Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and Tenryu-ji: Tickets and Trains

Tenryu-ji ticket prices and hours

Tenryu-ji's admission page prices the visit in layers (checked 19 October 2026):

The temple opens 8:30 to 17:00, with last admission at 16:50. The buildings can close without notice for ceremonies; the scheduled 2026 building closure still ahead is 29 and 30 October.

Is the extra ¥300 for the halls worth it? If you have an hour, yes: it is a small add-on, and the precincts page singles out the Daihojo, the abbot's quarters, as the temple's largest building. If you are short of time or with young children, the garden-only ticket still covers the main event, the Sogenchi pond garden laid out by Muso Soseki nearly 700 years ago, and the path north to the bamboo.

What a typical visit costs:

• One adult, garden, halls and Cloud Dragon: ¥500 + ¥300 + ¥500 = ¥1,300.
• Two adults and a 10-year-old, garden only: ¥500 × 2 + ¥300 = ¥1,300.
• The same family with the halls: ¥1,300 + ¥300 × 3 = ¥2,200.

The Cloud Dragon painting: when you can see it

The dragon on the ceiling of the Hatto, the Dharma Hall, has its own schedule. The Cloud Dragon page gives 9:00 to 16:30 with last admission at 16:20, normally on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only. In autumn 2026 there is a special period: daily from 19 September to 6 December. The Hatto is closed 28 to 30 October 2026 and on 2 January 2027, and the painting is not shown during ceremonies.

So on a weekday after 6 December, skip the ¥500 Hatto ticket: the hall will not be open.

Where the bamboo grove starts

The precincts page describes the route plainly: from the Hyakka-en flower garden, north of the Tahoden hall, the path leads to the North Gate, and after leaving the gate you walk through the Sagano bamboo forest on the road along the temple's north boundary. The bamboo path is therefore not inside the paid garden, and Tenryu-ji lists no fee for it.

That gives you two orders for the morning:

The bamboo path has no published opening time on the pages we read, so it is the more flexible part of the morning. Tenryu-ji's gate, by contrast, opens at 8:30 and stops admitting at 16:50.

Getting to Arashiyama: Randen, JR or Hankyu?

Tenryu-ji's admission page lists walking times from three railway stations (checked 19 October 2026):

City Bus 11, 28 and 93 and Kyoto Bus 61, 72 and 83 stop at Arashiyama Tenryuji-mae.

Pick by where you start and how far you want to walk. If you are already on the JR network, Saga-Arashiyama leaves a 13-minute walk. Randen drops you closest, at 5 minutes, and its trams charge one flat fare: Keifuku's fare revision notice raised it to ¥250 for adults and ¥120 for children from 1 April 2023, and the Randen 1-day Free Ticket to ¥700 (¥350 child). That notice is the latest Keifuku fare document we read, so check the fare at the station. Hankyu is the longest walk of the three.

If you plan to ride the buses above, our Kyoto bus and subway fares guide shows which routes each pass includes before you buy one for an Arashiyama day.

Arashiyama is on the western edge of the city, so it is a poor fit for the afternoon you arrive. If you land at Kansai in the morning and still want to try, our Haruka versus limousine bus guide gives the transfer times, so you can check if reaching Kyoto, dropping bags and making the 16:50 last entry is realistic.