Travel Story: Checking out Kyoto from Above at the Kyoto Tower
Author: Jessica Dale
Date: Wednesday 27th April 2024
When we stepped out of the door of our hotel, the brisk cold hit us immediately, even though the fluttering falling snow wasn’t settling on the ground. We had just one goal – to see Kyoto from the top of Kyoto Tower. Winter gives Kyoto a different feel – it’s quieter, more peaceful. In fact, Kyoto as a whole is one of the quietest cities I have ever visited (and one of my favourites)!
Along with my partner, we walked towards the tower. We were staying in the north of the city only a fifteen minute or so walk to Kyoto Tower so it was pretty easy to get to especially with Kyoto’s block style layout. Kyoto Tower has an old-school charm about it. Built in the ’60s, it was once the tallest building in the city, and it retains a retro feel that’s hard to find in more modern constructions. It’s easily noticeable in the city.
Once inside, we quickly warmed up, since food is always at the forefront of my mind, we decided to eat before going up the tower. Luckily Kyoto Tower has a food hall underneath it. Descending down the escalator to below ground level, we went into the underground food court. Here are pretty much most foods you can hope for including burgers, sushi, Korean food…. I could go on.
We decided on karaage chicken, sprinkled with powdered cheese. The warm, crispy chicken was the perfect thing to eat when coming in from the cold. The good thing about Japan is that I’ve never actually had a bad meal, the culture is one that prides itself on perfection and though karaage chicken is a pretty simple meal, this was no exception. It was a great start to the day. After finishing our meals, we took the escalator up to the first floor and purchased our ticket for the top.
The elevator took us upwards to the 360 observation deck, greeted by friendly faces and an incredible view. Below us, Kyoto lay spread out far into the distance. There were telescopes all around the observation deck, some were super powerful allowing us to see far into the distance at the surrounding mountains, some were less so and we could see closer landmarks. The snow had stopped by the time we made it to the top and we could see quite clearly into the distance.
Kyoto Tower’s observation deck is 100 meters up. From this height, we could see pretty much everything – Kiyomizu-dera Temple, To-ji Temple, Chion-in Temple for a start along with the train tracks that disappeared into the distance. There are big touch screens dotted around the observation deck that allow you to know what to look out for. We spent a good hour at the top, looking through each telescope, checking out the fantastic 360 degree views of the city.
We then collected our Tawawa-chan Stamp and made our way back down discussing what we had seen, it had been a great experience for us both.
