I went to Kyoto in February 2016. Of the 4 WHSs I took in on my Japan trip, Kyoto captured the essence of Japanese heritage the best for me. A good point to get your bearing and view many of the temples is the rather expensive Kyoto Observation Tower. Also note that the famous Fushimi Inari shrine is NOT inscribed, though is still fun to visit.

Byodo-in: We took the Nara line 30 minutes out of Kyoto to Uji station, where it seemed that every other shop was a specialist in matcha. Byodo-in temple is surrounded by a tranquil pool of water. This was the first time on our trip that we were required to take off our shoes, which is something you will find very often when visiting Japanese cultural sites. The museum includes 52 wooden bodhisattvas, which seem vaguely similar to angels in Christianity.

Ujigami-jinja: across the wide Uji river from Byodo-in is this small guardian shrine. It was the lowest-key and the quietest of the sites we visited in the Greater Kyoto area. So quiet, in fact, that it joined the select list of World Heritage Sites at which we have found ourselves to be the only visitors.

Kyo-o-gokoku-ji (To-ji): a short distance from Kyoto’s main railway station in the centre of town, Toji temple is home to the tallest pagoda in Japan. The site features a couple of single-storey buildings too: the Kodo (lecture hall) and Kondo (main hall). Each of these contains a selection of fabulous gilded statues positioned as a physical representation of the cosmology of Buddhism.

Hongan-ji: A brisk walk north took us to another temple close to Kyoto station. Free to enter, at Hongan-ji we saw two large decorated halls into which ordinary Japanese would come to pray. The floors are covered with tatami mats, so again one must take off shoes to enter. It was very peaceful inside these buildings, and it almost felt as if we shouldn't have been in there, being the non-Buddhists that we are.

Tenryu-ji: after a morning at Himeji Castle we darted back to Kyoto in order to visit another shrine. This time we picked Tenryu-ji, which is on the western outskirts of Kyoto, close to the hills that have halted the city’s almost inexorable sprawl. This temple was everything a tourist would want one to be: pretty, peaceful, garden, pond, raked gravel, bamboo, tatami mats, paper walls and quiet.

Nijo-ji: unlike some of the other temples in Kyoto, Nijo Castle is not a small and indoorsy one! Surrounded by a moat, it is a formidable block in the heart of the city. We walked around the maze of corridors inside the Ninomaru Palace, squeaking over the nightingale flooring. The surface was deliberately designed to ‘chirp’ when walked on, in order that intruders would not be able to sneak up on the emperor unannounced.