We have the book that describes all the walks in Kyoto but the times and effort are not described. We are in our 60's and wondering the effort for each of the walks in Kyoto, e.g. up hill, time. We are not in great physical shape and do not want to take on over challenging walks. Help?

I wouldn't say walking in Kyoto is physically challenging, but some of the routes in guidebooks are long in distance. You don't have to do an entire walk...you could just do part of one. There is always the option of stopping anywhere along the way, too, and taxis are plentiful.

Which walks are you interested in doing? I think the Philosopher's Path is pretty level, along the river. Higashiyama is somewhat hilly and might be beyond you, it's hard to tell and you'll probably need to figure it out when you get there. You could get there and see - and abandon that Higashiyama walk and just shop in the great shops and see a few temples, but not do that whole walk perhaps.

When are you going? This could be just the incentive you need to start taking short daily walks and eventually building up more distance and time. It would be a shame to travel so far and miss some of the sights you had hoped to see due to fitness.
LisaS

Bonjour Jeajohnson,

My mother, in her late 60's and who cannot walk much more than 1/2 hour at a time, found that the only somewhat challenging walk was up the road towards Kiyomizu temple (in Higashiyama). I took care of that by taking a taxi up to the foot of the temple, then going back down on foot, and making frequent stops in between.

There are lots of places where you can stop and just sit down and enjoy people watching (take a small towel to sit down on low walls or stairs - the Japanese will use a newspaper of a hankerchief for that purpose), or stop for a drink, including inside most temples, shrines and gardens.

Other than that, Kyoto is rather flat and public transport will ensure you usually don't have much to walk in order to visit most places.

Florence, I hope my daughter treats me like that when I am older and we are still taking our annual trips to Japan....

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/PTG/pdf/pg-503.pdf

Above is a link from the Japanese tourist website with pdf files for some Kyoto walks. They include approximate times so maybe that might help you.....

I'm 58 and was in Kyoto last year. Most of the walking inthe city center and Philosopher's Path is flat and easy. I took a taxi to Kiyomizu-dera, then walked down the Sannenzaka, through Gion, and back to my lodging at Hiiragiya (near City Hall). My physique is more like a potato than an athlete, and I didn't find the walk at all challenging (it's probably 2 miles), though there are quite a few steps here and there that could be an issue for people with bad knees/joints.