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Enryakuji Temple (Mount Hieizan) 2011/8/28 21:55
Hello!

Has anyone ever been to Enryakuji Temple?
How long does it take to tour the place?
I can reach Kyoto station by 9:30am, and I was hoping to hit both Enryakuji and Kinkakuji.

Thanks!
by sikidhart  

... 2011/8/29 08:56
Has anyone ever been to Enryakuji Temple?

Yes, a few times.

How long does it take to tour the place?

It depends on how much you want to see and on your preferred travel pace. Enryakuji consists of three separate areas. If you want to see all three of them and prefer a slow travel pace, you can easily spend the entire day on the mountain. But if you limit yourself just to the main Eastern area (Todo), you could see the main sights in 1-2 hours.

To see both the Western and Eastern areas and walk in between them, about 3-4 hours should be enough.

The third area (Yokawa) is time consuming to access, and unless you have a special interest, I recommend to omit it.

The above times do not include the time to access the mountain and return to Kyoto, which is considerable.

Here are the basics:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3911.html

I can reach Kyoto station by 9:30am, and I was hoping to hit both Enryakuji and Kinkakuji.

That should be possible.
by Uji rate this post as useful

Hmm... 2011/8/30 10:26
A combined trip to Enryakuji and Kinkakuji is not the best trip but if you dont have more time in the area and those are the places you want to visit, it is doable.

Enryakuji Temple is a great complex though, and an important spiritual site. You can only spend a half day there, so perhaps only doing the main section is best. You cant see all three if you are also going to visit Kinkakuji Temple.
by Rabbityama rate this post as useful

Done both in 1 day 2011/8/30 23:12
The bus to Hiezan used to leave from C6 in front of Kyoto Station. It takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes. After looking around the Todo (East area), you can walk to the Saito (West area) by following the path up the hill that parallels the road. You will come to a bridge that crosses the road with an old temple on the other side. This is a the start of a lot of steps down to the Saito. This area is much less crowded that the Todo.

You have to climb the steps back to the bridge, cross it and turn right on the dirt path. You follow this path which stays pretty level. A couple of places give good views over northern Kyoto. Eventually, the path comes out at the old ski grounds where people picnic during the summer. The walk takes about 20-30 minutes. On the other side of this is the cable car down to Yaseyuen, where there are a few restaurants but not much else.

The Eizan Dentetsu Line train station is within sight of the cable car area. You take this train to Demachiyanagi (the last station going south). This puts you in the vicinity of Kyoto University and Ginkakuji (if you walk uphill -East). Find the Kawaramachi-Imadegawa bus stop on the other side of the river and take bus 205 (heading north and west) to Kinkakuji.
by Anaguma (guest) rate this post as useful

Thanks!!! 2011/8/31 08:30
Thanks for all the helpful information!

The reason I picked both places was because I wanted to go to Enryakuji, and my friend wanted Kinkakuji.

by sikidhart rate this post as useful

Bus Timetables? 2011/9/3 14:02
Does anyone have the bus timetables for Kyoto to Enryakuji?
I have the Kyoto City Bus pamphlet but it only goes as far as Ginkakuji.
I also need the bus timetables from Enryakuji to Kawaramachi-Imadegawa.

If the buses run like say every 5-10 minutes, then I guess I don't need a timetable. However, if there's just 1 per hour or so, then I'd really need to watch the time.

Thanks!
by sikidhart rate this post as useful

... 2011/9/3 16:11
Here you go:
http://www.hieizan.gr.jp/accessnavi/images/pamphlet.pdf

The two top tables show the buses between Kyoto and Hieizan. The one with the grey header indicates the winter weekday timetable, while the table with the read header indicates the timetable for all days in summer and winter weekends.
京都駅 Kyoto Station
三条京阪 Sanjo Station along the Keihan Line
京都出町柳 Demachi-Yanagi Station along the Keishan Line
延暦寺バスセンター is the closest stop to the Sakamoto Cablecar top station
東塔 Todo area
比叡山山頂 is the summit of Hieizan where the ropeway from the Kyoto side arrives
西塔 Saito area
横川 Yokokawa area
by Uji rate this post as useful

Enryakuji 2011/9/3 17:07
I have been there.
I went up from the lake Biwako side (Sakamoto) and down on the Kyoto side. It took me the best part of the day, but I had nothing else planned. Not including travelling time, if you are in a rush, you could probably squeeze the visit of both Todo and Saito areas in a couple of hours.
When going back down to Kyoto you could explore the Eastern side where there are many temples.
If you are going there in autumn do not miss Ohara and Kurama.
The visit of Kinkakuji and Western side of Kyoto are well worth another day.
Enjoy your trip
by iwander rate this post as useful

... 2011/9/9 17:40
The two top tables show the buses between Kyoto and Hieizan. The one with the grey header indicates the winter weekday timetable, while the table with the read header indicates the timetable for all days in summer and winter weekends.

I made a mistake!

The table with the grey header is for weekdays outside of winter and the table with the red header is for weekends outside of winter (and daily during busy travel seasons).

During winter there are only two buses on weekends (the small tables with red header) and no buses on regular weekdays.
by Uji rate this post as useful

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