WhereStayGuide
A Gion street at night, machiya frontages and lanterns along the cobbles
lumoplank / CC0

Where to stay in Gion & Southern Higashiyama

The slope between the Kamo and the hills, from Yasaka Shrine and Maruyama Park south through Kōdai-ji and the lanes climbing to Kiyomizu-dera. This is the Kyoto of the photographs, and one of the few places where the photographs are honest: the streets really are wooden and staying here means walking out into them before the buses arrive. Two things temper it. It is the most crowded ground in the city between mid-morning and late afternoon, and it is the most expensive. The private lanes of Gion Kōbu are a working district where photography is restricted and residents are not an attraction.

Price level · Luxury

Kyoto

Area scorecard

Scored 0–10 by Where Stay Guide. No overall total: every traveller weights these differently.

Sightseeing
9.5
Walkability
8.0
Transport
6.5
Food
8.0
Nightlife
6.0
Quietness
6.5
Families
5.0
Value
3.0
Airport / station
6.0
First trip
8.5

Best for

  • A first trip that is mostly about temples
  • Travellers who want a ryokan and would rather walk to dinner than ride
  • Anyone who will be out before eight in the morning

Choose elsewhere if

  • You are watching what you spend: this is the dearest ground in Kyoto
  • You have a suitcase and the room is up a lane of steps
  • You want to eat late without booking

Our picks in Gion & Southern Higashiyama

Best on the Higashiyama slope

Hotel The Celestine Kyoto Gion

Our pick for Gion because it sits on Yasaka-dōri, on the slope itself between Yasaka Shrine and the lanes up to Kiyomizu-dera, so the walk everyone comes here to do starts at the door and can be done before the buses arrive.