This was my very first stop in Kyoto. Having visited in autumn before, I wanted to experience Eikando’s lush, vibrant greenery this time around. As soon as you enter, you’re greeted by a stunning garden. There’s a peaceful wooden veranda where you can sit and take it all in, and the wooden staircase leading up the hillside is incredibly impressive. Since it easily connects to nearby spots like Nanzen-ji, I highly recommend adding this to your itinerary!
Top 3 atractions in Kyoto if you ask me. Please expect 45min to 1.5hours to spend here.
Entrance fee is 1000JPY.
We entered late so the crowd was oké. It’s a both a beautiful garden and amazing temple complex which you explore by walking on your socks which immediately makes you more humble to the location.
There were many visitors dressed up in traditional Japanese clothing which was fun at the beginning but the amount of pictures taking and blocking the path was quite annoying even though all the signs to reduce this.
At the koy pond there is the possibility to drink various types of thee on tatami while being outside.
Would highly recommend!
Entrance fee is 1,000 yen, cash-only. I visited on 2025 Dec 1 as it opened. There was a queue to get in but the line moved quickly.
The fall foliage was beautiful and seemed to be at the peak, or a little past it. There were lots of people trying to take pictures of themselves so anywhere with fall foliage is quite chaotic. Still, the garden and the temple ground are mesmerizing.
I visited last November to see the evening illuminations. I’ll therefore only be judging the temple in that context.
A superb spot to enjoy the autumn illuminations, which I highly recommend. It’s truly beautiful, though unfortunately a bit too crowded, enough so that it was a bit of a nuisance at times. I had to queue to get in; once inside, it was generally very crowded, with large crowds gathering at certain key spots to take photos.
I don’t think it’s necessarily the best place in Kyoto to enjoy the illuminations, but the site remains magnificent and is definitely worth a visit.
One of my favorites temple visit because of the momiji illumination night view. I walked from Nanzenji temple for around 5 minutes or so before reavhing to Eikando temple. However had to wait for half an hour because the night illumination is only open from 5.30pm onwards, the queue was quite long since it is a famous night illumination spot. Needless to say, the view is really enchanting at night, despite being at night you can still see the vibrant colors of the leaves. Do brace the cold if you go in Dcember though. I had a great experience here and would recommend everyone to pay a visit during peak momiji season.
