Our tips on how to do Kyoto’s Golden Pavilion and Nijo Castle in one day

Golden Pavilion (also known as Kinkaku-ji) is where you can get a picture of a mirror lake

We caught the bus from Kyoto Train station to the Golden Pavilion (also known as Kinkaku-ji) and Nijo Castle in April 2019. We used a 1 day bus ticket to travel to the Golden Pavilion and Nijo Castle in the same day. Both places are in the same direction and the Bus route travels right past Nijo Castle on the way to the Golden Pavilion so it made sense to us.

The Golden Pavilion was beautiful and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. But it was incredibly crowded for such a serene Instagram friendly place. This was one of the most crowded places I’ve been to in Japan. It was almost ridiculous. The Pavilion is beautiful though and sparkles with gold in the sunlight.

Nijo Castle was well worth visiting. The castle is very beautiful with all the gold leaf embellishments. We got to go inside the Palace and experience the ‘Nightingale floors’. What are Nightingale floors you may ask? They are special floors designed to chirp/squeak like a nightingale (bird) when an intruder or spy approaches. A samurai could hear the chirping and know that a would-be assassin or eavesdropper was around. There were so many tourists inside the palace – whole corridors were chirping which made me laugh– but it was good to hear though! An unusual experience.

How to get there? Bus? Train or Taxi?

There is no direct train to the Golden Pavilion. It was recommended by many online to catch a taxi rather than the bus, the bus taking ‘too long’. We however decided to take the bus. The bus took about 50 minutes - and it was great to look out the window and see Kyoto. The bus also took us straight to the Golden Pavilion (a 5 minute walk) and Nijo Castle (directly across the road!).

Where do you get the bus passes from?

You can buy a Kyoto Bus 1 day pass from the Bus Station shop (which is right next door to where the buses depart at Kyoto Train Station). The Bus station is directly outside of the Kyoto train station exit. It worked out cheaper for us to buy the 1 day bus pass. If you don’t have a bus pass, you can just pay the driver – but you need exact money, which can be a hassle if you are doing multiple trips. The drivers don’t give you change apparently.

The Bus Station shop also sells very cheap bakery goods - I totally recommend!

Kyoto Bus ticket

You enter Kyoto buses from the middle door not the driver door!

Once you have got your bus ticket, you will stand in line and wait for the next Kyoto bus. I think they come pretty regularly, like every 10 minutes or so. And when the bus comes, you enter through the ‘exit door’ (middle door) of the bus (not where the driver is). Any payment, you give to the driver at the end of your journey (or show him your bus pass at the end of your trip).

We went to the Golden Pavilion first

As said previously, the Golden Pavilion was extremely busy. We went during the middle of the week and got there about 11am. The place was jam packed full of tourists and it was hard just to get a clear view of the Pavilion. All my photos had people on either side of me as I jostled for a photo.

The bus has TV announcements of upcoming bus stops in English. After getting off the public bus at the Golden Pavilion bus stop – we probably walked about 5 minutes up a slight hill/pathway (no steps). If you follow the people heading that way you will not get lost. There is a ticket office before you go in where you can buy your tickets – the tickets by the way are really nice keepsakes with Japanese writing. An adult ticket is about 400 Yen.

Golden Pavilion ticket

Once you have your tickets you follow the pathway around to the Golden Pavilion. It is very pretty, and the photographic goal is to get a perfect ‘reflection’ in the water of the Golden Pavilion. At the right angle, you can get a view of the mirror image of the Golden Pavilion reflected in the lake. The lake has a golden glow when the mirror image is reflected.

The site dates back to 1397 but the Golden Pavilion is not the original building – it was burned down. The current structure dates back to 1955. The top two floors are coated in gold leaf. There is a bronze golden phoenix that sits at the top of the pavilion. Nearby there is the head priest's former living quarters (you can’t go in here either). There are also some nice temples within the Golden Pavilion grounds with nice garden features. There are some statues that people throw coins at too in the garden. Other then that, there is not much else to see here. We bought some lucky charm souvenirs at the temple. We probably spent about an hour here walking from the bus stop to leaving the temple. Including eating our lunch.

Kinkaku-ji or Golden Pavilion, Kyoto Golden Phoenix

You can see the golden Phoenix at the top of the temple. You can see the brighter the day the brighter the image of the temple in golden colour

The bottom floor doors slide open. You can sometimes see statues that are located inside

You cannot unfortunately go inside the Golden Pavilion (I have seen pictures of the inside of the Golden Pavilion on Google images– its all gold inside and seems to glow with all the gold– it would be amazing to see). The inside of the Pavilion houses relics of Buddha. There are also some statues stored there, that may be viewed across the lake when the lower doors are opened.

There is a very small outdoor market at the exit of the Golden Pavilion where you can get some lunch or as we did Matcha ice-creams! We brought our own lunch with us (from the Kyoto Bus Station shop). Even though there are food options there at the market, it was more convenient to bring our own –and cheaper.

Matcha Icecream

Best to go to the Golden Pavilion on a sunny day!

I think to get the best pictures, you would want to be there on a sunny day when the gold leaf reflects in the sun. This is also when the gold leaf reflects the best on the pond. You won’t get the same pictures of the reflection in the rain – however, the temple is still beautiful to see anytime and would be less crowded on a rainy day. Be aware that there isn’t a lot of shelter at all in the rain though.

There are some stairs towards the end of the pathway

For those who ask about wheelchair accessibility or have strollers, there are some stairs towards the end of the pathway to the exit. There aren’t that many, but they are there. Maybe 5 minutes of walking upstairs. If you can’t do steps, you could probably exit through the front entrance though (which has no steps).

Note the Golden Pavilion closes at 5pm, with last admission 4pm

This closure time didn’t affect us for the Golden Pavilion, but it has elsewhere in Japan. Always take note when the last admission time is and when it actually closes.

Next stop Nijo Castle

The bus does a bit of a loop back to Kyoto Station, and on the way back it stops by Nijo Castle. Go back to the bus stop the Kyoto bus dropped you at the Golden Pavilion (don’t do what we did and think we had to go to the other side of the road for the return journey). The journey from the Golden Pavilion to Nijo Castle took probably about 20 minutes.

The outer entrance to Nijo Castle is surrounded by a moat

The entrance to Nijo Castle

A watch tower at Nijo Castle

We paid for a ticket to the Palace and the Nijo Castle Grounds

Nijo Castle is also a UNESCO world heritage site and dates back to 1626. Note that to go inside the Ninomaru Palace you need to pay an additional fee. There is also another palace called the Honmaru Palace which we did not go inside and involves another fee.

The first stop we made was to go inside the Ninomaru Palace! The palace was where the Shogun lived and resided with his lady attendants. The Shogun would receive visitors, and the more highly ranked the visitor – the further inside the palace they were allowed.

The interior of the Ninomaru Palace takes about 20 minutes and is self guided. You travel from room to room to see what each room was used for. There are ample descriptions in English. The rooms are not furnished at all, its mostly just flooring and wall pictures – golden wall sized pictures of tigers, cherry blossoms or birds. Some of the artwork originals have been safely put into an extra museum with an additional charge. Honmaru Palace is also on the Castle grounds however is closed until 2021 due to earthquake resistance restoration and maintenance.

The entrance to the Ninomaru Palace

Ninomaru Palace is where you experience the Nightingale floors! The chirping floors were fun – and you can only wear socks inside the palace– no shoes! You basically walk around with a plastic bag carrying around your shoes inside the palace. There is a book written about the Nightingale floors – I highly recommend – ‘Across the Nightingale Floor’ by Lian Hearn.

Below are some of the artworks found inside Ninomaru Palace. These are on the sliding doors and walls and are quite large. Note that you cannot take photos whilst inside the Palace. My photos below are ones displayed on boards outside the museum entrance.

Cherry Blossom Painting at Ninomaru Palace

The 'Cherry blossom room' was where the Shogun met with high ranking nobles.

The 'Hawk room' was said to be where the weapons were displayed when the Shogun was in residence

The 'Tiger room' was the first room a visitor would see. Designed to express authority of the Shogun

The Geese and Egrets were in the room set aside for senior councillors

It kind of felt like the room decor conveyed the mood of the room the Shogun wanted. Fierce Tigers for visitors waiting and Cherry blossoms for high ranking nobles.

Note, like the Golden Pavilion above, admission to the palace ends one hour before the official closing time.

How much time do you need?

I would allow at least a couple of hours to enjoy the inside of the palace, the museum and the gardens.

Visit Nijo Castle in Spring to see the Cherry Blossoms

Many Cherry trees were flowering at Nijo castle, and I took some great photos of the Cherry blossoms, both late and early flowering. If you’ve missed Cherry Blossoms elsewhere in Japan, you can always try here which has the late flowering blossoms. Apparently the gardens are also beautiful in the autumn months too with the changing leaf colours. There are reflective ponds and old bridges too to explore in the palace gardens. It’s a great place to go for a walk and for kids to run around.