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Yasaka-dori in the early morning: wooden houses, lit lanterns and the five-storey Yasaka pagoda under a grey sky
Kyoto

4 places to bathe, from an old sento by To-ji to a 160-year-old townhouse sauna.

Photo: Basile Morin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Kyoto's baths: two sento, a townhouse sauna and one hotel spa

Kyoto's best baths aren't hotel spas. They're the sento, the neighbourhood bathhouses, and private saunas in old townhouses.

We chose four, at least 2 km apart. Two famous names, Funaoka Onsen and Kurama Onsen, sit at 4.3 on Google, under our line. Arashiyama, the north-east and Fushimi have no pick yet: nothing there passed with a bath, pool or sauna we could verify.

Illustrated map of central Kyoto: the Kamo River, the street grid and the eastern hills, with To-ji pagoda, Kyoto Tower, Kiyomizu-dera, the Heian Shrine torii, Kinkaku-ji and a neighbourhood bathhouse drawn in cobalt ink 1234
  1. 1

    Kita · Murasakino

    Meijiyu (明司湯)

    LocalModernRitual

    A Showa-era sento renovated in 2025: sauna, chilled cold bath, deep hot bath, tap beer upstairs. 880 yen.

    SentoSauna

    880 JPYadult entry · weekdays from 14:00

  2. 2

    Central Kyoto · Karasuma Oike

    MACHIYA:SAUNA KYOTO

    BoutiqueHistoricSocial

    A 160-year-old townhouse, once a painter's studio, rented whole: private sauna, cypress cold bath, garden.

    Sauna

    8,000 JPYper person, weekdays · 2 to 6 guests

  3. 3

    Higashiyama · Myohoin, by Sanjusangendo

    Six Senses Spa Kyoto

    ResortModernRitual

    Bathhouse, sauna, steam room, indoor pool and a Watsu pool; a three-hour day pass for 18,000 yen.

    BathhousePoolSaunaMassage

    18,000 JPYday pass, up to 3 hours · baths 07:00 to 21:00

  4. 4

    Kyoto Station · Kujo, by To-ji

    Hinode-yu (日の出湯)

    LocalRitual

    An old-fashioned sento 400 m from To-ji: two hot baths, an electric bath, a cold plunge, an English guide at the desk.

    Sento

    At the counterclosed Thursdays · 16:00 to 23:00

Checked 7 November 2026. Picks follow the same published rules in every city.