What other travelers are saying about Kodai-ji Temple
Absolutely amazing experience visiting this ancient temple. It’s a long meandering walk through beautiful historic streets to get to the top - an hour of easy climbing. Plenty of delicious food along the way - desserts, icecream, cafes.
The shrine is beautiful and very serene nestled amidst the mountains which are lush green giving the entire ambience a mystical feel. When it rains - it’s even prettier
There was major construction work being carried out, which detracted from the overall experience. It's beautiful and serene like so many places in Kyoto, but many of them are free to enter. We visited at 2 pm, during Golden Week, and whilst the neighbouring streets are crammed full with people, I guess the 600 yen entry fee puts people off, as it was very quiet here. The bamboo forest is tiny but lovely, and it's easy to get some great photos and feel relaxed. The entry ticket gave us access to a very small and underwhelming museum.
An excellent temple to visit in the morning. The temple is very wonderful, vibrant and has astonishing beauty to it.
The price is 800 yen but it is worth it. You can also visit the bamboo forest near by. While in winter it is still quite pretty to view. The gardens are also very nice to visit too.
Recommend going early as the temple opens around 8:45 am, to avoid major crowds
Unfortunately, there was ongoing renovation when we visited, so it didn’t offer the full experience it should have. If you’re visiting while the renovation is still happening, I think you can skip it — for the time and money, there are better options in Kyoto. Otherwise, I would definitely consider it.
I was here for the Kodaiji bamboo forest which I could make my way to only by walking through the temple premises and it delivered. Wasn't really looking forward to see the temple but it still caught my eye with the well maintained gardens around and the lovely little typical Japanese architecture. I just visited the Kinkaku ji a day before, so Kodaiji temple was like a passing cloud for me.
