Tenryu-ji

大本山 天龍寺

A pond garden that borrows the hills

Hours

Garden 8:30am–5pm (last entry 4:50pm); halls 8:30am–4:45pm

Tickets

Garden ¥500 (children ¥300), halls +¥300, Dharma Hall dragon +¥500 (weekends and holidays); pay at the gate

Address

68 Saga-Tenryuji Susukinobaba-cho, Ukyo-ku

Arashiyama's great Zen temple, and the reason to come is the Sogenchi garden. Sit on the veranda of the main hall and the pond and rocks run straight into the hills behind, which become part of the garden. Plenty of people take their shoes off and just sit. The north gate behind the garden opens onto the bamboo grove, so the two make one loop. At weekends and on holidays the cloud dragon painted on the Dharma Hall ceiling is also open.