Kyoto Station Area Guide: What to See, Eat, and Skip

Most Kyoto guides treat the station as the part you tolerate to reach the parts you came for. Wrong way round. Two of the city's biggest Buddhist complexes are five minutes from the exit, and the easiest panoramic view of Kyoto is one elevator ride away.

Where to Stay in Kyoto: An Area-by-Area Guide

Where you sleep in Kyoto shapes almost everything else about the trip. This is the area-by-area breakdown I'd give a friend, with the hotels I'd actually book across six neighbourhoods — and a proper look at what each one trades off.