I consider this dinner failed because it’s supposed to be a dinner under the cherry blossom, but since we arrived one week earlier in Kyoto, all we got was cherry buds. I think mid to last week of April is the best time. Maruyama park is the oldest park in Kyoto and most popular for cherry blossom viewing. The centerpiece of the park is a tall weeping cherry tree that lights up at night.
It’s one of the main reasons why I wanted to visit Kyoto. It’s a bucket list to eat under the cherry blossom. Before the trip, I was already imagining how magical it’s going to be. However, it was still a nice experience. There’s food street as you walk all the way to this dining area where we were seated. While walking, we’ve also tried few light food from the street.
The food here is limited, there are only four food stalls available. And it’s not allowed to bring food from outside. The food from the street is more interesting. You can picnic around the area too if you don’t want to dine in here.
The main entrance to the park is through Yasaka Shrine, also known as Gion Shrine, is one of the most famous shrines in Kyoto.
SOME FOOD STALLS AROUND THE AREA
YASAKA SHRINE (GION SHRINE)
MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE SHRINE
Maruyama Park is free and open 24 hours. It can be reached by bus from Kyoto Station in about 20 minutes. Take bus number 100 or 206 and get off at Gion bus stop, then 1 minute walk to the shrine. If you take the train it’s 15min walk from Gion Shijo Station, Keihan line.
Would be nice to experience dining under Cherry Blossom and sipping Asahi Dry. Someday!
LikeLiked by 1 person
And sake too 😉
LikeLike
We just went to see cherry bloosoms in sydney. Only a few not like in all the luscious pics of japan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yup, saw my friends photos in Aussie too and that purple trees are quite nice too. Are you from Sydney? I’m thinking to visit this coming Sept or Oct.
LikeLike
Just read a blog post with Osaka as its topic. This one of Kyoto is pretty nice, too. Awesome photos and makes me think I will be visiting Japan more than once next year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice, agree with you Drew. I would love to visit Japan too even once a year. It’s my current fave in Asia. What city you’d visited in Japan?
LikeLike
The same thing happened to me!!! My husband and I went on a work trip to Japan and left the country on April 2, a couple of weeks too early to see the full bloom =/ Will have to go back!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep, it gave us that reason to be back. 🙂
LikeLike
I’ve been dying to go to Kyoto for so long! I didn’t know about the cherry trees though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s one of the best places in Japan, you should one of these days.
LikeLike