Gion and Higashiyama: Where to Eat, What to Do and Where to Stay

Gion and Higashiyama can be done as one walk from west to east: Hanamikoji, Shirakawa and Kennin-ji in Gion, then Yasaka Shrine, Maruyama Park and Chion-in, then Kodai-ji, the Yasaka Pagoda and the Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka slopes up to Kiyomizu-dera. There is no subway station in Gion; Gion-Shijo (Keihan) and Kawaramachi (Hankyu) are a short walk away.

Food sits in four parts of the area, from the Shijo-dori end at Minamiza to the slope toward Kiyomizu-dera, and the Pontocho shops are just across the Kamo River. Gion is a residential district: Kyoto's tourism site and the residents of southern Gionmachi ask visitors not to stop, touch, follow or photograph geiko and maiko without permission. A Gion stay is a choice between four bases: inside Gion near Yasaka Shrine and the Shirakawa, up the Higashiyama slope, along Sanjo, or across the river at Shijo-Kawaramachi.