Saihō-Ji (Koke-Dera) Temple

Unclaimed

I'm honestly very happy we made a reservation for this temple. Because the amount of people is limited, you get a much calmer experience here compared to most other popular temples. You start out by copying sutras in the main building and aterwards you are free to explore the beautiful garden. The entrance fee is relatively expensive but is worth it in my opinion.

It’s definitely worth visiting if you want to experience peace and tranquility in a beautiful Japanese-style garden. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are quite expensive, costing $55 for two tickets. Each entry allows a maximum of 50 people, and the garden closes at 1 PM. Need about 2 hours to enjoy the garden.

The temple was a joy to visit, so calm and unique. It offers the possibility to try your hand at calligraphy, before visiting the gardens. It's different from all the other temples we visited in Kyoto and I highly recommend visiting it.

This was the best thing we did during our stay in Kyoto. Stunningly beautiful moss gardens and a very powerful activity set during the invitation into the temple. (Don't want to give too much away!) The timed reservation tickets you have to book in advance, and the limit on the number of guests made this experience very peaceful and thought provoking.

Such a unique experience! Definitely book in advance. The visit takes just over an hour. First, you’ll copy a sutra (prayer) - very neat and meditative experience- while sitting in the main hall, about 15 minutes. Then you can walk around the gardens. We went at 9:30am and it was absolutely beautiful. Over 120 species of moss!