Where's Kyoto? Trip Advisor Announces World's Top Destinations

       I vividly remember my sole visit to the Forbidden City in Beijing a few years ago. I was in and out in after about 30 minutes, my patience having vanished following a dose of elbows and shoulder barges courtesy of an army of old Chinese women in red caps. I resolved not to return.   

         Reading the above, you may be surprised to hear that China’s capital was voted the world’s fourth best destination by Trip Advisor reviewers. So was I. Admittedly, the city’s food is fantastic and often very cheap. In my experience, it’s far superior to what you find in Paris and New York, no matter what your budget. And you never have to tip. It also has a fine Buddhist temple, where you can regain your sanity after immersing yourself in the chaos and stress of street life. 

         For make no mistake, Beijing is staggeringly stressful. A taxi ride through the city’s clogged and choking streets is enough to convert you to religion. The drivers are generally furious and pound their horns as if their lives depended on it; they weave in and out of traffic with a crazy abandon, their recklessness suggesting they believe in guardian angels. And yet, miraculously, in the six weeks or so I have spent there I have never seen a crash. 

         Of course, everybody knows the city’s polluted, but you can’t really imagine how bad it is until you’ve been there. You feel it on your face and at the back of your throat. It’s especially obvious at night, when streetlights shine dimly in the murky haze. I always imagine this is how London must have been in Conan Doyle’s time.    

         How can Beijing have attained such a lofty position when Kyoto, my favourite city, didn’t even make it into the top 25? This is madness. OK, so the Japanese city is insanely humid in the summer and features one of the world’s most hideous modern structures (Kyoto Tower). But Kyoto is a place of historical and architectural wonders. 

         When I was living in the ugly industrial city of Fuji I used to regularly escape to Kyoto on the shinkansen. Merely getting off the train was enough to lighten my mood. I knew that ancient gardens and temples waited, and that I could walk along old stone canals and down narrow, atmospheric streets by the river. 

         The garden at Koke-dera could be the most beautiful place I have ever seen. On the day I visited the grey skies were full of rain, but who cared? Thin trees soared high above as I wandered round the large walled garden, hundreds of years old, admiring the carpet of lush green moss and the tiny stone bridges connecting the islands in the central pond. Yes, it cost 3000 yen and I had to go through the bizarre ritual of writing a document in Japanese, but it was unforgettable. 

         Or there is the startling Fushimi-Inari shrine complex, famous for the hundreds of orange and black torii gates that continue to the top of a mountain (I never got that far). You can stop in one of the huts along the route and soak up the superb views over the city while enjoying a beer or a cup of Nihon-cha (green tea). 

          So, my advice is to ignore Trip Advisor and travel to Kyoto. It is truly one of the world’s greatest cities.