PORTER Postcard: Kyoto

Kyoto is very good at time travel. Within a few streets, an ancient temple sits around the corner from a Brooklyn-born sando shop; classical silk weaving adorns contemporary furniture; and one of the world’s best-known hotel names tucks itself into a historical hillside.

The city’s blockbuster sights still deserve their place, but Kyoto is at its best when they share the itinerary with ambitious openings and modern artisans. The fun is in moving between them. Here’s where to stay, eat, drink, shop and switch off in Japan’s ancient capital…

The city’s most luxurious hotel might be the one you almost walk past. Park Hyatt Kyoto sits right in the thick of Higashiyama – the historic eastern district – just a short walk from such spiritual heavyweights as Kodai-ji and Kiyomizu-dera temples. Its discreet entrance is right off Ninenzaka, a photogenic time warp of stone paving and preserved wooden shopfronts selling matcha sweets, ceramics and all manner of suitcase-testing temptations.

Within just a few steps the bustle falls away. A landscaped garden leads to The Living Room, the hotel’s glamorous answer to a lobby, with gold leaf overhead, abstract ikebana arrangements and a fireplace glowing at its centre. Guests coo over seasonal afternoon teas almost too pretty to disturb, while a kimono-clad musician plays the koto.

Seventy rooms are staggered across the hillside, and yet the hotel manages to feel intimate: ryokan in spirit but with Park Hyatt refinement. The spa’s bathhouse and sauna provide respite between temple visits, while fourth-floor cocktail bar Kohaku comes into its own at sunset as Kyoto’s tiled rooftops gleam then fade into dusk. Pagoda View rooms allow the sightseeing to continue in pajamas – or, more appropriately, in one of the cotton yukata robes provided. Breakfast is another reason to stay put: the Japanese menu comes from the chefs of neighbouring two-Michelin-starred Sanso Kyoyamato – only a limited number are served each morning, so ask the front desk to reserve one.

The covered arcades of Teramachi and Shinkyogoku, alongside neighbouring Nishiki Market, offer an authentic browsing experience. Expect to find knife specialists, tea merchants and shops filled with antique ceramics and rails of vintage kimono all within a few blocks. A cotton yukata is a smarter buy than a formal kimono: lighter to pack, easier to wear and destined for a glamorous second life as a dressing gown. Nostalgic Toushinan is an insider favorite. Leave room in the hold for proper matcha and freshly roasted hojicha, too. Your first cup back home will taste particularly good while wrapped in your new yukata.

Kyoto’s headline temples are hardly hidden gems; the real luxury is being shown what most visitors don’t get to see. Park Hyatt Kyoto guests can take an exclusive 90-minute tour of Kiyomizu-dera, including the main hall, a sermon from the head priest and access to a landscaped garden normally closed to the public. It’s the difference between ticking off one of the city’s most famous landmarks and properly experiencing it.

Temple-hopping, gallery visits and long lunches call for city chic and transeasonal layering. Think fluid layers in shades of stone, ink and moss, with interest coming through cut and proportion – Japanese labels Sacai and Auralee provide ample inspiration. Expect to remove your shoes at some temple halls and in rooms with tatami, so choose ballet flats or loafers that slip off easily and socks worthy of their unusually public role.