Kyoto Imperial Palace

For more than a thousand years Kyoto was the imperial capital, and the Kyoto Imperial Palace was the emperor's home until the court moved to Tokyo in 1869. The palace has moved and burned many times over the centuries, and the present buildings date mainly from a rebuilding in 1855, faithfully following older court styles. They sit within a long, roofed earthen wall in the middle of Kyoto Gyoen National Garden, a huge park of gravel avenues, lawns and groves in the center of the city. Today the palace grounds are open to the public free of charge, with no prior registration required, on most days of the year. Visitors enter through a gate on the west side, pass a bag check, and follow a set walking route around the complex. The buildings are viewed from the outside, through gates and across courtyards, but the views are memorable. The highlight is the Shishinden, the Hall for State Ceremonies, an elegant hall with a sweeping roof of layered cypress bark, fronted by a courtyard of white gravel and flanked by a mandarin orange tree and a cherry tree, where the enthronements of modern emperors took place. Nearby, the Seiryoden, the emperor's former residential hall, shows the refined, understated architecture of the court, and the Kogosho and Ogakumonsho halls look over the Oike-niwa, a pond garden with a pebble beach, stone bridges and pines. Free guided tours in English run at set times, and multilingual signs explain the court ceremonies. The surrounding Gyoen park is open at all times and free.

Planning the visit. The palace is open on most days but is closed on Mondays and over the New Year period, and occasionally for official events, so check the official calendar before you go. Allow about an hour for the route, longer with a guided tour, which brings the empty courtyards to life with stories of court ritual, poetry and politics. Large bags must be checked, and the route is mostly on gravel, so wear comfortable shoes; it is accessible with some effort for strollers and wheelchairs. The other imperial properties in Kyoto, Sento Imperial Palace, Katsura Imperial Villa and Shugakuin Imperial Villa, require advance reservations through the Imperial Household Agency, and Katsura in particular is one of the masterpieces of Japanese garden and architectural design, worth planning ahead for.

Kyoto Gyoen National Garden. The park around the palace is one of the city's great green spaces and a favorite with joggers, families and picnickers. In late February and March, the plum grove blooms; in late March and early April, the weeping cherries near the former Konoe residence and elsewhere are lovely and less crowded than the famous spots. In autumn, ginkgo and maples color the avenues. Small sites within the park include a historic tea house and the remains of aristocratic residences, and benches under the trees make it a restful place to pause between sights.

Getting there and pairing. Imadegawa and Marutamachi stations on the Karasuma subway line both sit along the park's western side, a few minutes from the palace gates. The palace pairs well with Nijo Castle, a short subway ride away, for a day contrasting the emperors and the shoguns; the guided walking tour linked on our Nijo Castle page covers both. To the northeast, Shimogamo Shrine and the Kamo River delta are a pleasant walk away. Because the palace is free and walk-in, it also makes an excellent backup plan when popular ticketed sights are fully booked or a rainy morning clears unexpectedly. Bring water in summer, as shade is limited on the gravel courtyards, and note that the route is one-way, so allow enough time before closing.