The night bus from Tokyo dropped me off in front of Kyoto station early in the morning. As nothing was open yet, and the city buses were not running, I explored Kyoto station. The entire station is covered by an undulating glass canopy, under which lies not only the station building but a park built on the rooftops of the station as in stair-steps its way from the ground floor to the 11th floor. There is an open viewing platform at the top with nice views of the city.
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| Kyoto station schematic. |
When the buses started running I hopped on bus 26 to perhaps my favourite hostel in the world, the
Utano Youth Hostel in northwestern Kyoto. It's a long ride to the Utano—almost one hour—but the bus drops you off right next to the hostel and you don't have to make any transfers so it's not that bad.
Utano is the second-last stop for Bus 26, "Youth Hostel Mae." After getting off at the Youth
Hostel stop, simply cross the road and walk up the street leading north;
the hostel will be the first building on your left.
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Front of the Utano hostel.
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