Arashiyama Bamboo ForestAbout This Guide
A free path that takes fifteen minutes to walk generates a remarkable amount of bad advice. This site keeps one page of straight answers about the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest: what it costs (nothing), when it is bearable, which gate to enter by, and what the six guided walks through the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest actually include.
Who writes it
Sanae Kurihara has guided in western Kyoto since 2014, most of those mornings somewhere between the north gate of Tenryu-ji and the top of the bamboo path. She walks the route again at the start of each season and checks the price at every gate in the district by hand, because Kyoto's admission fees move quietly.
When the honest answer is that the grove will disappoint you and Jizo-in will not, the page says that too.
How the numbers get here
Fees, opening hours, train fares and journey times come from the operator or the temple's own information on the day we check them, with the date printed alongside. Tour prices, ratings and review counts are read off the live GetYourGuide listing, not carried over from an earlier version of the page.
Yen figures carry a dollar conversion and the exchange rate we used, so you can tell a price change from a currency swing.
What this site is not
We are not a tour operator, a travel agency or the official site of the grove, the temples or any company selling walks here. Nobody can book through us. Every booking link sends you to the platform that takes the payment, sets the cancellation terms and answers the phone afterwards.
If you already hold a booking, the operator named on your confirmation is the only party who can change it.
How it pays for itself
Some links on this site are affiliate links. Book through one and the platform pays us a commission, at no extra cost to you and with no effect on the price you see. That money covers hosting, the research, and the mornings spent re-walking the route.
It does not buy a place on this page. The lowest-rated tour we list stays listed at 4.5 stars with its weak column named, and the cheapest option is often the one we point at.