The Best Kyoto Travel Apps for Temples and Shrines
We had the idea for Sacred Kyoto in a few small temples near Arashiyama. It was our second trip to Kyoto, and we're the curious kind. What we wanted, on that trip, was a guide that tells the story of a place and what the place says about its own history. For us, dates slip away by the next temple. A story stays. So we made that guide, with the dates inside the story. Sacred Kyoto is our app, so we've put it last and kept to the facts.
The short answer
It depends on what you'll do on the day.
- To check in at temples and plan your temple day: Kyoto Temple Tracker.
- To follow one narrated walk: VoiceMap.
- To get between temples: LUUP for an e-bike, Google Maps for directions and GO for a taxi.
- To read or listen at each site it covers: Sacred Kyoto, our app.
To check in and plan routes
Kyoto Temple Tracker
Pick Kyoto Temple Tracker to check in at temples and plan routes. Its store page describes a catalogue of historic temples, shrines, castles and palaces, with a check-in when you're within a kilometre of a landmark and a grid of badges for the places you've been. Its day-trip planner works out a route and sends it to Google Maps, and a list of up to 20 places you want to see sends you a notification when you're near one. The page also lists goshuin reminders when you check in, information on crowds and when to visit, an etiquette section and a historical timeline, in English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
It's on iPhone, free to download, with one in-app purchase. Store page: App Store.
To follow one narrated walk
VoiceMap
Pick VoiceMap for a narrated walking tour along one route. Its self-guided tours, mostly walks, are narrated by local guides and run on GPS: the audio plays by itself as you reach each place, and turn-by-turn directions lead you from a fixed starting point. Once downloaded, a tour works offline, with an offline map, and you can pick up where you stopped. You can also play a tour on VoiceMap's website, or at home in its virtual mode, while you plan. VoiceMap covers destinations worldwide, so the same app can carry your tours in other cities too.
It's on iPhone and Android. The app is free to download, and you pay per tour or buy a pass. Store pages: App Store and Google Play, with the Kyoto tours on VoiceMap's site.
To get between temples
A temple day is also the time between temples: the walk, the ride or the taxi from one to the next. On our second trip, we got around Kyoto by bike, with the LUUP app. Three apps cover that part of the day.
LUUP
Pick LUUP to ride from one temple to the next. It's a shared e-bike and e-scooter app that works in Kyoto, with ports in front of train stations, around town and at shops. You find a port on the app's map, unlock your e-bike with its QR code, and return it at any port, so look for one near your next temple. You register in the app and pay by card for each ride.
It's on iPhone and Android, and the app is free to download. Store pages: App Store and Google Play, with more on LUUP's English page.
Google Maps
Pick Google Maps to find your way between temples. It's a free general map app with walking, cycling and public transport directions. Kyoto Temple Tracker's planner, above, sends its routes to it. Its store page says some features vary by country and city, so check your route in Kyoto before you set out.
It's on iPhone and Android. Store pages: App Store and Google Play.
GO
Pick GO to call a taxi to your next temple. GO's own Kyoto page puts most of Kyoto City, and nearby cities, in its service area, and you request the taxi in the app. Its App Store page says the app is in English, that you can sign up with a non-Japanese mobile number, and that you can pay by credit card. A taxi comes when one is available nearby.
It's on iPhone and Android. The app is free, and you pay the metered fare. Store pages: App Store and Google Play.
On one temple day, the three fit together: a LUUP ride between nearby temples, Google Maps for the route, and a GO taxi for a longer hop.
To read or listen at each site
Sacred Kyoto
Sacred Kyoto is the guide we wanted on that second trip, and its promise fits in five words: know what you're looking at. Each guide tells the story of the place, shows you what to look for on the spot and shares a few surprising details.
At Fushimi Inari, for example, each gate was given by someone, and the giver's name and a date are written on the back. So the gates keep their own record of who gave them, and when. Fushimi Inari's guide tells the rest.
Fushimi Inari Taisha
You can read each guide or listen to it. Listen and Read are two buttons side by side, and each one opens the whole guide.
Sacred Kyoto is a pocket guide to the temples and shrines of Kyoto, and its guides work in airplane mode. The map draws its streets when you have a connection. The guides are in English.
It's on iPhone and Android, with both store buttons at the foot of this page.
Questions
What is the best app for visiting temples in Kyoto?
It depends on what you'll do. Kyoto Temple Tracker is for checking in at temples and planning your temple day, VoiceMap for a narrated walk along one route, and LUUP, Google Maps and GO for getting between temples by e-bike, with directions or by taxi. Sacred Kyoto, which we make, is for reading or listening at each site it covers.
Is there a Kyoto temple guide that works offline?
Yes. VoiceMap's tours work offline once downloaded, with an offline map. Sacred Kyoto's guides, which we make, work in airplane mode, and its map draws its streets when you have a connection.
Which app helps you get around Kyoto between temples?
As of 6 November 2026, three apps cover it. LUUP is a shared e-bike and e-scooter app that works in Kyoto, where you register in the app and pay by card. Google Maps gives walking, cycling and public transport directions, with features that vary by city, and GO requests a taxi across most of Kyoto City from the app.
