Heian Shrine

4.5 star rating: Recommended 228 Reviews | Add review

  • Address: Okazakinishi Tenno-cho, Kyoto
  • Hours: Open daily 8:30am - 5:30pm
  • Admission: Grounds: free; Garden: ¥600

Heian Shrine

Heian Shrine
Partly sunny. Pleasantly warm.
4:35 PM Sunday, May 26
Partly sunny. Pleasantly warm.
7 day forecast
No wonder this serene destination was once featured in "Lost in Translation" the Heian Shrine is easily one of Kyoto's most beautiful. Built in 1884 to mark the 1,100th anniversary of the city, and was dedicated to its first and last emporer's, it is an astounding two-thirds scale replica of the Imperial Palace of the Heian period, and is just as beautiful.

On a nice day, a tour through the stunning bridge and onto any one of its four majestic gardens will relax any weary traveler. Whether it is through the iris,  filled pond of the Nishi Shin'en, writing a haiku next to one of the radiating weeping cherry trees of the Heian-style Minami Shin'en, or just taking a leisurely stroll through the magnificence of the stone pillars in the Naka Shin'en, your visit to the Shrine's gardens is a sight that will not be soon forgotten.

Latest Reviews

Kyoto has a lot of very interesting and beautiful places to see. This full day tour may not cover all of them but it includes most of the must-see places. Lunch is included which is just ok. Our tour guide for the afternoon tour, Yuki, was very knowledgeable and fluent in English. My only complaint is that we were all in a rush especially the morning tour, and it seemed that we didn't have enough time to take in the beauty of the places we've been to. One family who was part of our tour group was left behind in the Golden Pavilion and had to take the taxi to rejoin the group in the Imperial Palace. The pacing of the afternoon tour was better, we even had time to buy some souvenirs in the shops near the Kyomizu Temple.

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Absolutely perfect if you only have a short time in Kyoto; I just had one full day and this tour took me to six places, all of them fantastic and worth seeing. It felt like I'd managed to see a decent amount of Kyoto even though I just stopped over there. The lunch was fantastic too!

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The tour was well organized and the tour guide shared with us her knowledge of the places we were visiting. If there was anything to complain about, it's the lack of time but that was provided and simply mulling about is not a good idea as we'll miss the bus. Was it worth it? Yes, the value was worth it and I would recommend the full day understanding Kyoto's culture.

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Practical Info

The Heian Shrine is quite easily reached through public transportation from Kyoto station, by taking either buses number 5 or 100. Another method is to travel via subway to the Shrine's nearest station, Higashiyama Station, on the Tozai Line, a mere 10 minutes away.
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