Photo: Nina R from Africa · CC BY 2.0
Hotels in Kyoto currently start at about € 80 per night for two people, with a typical price of € 176 and € 110 for a comfortable 4-star room. Across the 357 properties we can book here, 72% of rooms can be cancelled free of charge; 29% include or offer breakfast; the average guest rating is 9/10.
Kyoto's sights are spread around the edges of a flat grid, so where you sleep decides how much of your day you spend in transit. Near Kyoto Station you get the buses and the bullet train; around Gion and Higashiyama you can walk to the temples at dawn before the crowds, which is the whole trick in this city.
Per night for two adults, taxes and fees included where the property reports them. Based on the 357 bookable properties we found for a two-night midweek stay a month ahead.
| Cheapest available | € 51 |
|---|---|
| Typical starting price | € 80 |
| Lower quarter of the market | € 130 |
| Typical (median) price | € 176 |
| Upper quarter | € 266 |
| Typical 3-star | € 65 |
| Typical 4-star | € 110 |
| Typical 5-star | € 265 |
The highest-rated properties with a meaningful number of guest reviews, available for our sample dates.
Rated 8/10 or better and priced at or below the city median — the sweet spot most travellers are actually looking for.
The places travellers here look up most, ranked by how widely they are written about. Most sit within reach of the hotels above.
human settlement in Japan
9.6 km from the centreRinzai Zen Buddhist temple located in Matsuo, Japan
7.9 km from the centreKyoto sits in Japan at 35.0116° N, 135.7681° E. Every hotel below is plotted on the live map, so you can see straight away which ones are walking distance from what you came for and which are a taxi ride out.
Distances are straight-line from the city centre.
Walk to the eastern temples before the buses arrive. Priciest.
Every bus and the Shinkansen, practical, least atmospheric.
Restaurants and nightlife, central, good value.
Bamboo grove and river, quiet evenings, twenty minutes out by train.
Each of these has its own page with live prices for that part of town.
Rooms within walking distance of what you actually came for.
An IC card (Suica/Pasmo) makes transport painless. Many small restaurants have a cover charge (otoshi) that is not a scam.
One of only two Asian destinations we measure with a swing above two: 2.20 times between the cheapest and dearest ordinary week. Autumn colour in November and cherry blossom in early April are the peaks, and they are genuinely extreme. Winter and the rainy June are far cheaper. Note that only 29% of rooms here include breakfast, the lowest in this region.
Yes, and more than the stars on the hotel. Across three separate midweek stays we measured, the typical price in Kyoto differed by a factor of 2.2. Move your dates a week and check again before you settle for less hotel. How we measure this.
The price you see includes our margin and the taxes the property reports. Nothing is added at checkout.
Every rate states its own deadline, and you cancel yourself without calling anyone.
See what each property costs before you click, and search any neighbourhood by dragging the map.
You get a reference the property can look up directly, and a page to view or cancel your booking.
Autumn foliage in November and cherry blossom around the start of April. Our measurements show the typical room varying by 2.20 times between ordinary weeks, one of the largest swings anywhere in Asia.
Higashiyama or Gion, so you can reach the eastern temples on foot early in the morning before the tour buses arrive. Arashiyama works the same way on the western side.
Right now the cheapest bookable rooms start around € 80 per night for two people, the typical price is € 176, and the upper quarter of the market begins at € 266. Prices move with the season and the day of the week, so check your own dates.
Yes — about 72% of the rooms available in Kyoto can be cancelled free of charge up to a deadline set by the property, usually 24 to 72 hours before check-in. Use the free cancellation filter to see only those rates.
One of only two Asian destinations we measure with a swing above two: 2.20 times between the cheapest and dearest ordinary week. Autumn colour in November and cherry blossom in early April are the peaks, and they are genuinely extreme. Winter and the rainy June are far cheaper. Note that only 29% of rooms here include breakfast, the lowest in this region.
The JPY (¥). Cash is still needed for small restaurants, shrines and rural areas, though cards are increasingly accepted.
No tipping. It can cause genuine confusion — do not leave money on the table.
The best-known places are Nagaoka-kyō, Saihō-ji Temple, Kyoto Tower, Sanjō Ōhashi Bridge, Kyoto Broadcasting System. There is more detail in the things-to-do section above.
Yes, and more than the stars on the hotel. Across three separate midweek stays we measured, the typical price in Kyoto differed by a factor of 2.2. Move your dates a week and check again before you settle for less hotel.