Hotels near Arashiama Bamboo Grove, Kyoto

I recommend starting in reverse of the entrance especially if your arrival is during peak times (after 9am on weekends). We were NOT part of a tour group & our visit was also on a Saturday. It was exceptionally crowded due to a major National holiday. We arrived around 10am & the crowd was large & growing by the minute. We opted to NOT enter at the main entrance to try to avoid a little bit of the crowd (it was actually a mistake that we did this…we took a wrong turn but it worked out perfectly in our favor). It turned out that the entire back half of the trail had just a smattering of people versus the main entrance being clogged with hundreds of people packed on the trail. The best recommendation I can offer is to try & visit super early in the morning (6-8am) or early evenings (6pm -8pm) during the weekend or holidays. The park is open 24hrs.

We went on a holiday weekend and the grove was full of Japanese tourists having fun doing photo shoots in traditional dress. It was fantastic to get to see that as well as the awesome ambiance of the bamboo forest.

Honestly, not that interesting. There are other less popular bamboo groves in Japan that are just as beautiful, but have a lot fewer people visiting. There are too many people in the bamboo grove to make it a fun visit.

its best to combine this attraction with other places in the vicinity if you plan to visit to get the most of your trip otherwise i would rather spend it in some other attraction in kyoto. its a bit of a slope so make sure to wear comfy shoes. there are also several great restaurants and coffee places around the area.

I was very disappointed in the grove. First of all, there were just way to many people for it to be pleasant. Second of all, it's a much smaller place than pictures will lead you to believe. The bamboo seemed kind of sparse as well.

We caught the train out to Arashiyama and then walked through the town to find the bamboo grove. Could not see any signposts in English pointing the way and we finally ended up walking the long way around to get there. It would help to ask directions from tourist information or hotel before travelling out there for precise directions.