Shimogamo and Tadasu-no-Mori
- Food
- A soba shop toward Demachiyanagi
- Sports
- Kyoto University club sport
Crowd level: Easy. Busy only at the obvious hour
Best season Early morning outside festival days. April and November are beautiful and busier. Weekdays still work if you arrive at opening.
Shimogamo Shrine sits in Tadasu-no-Mori, a remnant of the forest that once covered the basin. You walk under old trees before you reach the halls. The city feels like the exception. The woods feel like the rule.
The short version
With Kamigamo, Shimogamo is one of the Kamo shrines that guarded the north of the capital, and both are older than the Heian grid of 794. The forest is what the plain used to be. Aoi Matsuri in May is the crowd. Any other morning is the visit.
Food nearby
A soba shop toward Demachiyanagi
Do not peel off into Nishiki Market. Walk south toward the river and eat soba, or stop at Demachi Futaba for the bean-filled mochi the neighborhood actually queues for, briefly.
A game nearby
Kyoto University club sport
The university is nearby. A campus baseball or rugby fixture is the right ticket. A pro night in Osaka is a different trip and a different crowd.
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