Photo By: Elin Chow

After dropping our bags at our Airbnb apartment in Kyoto, we headed out to Kyoto Botanical Garden to see the cherry blossoms at night. The garden is one of the lesser known tourist attraction in Kyoto. If you type "Kyoto attractions" on Google, there is a high possibility that Kyoto Botanical Garden will not be in the list.

Kyoto Botanical Garden is the oldest and most diverse botanical garden in Japan that is built on 240,000 metre square of land donated by the wealthy Mitsui family of bankers and financiers to commemorate the enthronement of Emperor Taisho in 1924.

The garden is located right next to Kamo river of Kyoto and easily accessible by train from Kyoto station. From Kyoto station, take the Karasuma Line subway to Kitayama station. The journey takes about 15 minutes and cost 290 Yen. From Kitayama station, it is a 5 minutes walk to Kyoto Botanical Garden.



Admission fee to Kyoto Botanical Garden is 200 Yen. You have pay an additional 200 Yen to access the conservatory. Tickets can be bought at the ticket machines at the entrance. The ticket allows for multiple entry on the same day. We did not buy the tickets for the conservatory since we visited quite late in the evening. The last admission to the conservatory is at 3.30 pm.

Kyoto Botanical Garden is open from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. But the opening hour is extended to 9.00 pm (last admission is 8.00 pm) during the cherry blossom light up season.



A hidden gem that is often overlooked by tourists, the garden features 120,000 plants of 12,000 species. It is divided into various sections - Hydrangea Garden, Bamboo Garden, European-style Garden, Bonsai Exhibit, Camellia Garden, Cherry Tree Grove, Flower Bed, Japanese Iris Garden, Japanese Native Plants, Lotus Pond, Nakaragi-no-mori Pond, Peony Garden, Perennial and Useful Plants, Sunken Garden and Ume Grove.

Inside the garden, you will also find one of the largest conservatory in Japan, which boasts a huge collection of 25,000 specimens across 4,500 different species. It is actually worth paying the extra 200 Yen to visit if you have the time.

Kyoto Botanical Garden can be enjoyed all year round as there are always something new and different to discover here. Cherry trees bloom throughout the garden in spring and Hydrangea in summer. In the fall, the leaves of maple trees turn bright crimson color and in the winter, the conservatory keeps its plants and flowers warm. Thus, it is very common for locals to visit 4 times a year to experience the beauty of each season.

Even though Kyoto Botanic Garden can be visited at any time of the year, the most popular time to visit will be spring and autumn.



With little time to spare, we headed straight to the Cherry Blossom Grove where more than 500 cherry trees are grown. The variety of species here is immense and all of them are clustered together in the Cherry Blossom Grove. With different varieties of cherry trees blooming at different time, the blooming season here is usually much longer than anywhere else in the city.

The garden is open late for cherry blossom night time illumination. Most of the cherry trees were still opening but not far from reaching the peak when we visited. Despite only a few trees bloom, while the majority are still budding, it was still a beautiful sight.


Unfortunately, we could not cover all the gardens because it was already dark when we finished walking through the Cherry Blossom Grove. Anyway, Kyoto Botanical Garden is one of the most underrated attraction in Kyoto. The admission is really cheap, so it is really worth checking it out if you have some extra time in Kyoto.



We had our dinner at Fujiya, a well-established restaurant that is famous for their freshly kneaded buckwheat soba and freshly fried Tempura. The restaurant is located at Porta Dining, an underground shopping mall connected to Kyoto Station. Porta is a good place to go for lunch and dinner as it offers a number of affordable dining options ranging from Japanese food, to cafes, sandwiches shops and fast food outlets.

Price: 1,240 Yen

My husband ordered their Katsura combo set which comes with shrimp and vegetables tempura and chilled buckwheat noodles.

Price: 1,380 Yen

I had the Fujiya Bento because I was feeling really hungry. The combo set consists of Sashimi, shrimp and vegetables tempura, boiled and seasoned pickles, buckwheat noodles and rice. Food was really delicious! The tempura was addictively crispy and fluffy and non-greasy. We were not really a fan of the boiled and seasoned pickles. They just taste weird to us.


If you are interested to know more about our trip, you may want to check out our 9D8N Tokyo - Kyoto - Osaka Trip Itinerary + Overview for the list of attractions that we had visited during our 9 days in Japan. For anyone planning your first trip to Japan but have no idea where to start, you should read my "How To Plan A Trip To Japan" post.

Be sure to follow me on Facebook or Twitter for the latest updates on my 9 days adventures in Japan! You might also want to check My Wanderlust page for some of my other travel adventures.