Looking at my itinerary/schedule for days in Kyoto and wondering if Kiymizu-dera would be best fit on:
(mid May)
- Tuesday morning around 10:00 after Fushimi Inari (would get a taxi to Kiymizu-dera)
- Thursday afternoon after 15:00
I know it gets crowded there, but also heard the sunset view is stunning.
It will be super crowded in the afternoon.
We were at Kiyomizu-dera at 6:30 am, and it was absolutely wonderful. We only had a handful of people there with us and it was so special. As we were leaving at 8:30 am the crowd was forming with selfie sticks— it was so nice to walk down the streets and then stop for coffee at Starbucks (yes, it was quite interesting to see the Starbucks there— go upstairs and sit in the floor with a nice view of Kyoto houses.). The shops were not open yet and there were mostly shopkeepers around. Much more authentic feeling than just tourists everywhere.
The early bird gets rewarded . And you will be waking up early anyway due to jet lag!
By 10:15 we were back at our Kyoto Inn having breakfast!
