Kyoto is located near the centre of Japan's main island of Honshu, in the Kansai region.
Kyoto is probably what you picture when you think of old Japan. Over its long reign as capital, the city accumulated a plethora of buildings and structures fit for an emperor. It has around 1,600 Buddhist temples — including the Kinkaku-ji (or Golden Pavillion)...
...and around 400 Shinto shrines (safehouses for sacred artefacts), such as the iconic red gates of Fushimi Inari Taisha.
Kyoto also managed to avoid much of the bombing in WWII — a testament to why the city remains so well preserved today...
...though that's not to say they're stuck in the past.
Kyoto is also well known for its cherry blossom season, as seen in the film "Lost in Translation."
Host to endless Instagrams, the immense bamboo grove in Kyoto's Arashiyama district is one of the city's most celebrated staples.
Geisha hunting is one of Kyoto tourists' favourite past times. There are less than 1,000 of these enigmatic female entertainers left in the whole of Japan, making a sighting a real privilege.
Kimonos are not just the reserve of the Geisha, though. The Nishijin Textile Centre puts on regular kimono fashion shows and offers visitors the opportunity to buy their own.
You can still stay in Ryokans — traditional, matted rooms without a chair in sight.
When you're ready to leave Kyoto, you can hop on the bullet train to Tokyo, which covers over 500 kilometres in two hours and 20 minutes.
It's a little busier than Kyoto...
...but if you fancy beating the crowds you can always hop on a rickshaw.
There are religious hotspots here too.
Tokyo's New Year's Eve fireworks certainly give London a run for its money.
The electronics district is an explosion of psychadelic colours.
You can play sports with a view...
...enjoy some of the freshest sushi in the world at the Tsukiji Fish Market...
...or end your stay with dinner with a twist at the $10 million dollar Robot Restaurant, which holds performances three times a day.
