While checking out things to do in Kyoto, you’ll find yourself tiptoeing through rooms dripping in gold leaf (subtle wasn’t really their thing) and painted with dragons and tigers. The shoguns might have been paranoid, but they sure knew how to decorate – think of it as a medieval Japanese version of MTV Cribs, complete with security features that would make modern alarm systems jealous.
Our Japan tour packages will bring you here, and thank goodness – because where else can you explore a palace where even the floors gossip, ready to squeal on anyone trying to ninja their way around? Plus, the gardens are gorgeous, though surprisingly ninja-free these days. Turns out those squeaky floors worked so well, that the ninjas probably gave up and went to pester someone else’s castle instead.
