Kyoto: Full Bloom

My last visit of this week's cherry blossom reports was to Kyoto, a region with more than enough scenic cherry spots to its name!

Alas, I am just one person, so I only visited three spots: Arashiyama, Maruyama Park, and the Kyoto Botanical Garden. While Arashiyama had a few trees here and there that were less advanced, on the whole, all three of these spots have now entered their best viewing period. With little rain forecast for the coming days, we predict that they will remain in their best state until around April 11.

My first spot for the day was to Arashiyama, specifically the Nakanoshima Area of Arashiyama Park. Walking from the Arashiyama Randen Station, there were a few cherry trees lining the street, with the east ones seemingly more in bloom than those on the west side. A sparse few trees of varying breeds were also on the north side of the Katsura River.

Across the bridge, the cherry trees in the park area were in full swing, brightening up the riverside. Just over 70% of the flowers appeared to be in bloom. From this area, there were also some nice views of the mountain itself which was dotted with patches of white blossoms.

Next, I visited the very popular Maruyama Park. Entering from the Yasaka Shrine gate, even at 10am the only choice was to join the sea of people also entering for the festivities. The entrance is lined with yatai food stalls, and after walking past the delicious smells of temptation I was met with a huge garden of blooming white flowers.

The area closest to Yasaka Shrine has some seats and picnic areas, but was very crowded on my visit. Further in by the pond and past the large weeping cherry trees, which were also in bloom, was a bit less crowded and had a few picnic goers. For an evening visit, the park is illuminated daily (from 18:00 to 22:00) until April 9.

My final stop of the day was to the Kyoto Botanical Garden, which despite its beautiful cherry tree areas, did not feel too crowded thanks to its spacious grounds. There are various spots throughout the garden to see the cherry blossoms, but the main area is the Cherry Garden.

The advantage of the botanical garden, though, is that not only are there multiple different varieties of cherry, lending some contrasting shades of pink to the park, but they are also labeled, so it is easy to understand what you're looking at! Should you want to visit in the evening, the park is holding daily illuminations (from 17:30 to 21:00) until April 6.