- Time: 4 hours
- Fee: ¥40,000 (about US$266)
- Expenses: about ¥2,000 per person
Southern Higashiyama is Kyoto’s most popular sightseeing district, and with good reason: it’s packed with first-rate sights. My route through this area takes in some of the city’s most famous highlights, with a nice dash of lesser-known attractions, all linked by great secret lanes, alleys and streets. Best of all, it allows you to avoid most of the crowds that are usually found in the area, especially in springtime.
We start near Sanjo-dori Street and we walk to the rarely visited Shoren-in Temple. Then, we enter the vast Pure Land temple of Chion-in and enter the garden there, which few tourists visit. We then walk through the mysterious graveyard before heading up to the awe-inspiring bell of the temple. Finally, we descend into picturesque Maruyama-koen Park and then continue down into colorful Yasaka-jina Shrine. (If you are doing this tour in the morning, your guide can give you a route for the afternoon that includes Kiyomizu-dera Temple, one of Kyoto’s most famous sights.)
The walk takes four hours and can be done by anyone in moderately good physical condition.
The walk costs ¥40,000 (about US$266) per group (NOT per person) plus expenses that average about ¥2,000 per person (entry fees, snacks etc).
You can extend this walk to create a six-hour tour — ¥60,000 (about US$399) per group. For the six-hour option, you can include part of our Walk 1 (Northern Higashiyama Highlights and Secrets). If you’d like to do an eight-hour tour — ¥75,000 (about US$499) per group — you can combine this with the full Walk 1 (Northern Higashiyama Highlights and Secrets).
To book a walk, contact us.
