot on social media that looked really good and apparently it was really hard to get the donuts. I love donuts and decided I wanted to try, so I headed over to Hitsuji Doughnut. I arrived about 15 minutes after they opened and they were already out of tickets for the day. (they give out a certain number of tickets that tell you when it’s your turn to buy donuts). I asked the lady if there was any hope to still get some and she said I could come back at 1:25pm to see if any were left for the day.
With this gap, I walked to Nishiki Market, which was on my list for the day. I tried food from a couple different food stalls. This is definitely a must-do spot in Kyoto. It’s not overwhelmingly big, so you can spend as little or as much time here as you’d like. Note that you’re not supposed to walk and eat/drink at the same time in Japan. There were many signs that said this and they also made announcements. Don’t be that person that doesn’t follow cultural norms!
Nishiki Market
After wandering around the market, I made my way back to the doughnut place in hopes of getting lucky. And I did! There were a few people in front of me, but I was able to get two of the last few doughnuts left. And they were worth it – so good!!
Hitsuji Doughnut - a must if you love donuts with more unique flavor profiles
I relaxed in my room for awhile until meeting a friend for an early dinner at Chao Chao Gyozo. It’s known for gyoza (dumplings) and it was really good and pretty inexpensive.
While I wanted to do more in Kyoto on Thursday, I also needed my legs to stop hurting so much, so it was a balance. I’m still happy with my time in Kyoto and I definitely want to go back!
Some Kyoto activities that were on my list that I didn’t get to (but you might prioritize, depending on what you like):
Spend additional time in the Gion District and shopping at more local spots
Get matcha somewhere (lots of good spots) - I don’t love matcha so good coffee was more the priority
Check out more of the smaller temples
Do a traditional tea ceremony
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and the surrounding areas
Are you going to Kyoto on your Tokyo Marathon racecation? What are you most excited to see?