Michelin Green Guide Kyoto — Three-Star Kiyomizu-dera, Kinkaku-ji and Ryoan-ji, and All 129 Starred Sights (City Guide)

What the Michelin Green Guide is — 129 starred sights in Kyoto city

This is the Michelin Green Guide (Le Guide Vert), which rates destinations rather than restaurants. The Japan edition is published in France: the 4th edition in 2015, the 6th in 2020, and the current one in 2025. Every star below is given with the edition that awarded it.

What marks Kyoto out is that beyond the temples and shrines themselves, the statues, gardens and painted screens inside them are starred individually. Sanjusangen-do is three-star, and so are its thousand standing Kannon and its twenty-eight guardian deities; Ryoan-ji is three-star, and so is its rock garden. With that many stars, there is a limit to what one day holds. Take one area per day and settle on about three temples — then you have time to see why the stars are there.

Higashiyama — Kiyomizu-dera, Sanjusangen-do, the Kyoto National Museum

Kiyomizu-dera (★★★)

Kiyomizu-dera is three-star in the 2015 edition, and the veranda that juts out over the hillside is one-star. The platform rests on a timber frame built without nails and looks out across the city. The approach down Ninen-zaka and Sannen-zaka towards the one-star Yasaka Pagoda is Higashiyama at its most characteristic. Arrive around 8 a.m., before the crowds, and the view from the veranda is yours.

Sanjusangen-do and the Kyoto National Museum (★★★)

The 2015 edition gives three stars to Sanjusangen-do and, separately, to its thousand standing Kannon, its seated Senju Kannon and its twenty-eight guardian deities. A hall some 120 m long filled with 1,001 figures does not come across in photographs. The Kyoto National Museum opposite is three-star too, with individual three stars on holdings such as the portraits of Minamoto no Yoritomo and Taira no Shigemori. Displays rotate, so check what is on before you go.

Elsewhere in Higashiyama, Kodai-ji and the Gion district are two-star, with Yasaka Shrine, Chion-in, Shoren-in and Kennin-ji at one.

The northwest — Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji, Daitoku-ji

The 2015 edition gives three stars each to Kinkaku-ji, Ryoan-ji and Daitoku-ji. Kinkaku-ji to Ryoan-ji is a 20-minute walk along the Kinukake-no-michi.

At Ryoan-ji, temple and rock garden are three-star separately. Fifteen stones sit in white gravel, and from any viewpoint one of them is said to be hidden. Daitoku-ji is a Zen complex of many sub-temples, and the dry landscape garden of its sub-temple Daisen-in is three-star. Some sub-temples open to visitors and some do not, so check what is open on the day.

Further west, Koryu-ji is two-star, and its seated Miroku Bosatsu — registered as National Treasure No. 1 — is three-star. The cloud dragon on the ceiling of the Hatto at Myoshin-ji and its sub-temple Taizo-in are two-star as well.

The east — Ginkaku-ji, the Philosopher’s Path, Nanzen-ji

Ginkaku-ji is three-star in the 2015 edition and its garden two-star. You walk past the raked sand cone of Kogetsudai and the Ginshadan terrace and on through the moss garden. Running about 2 km south from the temple, the Philosopher’s Path (one star) follows a canal lined with cherry trees.

Near its southern end, Nanzen-ji is two-star, its National Treasure Hojo is three-star, and the sliding-screen painting “Tiger Drinking Water”, attributed to Kano Tanyu, is two-star. The brick aqueduct in the grounds is worth a look too. Nearby Eikan-do and Heian Jingu are one-star, and at the National Museum of Modern Art Kyoto, Foujita’s “Reclining Nude” is three-star.

At the foot of Mt. Hiei, the Shugakuin Imperial Villa is two-star. Visits are by advance application to the Imperial Household Agency, so book early.

The south — Katsura and Saiho-ji by reservation, plus Fushimi Inari

Katsura Imperial Villa and Saiho-ji, the Moss Temple (★★★)

The 2015 edition gives three stars to both Katsura Imperial Villa and Saiho-ji. Katsura is an early-Edo imperial retreat: a stroll garden around a pond where each turn reveals a new composition of teahouse and landscape. Visits go through the Imperial Household Agency, and same-day places are limited. Saiho-ji, whose grounds are carpeted in some 120 species of moss, requires an advance application. For both, book as soon as your dates are fixed.

Fushimi Inari, Tofuku-ji, Daigo-ji and To-ji (★★☆)

Also two-star in the 2015 edition: Fushimi Inari Taisha with its vermilion Senbon Torii, Tofuku-ji with the Tsutenkyo bridge over maples, Daigo-ji, remembered for Hideyoshi’s cherry-blossom party, and To-ji with its 55 m five-storey pagoda. The torii path at Fushimi Inari continues to the summit of Mt. Inari — about two hours return.

Nijo Castle, Nishiki Market and model routes by day

In the centre, the 2015 edition gives two stars to Nijo Castle and its National Treasure Ninomaru Palace, and to the Raku Museum of raku ware, with the Kyoto Imperial Palace, Nishiki Market and Pontocho at one star. The corridors of Ninomaru are “nightingale floors” that chirp as you walk them.

Kyoto’s city buses reach the sights but can be too full to board in season. Take the subway as far as it goes and walk the last stretch — the timing is far more predictable. There is a one-day subway-and-bus pass if you want it. From Tokyo, Nozomi takes about 2 hours 15 minutes; the Japan Rail Pass is valid on Hikari and Kodama, about 2 hours 40 minutes.

Michelin Green Guide Kyoto — FAQ

Star ratings: ★★★ worth a special journey / ★★☆ worth a detour / ★☆☆ interesting. Stars come from the 4th (2015) or 6th (2020) edition of the Michelin Green Guide Japan, as noted for each sight, and are reviewed with every edition. “Starred sights” counts every entry the guide awards stars to — including buildings inside a site, museum pieces, viewpoints and routes — so it is not a count of separate locations.