A Kyoto day in the Arashiyama bamboo grove

The walking path through five hundred metres of tall bamboo. Arrive before 07:30 to have it almost to yourself; after 09:00 the photo crowd arrives and the silence goes with them. Wear shoes that handle gravel.

A 14th-century Zen temple with a pond garden that's barely changed since. Walk out of the main hall onto the Sogenchi pond path — the borrowed scenery of the Arashiyama mountains behind is its defining feature.

Halfway up the Sagano hillside, with 1,200 carved stone Jizo statues — each with a different face, most smiling. Far less crowded than the famous cousin Adashino next door. Thirty to forty minutes is enough.

Soba in a tatami room overlooking the Togetsukyo Bridge. Order the tenzaru — tempura with cold soba, grated ginger on the side, soba-yu broth to finish. Queue at peak; arrive before noon.

A twenty-minute uphill walk behind the bamboo forest to a hilltop where Japanese macaques roam free. You enter their enclosure through a wooden cage; they're outside. The view back over Kyoto at golden hour is the prize.

The long wooden bridge across the Katsura River. Walk it at dusk — mountains behind, reflections below, local families picnicking along the banks. Cherry trees frame both ends in April.

A Kyoto tofu specialist in a wooden townhouse. Yudofu — tofu simmered slowly in kombu broth — is the signature. Tatami seating, kaiseki simplicity, the meal takes two hours. Book ahead.