天龍寺

We came upon Tenryuji when visiting the Bamboo Forest. After a lot of shoulder to shoulder walking in the area, we found the temple grounds a welcome and somewhat peaceful respite from the crowds. Granted, the temple grounds weren't empty by any means, but compared to the bamboo walk and surrounding area of town...it felt like down time.

The temple is lovely, but the gardens are the real show: fairly large, lots of paths and benches, and a beautiful pond.

We came across Tenryu-ji while walking through Arashiyama, where we had only planned to see the bamboo forest. It was miserably hot and we'd already been to Kinkaku-ji and Ryoan-ji that morning, so we almost skipped this place, figuring there must be diminishing returns on even beautiful Kyoto temples.

I'm glad we decided to go in. Tenryu-ji is magnificent, a temple complex dating back to the 1300s, with impressive, well-kept buildings and lovely, expansive grounds. The main showpiece is the majestic garden, with foliage and pebbles surrounding a giant, placid pond. Sky, trees, water, rocks--it's all just incredibly scenic.

If you're heading to Arashiyama, make sure to spend some time walking around Tenryu-ji. It's a special place, well worth a trip all on its own.

I really liked this temple. It's on the larger side and has a nice little lake in the middle of it.

Tons of tourists due to being right next to the bamboo forest, but that's part of the issue you will have to deal with if you want to visit. I feel like I need to come here again during the winter.

Still, a beautiful place for a visit, so come in and enjoy!

We came here on a Monday and it's another tourist attraction. They have three main attractions that you can enjoy. The first one we went to was the garden which was 300 yen to enter and 800 yen to enter the temple.

We just did the garden which was nice but was missing the flowers and trees in blossom.

They had a couple of camellia I'm bloom. They have a nice pond and with the right angle you can get the sun hitting the water just right. Inside the pond there are fishes as well.

Their is also a wishing pond. That you try to aim at the center plate where the frog is. But the garden is quiet small and not worth it when the flowers and trees are all dried and dead. The pictures they have shoe them all in bloom with orange red

We got to the bamboo forest very early and after taking more than enough photos, we noticed the Tenryu-ji temple on our way out. Since it opened after a short wait and we were already all the way out here, we decided to come in and look around after grabbing a quick bite to eat near the entrance.

We didn't end up buying the ticket to tour the inside of the temple but we did walk around outside in the garden and looked at the outside of the temple. Beautiful views and the sun rose and worth the short time we spent there! I definitely recommend coming early because it's much less crowded and super peaceful and quiet.

Tenryu-ji temple is in close walking distance from the Bamboo Forest. The garden is absolutely beautiful and you can see koi in the pond. We didn't buy the ticket to go inside the temple but you can still see the outside of the temple and wander around the grounds especially the garden. The routes are pretty easy to follow so you won't get lost - everything is organized here.

My favorite part was really the Japanese garden. We came in October just as the leaves were slowly beginning to change color. I'm sure cherry blossom season would be just as gorgeous, but there's something beautiful about autumn leaves (I'm more of a fall than spring person).

There is a restroom available, but just note - you will need to pay for toilet paper (there's a dispenser right outside the restroom). I ended up just waiting to walk back to the station (about a 5-8 min walk) to use the restroom instead.

I consider this temple as the main attraction of Arashiyama area in Kyoto. Admission is separated to two parts - inside of the building and the garden. It's definitely recommended to get for both. Or if you are in tight budget, I'd recommend garden only ticket(500 yen) over buildings only. It's 800 yen for both.

Presence of many tourists may ruin your mood but you can still easily indulge air of "zen" by strolling around, sitting at the patio, etc.

If you come in right time for foliage, this whole compound become so breathtaking.

I think the most efficient way to get to this is to start from Arashiyama Park, Bamboo Forest then enter Tenryuji from northern gate. From this way, you can go through entire garden then the buildings without backtracking.

Emjoy!

The best temple I saw during my Japan trip!!!!!!! The temple is old and has magnificent detail in the architecture. This temple also had cherry blossoms in bloom which was a treat. There is a beautiful garden to see as well. I highly recommend buying the temple and garden pass. It will not disappoint you.

You have to take off your shoes to walk around inside.

I thought this place was slightly better than the bamboo forest... which makes sense since they actually charge admission vs the forest which is free. A lot of beautiful scenery and I especially loved the large pond with giant koi. We stuck with the garden only. Lots of other tourists there but still ample opportunities to get some good pics.

# T E M P L E

- B R E A K D O W N (# of + stars = rating)
* A T M O S P H E R E/C O N C E P T: +1 star
* P R E S E N T A T I O N: +1 star
* C O S T: +1 star
* S E R V I C E: +1 star
* R E V I S I T: -1 star

The temple grounds are a bit confusing since the entrance isn't too clearly marked and there's no signs that point you in any direction whatsoever. This temple is pretty gorgeous though! The hydrangeas had amazing color because of the rainy season and they were scattered all along the grounds. The recent rainfall brought out the amazing greenery of the area that literally took your breath away.

T I C K E T S

Unless you really want to take off your shoes and walk inside the temple, just purchase the garden ticket. If you've been inside other temples before, there's not much more that's noteworthy. Majority are the same on the inside and you don't get to see or touch much anyways. There are other temples you can enter for no charge so save that 100 yen! The gardens here are the stuff you really want to see!