The Mystery of Kyoto

The former capital of Imperial Japan offers an ageless beauty that can be explored at a relaxed pace by bike and a spiritual air that makes it one of the most intriging cities in the world.
Leyend has it that one of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II could have been destined for Kyoto, but Henry L. Stimson, the Secretary of War under Roosevelt and Truman, argued for other targets in order to save a place he had visited on his honeymoon in the 1920s, when he fell in love with the city, it`s cultural treasures and gardens.
Kyoto is a charming city, but it can also be confusing and overwhelming. This iconic destination offers visitors so much that exploring it can be tricky. The former capital of Imperial Japan - a status it held for a thousand years until it was transferred to Tokyo in 1869 - Kyoto offers an impressive and seemingly endless menu of things to see and do in one of the few cities that has remained intact for centuries. It boasts thousands of machiya (traditional wooden houses), 17 temples that have UNESCO World Heritage Site status (out of a total of 2,000) and hundreds of palaces, monuments and traditional gardens.
There are only two problems, but both have solutions. First, few people on the streets will communicate in English beyond a timid hello, but the signage, the traveler`s maps and the city transportation options that you`ll feel like you`ve made good use of your budget (especially if you stay in a ryokan, the cheap, traditional hotels).