Shugakuin Imperial Villa, Kyoto

Every detail in this Imperial garden was so perfect that I felt some dizziness. Too much, isn’t it? Every corner, even single tiny stone, and glass and moth seemed to be calculated. All these efforts make me feel mixedly the laborious work of labors. Anyway, sturdiness of Imperial properties I saw, even though the builder insisted to design the garden humbly.

A large Japanese Loyal Family's summer palace complex with typical but well-arranged landscape and gardens.

This place is beautiful! The audio tour is useful, but very soft. I recommend covering you other ear if you can't hear over the tour guide. The place take a while to get from Kyoto Station but it's worth the visit.

Get your passports ready because they are required for entry. We took a chance on showing up without a reservation and there were 2 left - lucky. Beautiful tour and visit. There is an English guided tour device that you can listen to.

I booked my tour the day beforehand at the office of the Imperial Household Agency. It all went very smoothly. The Shugakuin Imperial Villa is a bit far from downtown Kyoto, but well worth the trip. The villa’s and gardens itself are amazing. The view that the site grants over the city itself is stunning. Walking through this place gave me a wonderful insight into the luxuries of old Japanese nobility and as such is a great cultural experience.