Kyoto on $55, $120 or $400 a day

Fushimi Inari at 6:30am (free, 24 hours). Walk the full torii gate trail to the summit — above the second station the crowds thin to almost nothing, and the forest is extraordinary. 2.5 hours return.

Bus to Higashiyama. Walk Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka (the stone-paved lanes, free). Kiyomizudera temple (¥500 — the wooden stage overhanging the hillside has a view of the whole city). Hokan-ji (Yasaka pagoda) is the neighborhood's most photographed corner.

Walk to Gion for the evening: Hanamikoji Street at 6–7pm. A kaiseki set meal at a budget kaiseki counter (from ¥2,500) or ramen at a Gion ramen shop (¥900). Walk back along the Kamo River at night — the bridges between Shijo and Sanjo are lit and full of Kyoto students.

Bus or train to Arashiyama. Bamboo grove at 7am (free) before the crowds. Tenryu-ji garden (¥500) — the borrowed landscape garden uses the mountains behind it as part of the design. Monkey park (¥550) for the reverse perspective of feeding wild monkeys while they look out over Kyoto.

Lunch at a Arashiyama tofu restaurant (yudofu set for ¥1,200 — Kyoto's traditional cuisine at its most economical). Boat rental on the Oi River (¥1,500/hour) or walk the quiet bamboo and temple roads north of the main grove.

Bus back to the city. Nishiki Market for evening snacks (pickled vegetables, grilled mochi, a matcha soft serve ¥500). Walk the Kamo River at dusk — restaurants lower their windows down to the riverbank in spring and summer (the kawayuka river terrace dining is expensive but the walk alongside it is free).

Train to Nara (50 min, ¥720 each way on the Kintetsu express). Todai-ji (¥600 — the largest wooden building in the world, housing the world's largest bronze Buddha). The deer of Nara Park (free) have been designated sacred messengers since 768 and will bow for shika senbei (deer crackers, ¥200).

Kasuga Taisha shrine (free outer area) with its hundreds of stone and bronze lanterns. Lunch at a Nara noodle shop (¥900). Return to Kyoto by mid-afternoon.

Final evening walk from Kawaramachi along the Kamo River. Izakaya dinner near Kawaramachi station (a full yakitori and beer dinner for ¥2,000). A matcha warabi mochi dessert from a Nishiki Market stall (¥400) to finish.

Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion, ¥500) at 9am — the morning reflection in the pond is the reason everyone photographs it. Then Ryoan-ji (¥600) — the famous 15-stone Zen rock garden that no angle allows you to see all 15 stones at once.

Lunch at a Nishijin kaiseki restaurant (¥3,000–5,000 for a set lunch). Nijo Castle (¥1,300 — the shogun's Kyoto palace with "nightingale floors" designed to squeak as an alarm system). Impressive political architecture.

Gion evening walk and maiko spotting at Hanamikoji (6–7pm). Dinner at a Gion restaurant: a counter kaiseki at ¥5,000–8,000, or a yakitori counter at ¥3,000. The ritual of eating at a counter in Japan is itself an experience.

Arashiyama: bamboo grove, Tenryu-ji (¥500), and the Okochi Sanso garden (¥1,000 — includes matcha and a sweet; the silent garden of a silent film actor, terraced up the mountain with views over Arashiyama). Far fewer visitors than Kinkaku-ji.

Bus to Philosopher's Path: walk the full canal route from Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion, ¥500) south to Nanzenji. The aqueduct at Nanzenji (¥600 for the inner temple) is one of Kyoto's most surprising sights. Lunch near Nanzenji.

Return to Gion for dinner: Kikunoi Honten (the approachable version of Kyoto kaiseki, ¥8,000–12,000 for an evening course) — seasonal ingredients, beautiful lacquerware, a ritual that is both food and ceremony.

Train to Osaka (15 minutes on the Shinkansen or 40 minutes on regular rail). Dotonbori: the neon-lit canal district, the Glico Running Man sign, takoyaki (octopus balls, ¥600 for 6) and okonomiyaki (savoury pancakes, ¥900). The food culture is entirely different from Kyoto's.

Kuromon Ichiba (the "Osaka Kitchen" market) for lunch. Osaka Castle exterior walk (free). Optional: Instant Ramen Museum in Ikeda (¥500) — create your own instant ramen cup.

Return to Kyoto for a final evening on the Kamo River. Dinner at a downtown izakaya: grilled fish, dashimaki tamago (dashi egg roll), and two cold Sapporos for ¥4,000.

Private early-morning access to Fushimi Inari before opening — the 10,000 torii gates in the first light of dawn, without a single other person. A certified Shinto guide explains the fox deity Inari and the role of the shrine in Japanese spiritual life.

Lunch at Kikunoi Honten (¥15,000–25,000 for the full kaiseki ritual — each dish arrives in sequence, explaining the season through ingredients). Private afternoon tea ceremony in a historic machiya tea house in the Gion district.

Dinner at Kichisen (3 Michelin stars — one of the most revered kaiseki restaurants in Japan, ¥30,000–50,000 per person. The level of craft applied to ingredients, vessels, and sequence is the peak of Japanese culinary culture).

Private Nishiki Market tour with a Japanese food scholar: tastings at 8–10 stalls, explanation of each ingredient's role in Kyoto cuisine. Then a private ikebana (flower arranging) session with a master at a Gion school.

Ryoan-ji private viewing before regular hours — the rock garden in morning light with a Zen monk who will speak about the philosophy of ma (negative space) if you ask. Lunch at a Kyoto tofu restaurant: Okutan near Nanzenji (¥4,000).

Dinner at Nakamura (the oldest running restaurant in Kyoto — 1716 — a kaiseki in rooms that have served samurai, shogun, and foreign dignitaries for 300 years). Evening performance of maiko dance at a private ozashiki banquet (arranged through a specialist agency, ¥30,000+pp).

Check into an Arashiyama ryokan (Hoshinoya Kyoto, accessible only by boat up the Oi River, or Tenyu). Morning zazen meditation session at Tenryu-ji with a resident monk. Walking the bamboo grove from the ryokan before the gates open.

Kaiseki lunch in the ryokan. Afternoon onsen (hot spring bath) in the private room. The Arashiyama hills from a ryokan window is one of Japan's defining quiet pleasures.

Farewell omakase in Kyoto's old-town at a counter restaurant (Sushi Saito has a Kyoto outpost; Nakamura has a private room). Chauffeured transfer to Kyoto Station for the shinkansen.