Half day guide with map, food and photos to experience Fushimi Inari to its fullest.

TABLE OF CONTENT:

Best time of day to visit Food recommendations Photo opportunities Hidden gems and extras

If you need to read only one thing out of this, is that I recommend visiting the shrine in the evening and not morning time. For the simple reason that you do not want to miss out on the beautiful sunset at the top of the summit, the best lighting on the torii gates, and the magic transition to night time with all the lamps lighting up that in itself, is a unique experience people pay tourguides for.

BEST TIME OF DAY TO VISIT:

Contradictory to ALL the guides out there, I recommend starting out around 3-4 hours before sunset so you can enjoy a hearty lunch, spend time at the souvenir stalls and take as many pictures as you want without rush before sunset on the mountaintop.

You wont miss out on photos by yourself between the gates even later in the day near the mountaintop, where the crows thin out, and more photo opportunities open up.

After sunset descend the left side of the mountaintop loop to enjoy the mystical forest by yourself, as not everybody knows the path gets lit up by hundreds of lights.

FOOD RECOMMENDATIONS:

Although the many stalls along the shrine entrance are great, and the few and far food stands on the mountain are present. I personally prefer to have a proper meal sitting down with drinks and plates.

For that one I recommend the delicious ''Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu''(see food photos) in itself a fun experience where for around 2000 yen (13 USD) you get a plate of tonkatsu, rice, miso and several dipping sauces to enjoy every bite differently.

After, for those with a sweet tooth, I recommend stopping at the highly awarded and 5 star reviewed icecream shop right across the street ''Nishimura Gelato Factory''.

I am a gelato aficionado and I recommend vividly ALL their flavours, especially their special matcha, which won many awards and is more balanced than other matchas out there that I've tried.

At the end of your day, after the visit, most of the places will have closed, so I recommend ''Ramen Hiwamatanoboru'' (see food photos) for a killer tsukemen (dipping noodles) at a great price.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES

There are several spots for amazing photo opportunities, with most ones without people being towards the mountaintop.

Your first stop will be at "Kumataka Shrine" on the "Shin-Ike pond" (see blue trail on map), where by keeping the pond on your left, following along a series of narrower paths, you will end up on a tiny dirt trail, follow it until reaching a tiny gray building for photos like the one I posted (see the shrine on the pond photo).

The second stop will be at sunset, all along the Torii right before AND after the Kyoto Viewpoint (see red trail on map and viewpoint) at "Fushimi Inari Yotsuji". The sun will be hitting in between the Torii, giving the best lighting and no strong shadows allowing for picture perfect portraits. (see the portrait photos) You can also enjoy the sunset over the mountains at the viewpoint if you prefer, but be mindful reaching this area takes two to three relaxed hours.

The third photo opportunities (see night photos) will be after sunset along the left side of the mountaintop loop (see black trail on map), where hundreds of lamps will light your path to the bottom of the mountain. Do take time and explore the side roads popping up here and there, being careful to avoid any suspicious sounds as yokais and boars are known to roam the area and feeding on unsuspecting tourists.

END

Due to character limit I could not talk about some hidden gems and cool souvenirs. Unmissable souvenir: goshuin and goshuin-cho Hidden gems: read ''The unknown sites of Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto'' on the ''How To Japan'' website. My personal favourite is the "Omokaru Stones" on maps, and if crowded, follow the map to Fushimi Kandakara Shrine for another set.

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