Inside our Kyoto small-group trail

Kyoto rewards the early riser more than almost anywhere we run trips. Fushimi Inari at seven in the morning is a quiet corridor of gates and birdsong. The same path at eleven is a slow shuffle behind selfie sticks.

So we start early, most days by half past six, and we cap the group at eight. Eight is small enough that a licensed local guide can talk at a normal volume, adjust the route on the day, and get everyone through a temple gate before the coaches arrive. It is also small enough to fit around one table for dinner.

The pay-off is a version of Kyoto that most visitors never see: gravel raked and empty, moss still wet, a monk sweeping the steps. By mid-morning, when the crowds build, we are already on to the next quiet thing.