Kyoto Imperial Palace in Otsu

Unfortunately there was no guided tour on the day I visited. Visitors just follow the designated sightseeing route.There is a single spot in the palace complex where you can experience cherry blossom and autumn together. There were three blooming cherry trees when I visited this early november. The details were on the information boards.

Very beautiful and interesting historical site.

A must see. So beautiful. You can scan a QR code for a guided tour via your phone. No wait to enter.

Interesting to see and feel the way emperors in Japan lived. Make sure you enter no later than 2 pm because the place is closed by 3:30 pm.

Free entrance, and not to crowded. ( yet)Beautiful buildings and gardens. And try the Matcha tea at the restaurant. So good!

Very interesting and beautiful site to visit. You will walk through the palace buildings and the surrounding gardens. You will not need tickets or reservations to enter. Estimate 1-1.5 hour to leisurely walk around the palace.

Impressive, but the most impressive parts are cordoned off. Must wear mask (October 2022). Beautiful classic Japanese garden photo opportunities

Very peaceful place. Good to explore history. Not small kids friendly thought.Road is hard for the stroller

The buildings appear interesting... From the outside. Not much in the way of promoted information for interested tourists. Im not really sure that this is much of a tourist spot so much. The surrounding park is free for everyone to enter during daylight hours, though.

Its an ancient palace in Kyoto city which was a Japanes imperial family residence in the past.Pros: Free entry and open to public.Cons: parking lots is little bit expensive.In sum, definitely worth a visit, highly recommended!

The Kyoto Imperial palace is an incredible location to see, photos and video just cannot do the location any real justice. This is a place that must be seen in person. Not only the gardens, ground and main buildings but also many of the other houses amon the palace ground host a range of events. Always check the website to see what events coincide with your visit.

Beautiful and nicely organized self guided routes.The signs describing the buildings were helpful. I wish they had more signs that brought to life the day to day life of the people here or to tell us about the history of the emperors or perhaps more about the architecture.Overall very nice though.

Nice silent palace and huge surrounded park

Beautiful palace grounds and helpful staff. No English tours today but there were ample signs with information. Very grateful to be able to visit.

It’s nice palace with Japanese history!!Entry is free. You can have a nice walk all over the palace.

The park around the imperial palace is huge, theres a playground for kids too. Theres 1 small restaurant and a newly opened cafe (only desserts and drinks)

Free entry, really interesting history and beautiful premises. Definitely worth a visit!

Free entry, very beautiful, well maintained and organized.

Very unique place, it takes a long time to visit and strolling around

This place is HUGE!! Restaurant and bathrooms located in the front. No fee to enter, and surrounded by a beautiful park.

Be ready for an extremely long walk! The grounds here are huge and there is a lot of history here to read about. I just walked around the area, but since everything is spread out, I missed a lot of things. If you have a lot of time and just take your time, you may enjoy it a bit more than I did, as I didnt have the time. It is beautiful and the palace architecture is interesting.There is a lot nearby as it also sits in the middle of the city.

The Kyoto Imperial Palace (Kyoto Goshowas the residence of the Japanese emperors until 1869, when the capital was moved to Tokyo during the Meiji Restoration. The palace can be traced back to the late 8th century. This site served as the permanent imperial palace for over 500 years. Its free to enter so I highly recommend you check it out if you have about two hours to spare in Kyoto.

The grounds here are impressively large, so expect to walk quite a bit, both during the tour and getting to and from the palace itself. The buildings are beautifully preserved and just as impressive. Unfortunately, during our visit there was some refurbishment taking place which cut the tour a bit short. The gardens within the walls are also beautiful. During our visit, the entire tour did not include any indoor areas.

If you are lucky enough, you can get inside. The palace is open for public only 2 times a year, about 1 week for each. The inside is full of noble tranquillity, which makes you lost in time. The gardens with ponds are magnificent, embodying the aesthetics of Japan. It is truly worth to visit.

Much larger than expected and had expected large. The grounds were beautiful and just as the blossoms were starting. It was not crowded since it was the off season. So peaceful! It felt amazing to walk in the presence of such history.

one of best attractions in kyoto, where the empire used to role , the imperial palace and the greatness of the design and , amd the great garden ,, once you reach the outer gate then you have to walk by foot , getting inside is not an issue however the buildings inside the palace are closed , you can just see from distance

The Imperial Palace is definitely worth seeing, especially if you are interested in Japanese culture. It is free to enter. The guide tour is not available due to COVID-19.

The Imperial Palace is free to enter and the complex is quite huge, well that is expected considering the name and all. No fee is charged to enter the premises, guide books and an audio guide is available aside from the usual person guided tour, which is only available few times a day.Surely a place you dont want to miss when youre in Kyoto. Although an hour or 2 should be more than enough to spend your time here.

Date: 01/21/2017The place is very quite, relaxing, and awe-inspiring. They preserve pretty much every details and retain features of ancient buildings. Stone pavements and gardens are just beautiful. The location is accessible.

If you are inspired by history and museum like" spending time is the best place to visit. Historical reconstructed buildings, charming parks, you may touch old Japan))But be careful there too many people sometimes!

A place that will always remain close to my heart. A long passage to walk, keep yourself hydrated. The palace is very subtle and the garden is superb. I guess I saw two or three bonsai tree there. Overall experience of the place is good. Kyoto is amazing.

Lots of walking, not too windy during the winter but the gravel makes it a bit rough on your legs after a while. Make sure to check beforehand if youre able to enter, because it was closed when I visited. Very large crows, too.

Definitely interesting location but with strict (and comparatively shortopening times. The garden areal around is it very large though and can be enjoyed outside of the opening times.Well worth a visit if youre in the area.

Be prepared to walk as the grounds outside the palace is already quite expansive irrespective where you enter. A variation from other more typical Japanese castles it does not have a moat at least not now or a defensive multi storied castle grounds. Guided tours are available but one can get enough general info of the signage in English & Japanese of course. There is also a lovely garden inside. Best of all admission is free although almost all the buildings are not accessible.

I visited the Imperial Palace on a hot day. I would recommend to go on cooler seasons. It’s difficult to find the entrance to get in. The entrance for visitors is on the west (leftside of the palace. The audio tour guide app is really helpful. Nice historic experience.

A place with a great history. Spanning over 9 hectares of land it has massive palaces. Historical architecture coupled with great gardens and lots of free areas it is must see for kyoto travelers

The imperial palace is located in the center of kyoto and it can be easily accessed by bus, subway or cab. The complex is huge and therefore youd better plan for a specific visit. Most of the locations within the palace are free but are up to reservation. Check their website. Recommended

Free! It was a very nice palace. There is good signage for directing traffic flow of people and all descriptions were translated in english. The gardens are beautiful as well. Main entrance is near Nakadachiuri-Gomon Gate.

A tour of the palace of Japans previous capital, Kyoto. Its very nicely maintained, with guided tours at 10:00 & 14:00, with English available. Signs are also in English, so tourists would have no problems understanding.Best part of it all? Its FREE!

Awesome. Free. Super tour guides in many languages. I joined an English and Chinese one and the guides were awesome. Supee clean and organized. Great security. Great, affordable souvenirs. Vending machine available. Easy to follow path

Breathtaking and breathgiving experience. Stare in awe of the wonderful masterpiece that is the first imperial palace in Japan. Take a breath of quiet and piece offered by the massive forest-like gardens. It is certainly a must see while in Japan. You have to walk a lot but there are many places to sit. There are also motorized wheelchairs for the elderly. Its free of charge and you can take guided tours in different languages. We took the last chance to enter at 16:00 and it took us 1 hour to complete the tour in a half fast pace.

Lovely grounds to walk through. Entry is free into the inner grounds and worth seeing. It takes about an hour to walk down the whole imperial grounds and see the small inner ground tour. Some lovely photo spots and impressive building architecture and historical insight.

A pretty large open combination of palace houses and other structures. A nice big park attached to it. A pretty nice garden that showcases some of the traditional Japanese methods. It was nice that it did not cost anything to enter and walk around the grounds. Definitely worth seeing but not going to be too exciting. Highly recommend this on a dry day. There is a pretty decent restaurant nearby and clean facilities to use. You can also bring your own lunch and use the picnic tables just outside of the Palace.

Spacious palace open for five days of the week. Check the opening times first. Free entry but only through one gate on the western side. Its nice inside but you cant go into any buildings and the gardens are fairly small. Lots and lots of open gravel spaces to look at though!

Even though I went when most of the place was already closed up for the day it was still a really pretty place. The grounds have a few shrines on them you can look at and everything is surrounded by trees and benches for people to sit. Lots of people like to bring their dogs for walks in the evening and you can find lots of stray cat wandering around too.

Very nice place for a stroll. There is a guided path that takes you through the place, past the many buildings and several beautiful gardens. I could spend many hours in this place. Entrance is also free, but the number of visitors allowed is limited. Next to the entrance there is a room showing a movie about the palace which is worth watching

Filled with historical monuments and rich text, this palace is a feast for eyes. The walks between each point of the park can be VERY long so be prepared, some areas do not have shade so do be prepared in the summer (winter elsewise). When entering the castle, they will give out tags which you will return once leaving. It just helps them tally count how much people visit, no drama here. :Would Recommend.

First of all, my rating is for the park only. As we arrived 25 minutes before closing we were not allowed to enter and based on what we read about the palace we decided not to return there next day.As for the park, its really huge, nice and quiet. At least after 4 p.m. You can take a long walk there virtually alone and also take some cool pictures. Its always nice to have a place like this in a big city.

This place is really big. They give you a number sign to wear around your neck as you enter. Then you are directed to a waiting room/souvenir store area where people wait for guided tours to start. We missed the last English tour at 2pm so we went in on our own and followed the route signs. Buildings are very impressive and since the imperial palace in Kyoto was off limits, we found this to be a good opportunity to see the place. Buildings were impressive. Not allowed to go inside though. Took about an hour to walk the predefined route. Was also free.

The visit to the imperial palace is free but you have to make sure that a booking is made online prior to your arrival. Alternatively you can make a visit to the palace to make an advance booking to be sure that you get a place. The third alternative is take a chance and queue up on the morning or afternoon of the visit as the administration gives out a number of places on the day itself. You get to visit the palace grounds but dont get a peek at the castle at all. Grounds are well main and beautiful and we had the pleasure of vibrant autumn colours although it was the beginning of December 2017