The Kamogawa (the Kamo river) is the line that holds Kyoto together — the city was laid out to face it, and a thousand years later it is still where everyone comes to sit. This is the river walk from top to bottom: a little over three kilometres down the right bank, best in the evening when the light goes gold on the water and the terraces light up.
Start at the Demachiyanagi delta, the grassy fork where the Takano meets the Kamo and the city comes to do nothing in particular. Cross the stepping-stones below it if the water's low — the turtle-shaped ones are the prize — then drop to the embankment and simply walk south. The bank is Kyoto's living room: herons stalking the shallows, runners, someone always playing an instrument they haven't quite mastered.
At Sanjo Ohashi, the bridge where the old road from Edo ended, the kawayuka begin — the wooden dining terraces built out over the river through the summer. You don't need a reservation to enjoy them; walk the low bank and watch them fill and glow above you. End below Pontocho, lanterns coming on, the Keihan line waiting at Sanjo.
