Kyoto Nishijin Ward as a base?
 

Hi
We booked this place for the first week of April https://www.izayoikyoto.com/
It has no reviews so was a little concerned but the owner seems nice. Anyone ever stay there by chance?
Cherry Blossoms are making that week tough for Kyoto but it is when we have to be in Japan for family business.

How about the neighborhood? It looks fairly convenient. We have teens and live in NYC and do not want to be in the Gion area or any really hustle and bustle area. Last time we rented a house inout Higashiyama near the Silver Pavilion and that worked out well. Thanks

I have walked around a bit in that area....it is very residential as far as I saw - not many tourist attractions as in Higashiyama and Ginkakuji....From what I could see looking at Google maps for Rozanji Dori and the Kyoto Bus Map - you can get buses on Kita-Oji, Imadegawa, Senbon and Horikawa depending on where you are going. The subway and trains are quite a bit further, not really walking distance. Don't know how convenient that is for your plans.

btw, where did you find the $800 some odd fare on ANA? I haven't seen the price that low in months...

Enjoy your trip!

Nishijin slightly off the main tourist centers but so what?
Short taxi to subway or bus transfer
Slightly off topic but good Kyoto resource
Check out >Mapping Kyoto Streets< on youtube
Older NHK program that covers Kyoto streets

Nishijin ward
 

@Mara I use SkyScanner and plug in a price drop alert. The afternoon the price dropped we grabbed it. A few hours later those prices were sold out. Higashiyama was great but we got a late start looking for a place to stay because we were waiting for plane tickets to drop in price. And our house at Higashiyama was kind of pricey but we had my mother in law and so needed a nice place to stay with enough room.

@kalihiwai2 thank you. I guess we will take cabs.... we have saved a fair amount in what is left on houses so late etc.

Now I need to plan my few days there with teens.

Not to beat this to death...sorry - I 'm not familiar with SkyScanner - I use yapta and didn't receive an alert. May I ask where you booked the flight? Through SkyScanner or ANA? Thanks very much!

If you are a New Yorker I think you will find Kyoto taxi prices to be very reasonable and no tipping! :)

HI there... sorry about the confusion. We always fly ANA but we are flying JAL into Haneda this time. I am not sure what else to say. I put in a price alert into Skyscanner.com. The minute the price dropped we grabbed our tickets for $829 direct flights from NYC to Haneda. I did this last year too for Greece. Good luc