Cherry blossom Kyoto is the famous one. Maple Kyoto is the better one.
In late November the temples turn red. Not metaphor-red — actual fire-red, because the maples around them are all 200 years old and committed. The crowds are about a third of what April brings, the air is cold enough to make tea matter, and the moss gardens hit their best green of the year.
## Where to go
**Tofuku-ji** at dawn. Wooden bridge, 2,000 maples, no people if you're there by 7am. By 9 it's a queue.
**Eikan-do** in the late afternoon — they light the maples after sunset and it's overrated by every blog and underrated in real life.
**Ohara**, half an hour outside the city, for a quieter version of the same pleasure. Sanzen-in temple, walking trails, a soba restaurant called Seryo that's been there for centuries.
## Where to skip
Arashiyama bamboo grove unless you're there before 7am. Genuinely. The photos don't tell you about the loudspeaker tour groups.
## Where to stay
A ryokan with a private onsen if your budget stretches — Tawaraya is the dream, Hiiragiya the slightly-cheaper-but-still-special option. Otherwise a modern hotel near Karasuma — Ace Hotel Kyoto if you want design, the Anteroom if you want art-hotel weird.
## Eat
Skip the Michelin guide. Find a kissaten (old-school coffee shop), a small kaiseki place with eight seats, and a tachinomi (standing bar) on Pontocho. That's the meal trinity.
## One rule
Don't try to "do" Kyoto. Do one neighbourhood a day, and arrive at temples at the time they're empty (early or late). The city rewards slowness more than any city in Asia.