Ryokan in Kyoto
京都Japan's capital from 794 to 1868, about 2 hours 20 minutes from Tokyo by Nozomi Shinkansen. Its ryokan are spread from Gion and the eastern hills to downtown, Kyoto Station and Arashiyama, so the area you pick decides what is on your doorstep.
Choosing an area in Kyoto
Gion 祇園
Kyoto's best-known geisha district, in front of Yasaka Shrine.
Higashiyama 東山
The ward between the Kamo River and the eastern hills, with Kiyomizu-dera on its slopes.
Nanzenji 南禅寺
Around Nanzen-ji, a Zen temple founded in 1291 whose Hojo garden is a Place of Scenic Beauty.
Nakagyo 中京
Downtown: Nishiki Market, Nijo Castle and the Kawaramachi streets along the Kamo River.
Shimogyo 下京
From Shijo Street, the city's busiest shopping street, south to Kyoto Station.
Kyoto Station 京都駅
Where the Shinkansen stops, with JR trains on to Arashiyama and Nara.
Arashiyama 嵐山
A district on the western edge of the city, with the bamboo grove and the Togetsukyo bridge.
Kurama 鞍馬
A mountain village north of the city, around the temple of Kurama-dera, at the end of the Eizan line.
Kyoto through the year
Spring春
March to May
Cherry trees first bloom around 26 March in an average year; the Togetsukyo bridge at Arashiyama is known for its blossom.
Summer夏
June to August
The Gion Matsuri runs through July, with its great float processions on 17 and 24 July.
Autumn秋
September to November
Autumn colours reach the city in the second half of November, and some trees stay red into December.
Winter冬
December to February
Snow falls on a few days in most winters.
The ryokan
Gion
Gion Ryokan Karaku 京都祇園 料理旅館 花楽
A 19-room cuisine ryokan in Gion, where dinner is a Kyoto kaiseki built around a hot pot and served in the ground-floor dining hall. Every room has its own bath and toilet; there is no hot spring and no large bath.
- Onsen
- NoNo large bath; baths are in rooms
- Bath in your room
- Every roomBath and toilet in every room
- Tattoos
- Not stated
Nakagyo
Hiiragiya 柊家
A family-run Kyoto ryokan founded in 1818, in a wooden sukiya building with a new wing beside it. Kyoto kaiseki is served in your room, and the baths use soft groundwater, not hot-spring water.
- Onsen
- NoSoft groundwater, not hot spring
- Bath in your room
- Every roomWooden tub and toilet in every room
- Tattoos
- Not stated
Kyoto Station
Ryokan Izuyasu 料理旅宿 井筒安
A kaiseki restaurant with eight rooms, in a late-Edo Kyoto townhouse where the seventh-generation owner cooks. It has no hot spring; guests bathe in three private family baths.
- Onsen
- NoNo hot spring, no shared bath
- Bath in your room
- No room has oneUse the three family baths
- Tattoos
- Not stated
Shimogyo
Kyomachiya Ryokan Sakura Urushitei 京町家旅館さくら 漆亭
A 69-room ryokan in the style of a Kyoto townhouse, with tatami rooms, Western twins and doubles, and suites that combine both. It has no hot spring; there is one private bath, and breakfast comes in Japanese, Western, vegan and gluten-free versions.
- Onsen
- NoOne bookable private bath instead
- Bath in your room
- Bath in the Urushi suite and maisonetteStandard rooms: shower and toilet
- Tattoos
- Not stated
Kyoto Station
Kyoto Takasegawa Bettei 町家ホテル 京都高瀬川別邸
A 46-room ryokan in the style of a Kyoto townhouse, with beds on tatami and a hinoki (Japanese cypress) bath in every room. It has no hot spring and serves no dinner; breakfast is brought to your room.
- Onsen
- NoEach room has its own bath
- Bath in your room
- Every roomOrdinary water, not a hot spring
- Tattoos
- Not stated
Nakagyo
Nishiyama Ryokan 西山旅館
A family ryokan in central Kyoto, founded in 1953 and now run by the founder's grandson. It serves a Japanese breakfast and no dinner, and guests can join a daily tea ceremony, koto music and a morning walk at no charge.
- Onsen
- NoShared baths, not hot-spring water
- Bath in your room
- Every roomBath and toilet in every room
- Tattoos
- Not stated
Higashiyama
Seikoro Ryokan 晴鴨楼
A family ryokan founded in 1831 at the east end of Gojo bridge, by the Kamo river. Kaiseki is served in your room and every room has a bath of koyamaki, Japanese umbrella pine. There is no natural hot spring.
- Onsen
- NoShared baths use artificial onsen
- Bath in your room
- Every roomKoyamaki-wood bath and toilet
- Tattoos
- Not stated
Nanzenji
Kyoto Garden Ryokan Yachiyo 南禅寺 八千代
A 16-room ryokan on the approach to Nanzen-ji, built around a pond garden by the landscape gardener Jihei Ogawa, known as Ueji. Each of the seven main-building rooms has its own cypress bath, most of them semi-open-air onto the garden; the baths are not hot-spring water.
- Onsen
- NoTwo traditional shared baths
- Bath in your room
- Garden bath in 7 main-building roomsThe 9 annex rooms have a unit bath only
- Tattoos
- AllowedShower well first
Gion
Yuzuya Ryokan 柚子屋旅館 祇園店
An eight-room ryokan in Gion run by a restaurant, where dinner is a Kyoto kaiseki with a yuzu hot pot. The cypress baths have yuzu floating in them and are not hot-spring water, and the ryokan takes no children under 13.
- Onsen
- NoA cypress yuzu bath, not hot spring
- Bath in your room
- Every roomBath and toilet in every room
- Tattoos
- Not stated
Kurama
Kurama Onsen くらま温泉
A small hot-spring ryokan and day spa at the foot of Mt Kurama. It closed in 2021 and reopened under a new owner on 1 November 2024, with five guest rooms and stays that come with dinner and breakfast.
- Onsen
- YesNatural sulphur spring, iron-rich
- Bath in your room
- Not stated
- Tattoos
- AllowedGang members excepted
Not currently accepting bookings
Arashiyama
Hoshinoya Kyoto 星のや京都
Twenty-five rooms on the Oi river in Oku-Arashiyama, the district where Heian-era nobles built their villas. Hoshino Resorts calls it "a private residence by the water"; dinner and breakfast are booked separately from the room.
- Onsen
- Not stated
- Bath in your room
- Every roomA bathroom in every room
- Tattoos
- AllowedStaff may still refuse bath entry
Not currently accepting bookings
Nakagyo
Tawaraya 俵屋旅館
The Kyoto ryokan at Fuyacho-Aneyakoji, founded in the Hōei era (1704–1711), which calls itself Kyoto's oldest standing ryokan. Dinner and breakfast are served in your room, and every room has its own bath with a tub.
- Onsen
- NoNo hot-spring bath
- Bath in your room
- Every roomA bath with a tub in every room
- Tattoos
- Not stated
Not currently accepting bookings
More stays in Kyoto
311 approved listings · 323 total in Kyoto
Photo credits
Takeshi Kuboki from Amagasaki, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; nekonomania, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Manish Prabhune, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons