Day Trip from Kyoto to Uji: How to Spend the Day

The Sample Day, Step by Step

Start at Kyoto Station on the JR Nara Line. A rapid train takes about 20 minutes and a local about 30, both for 240 yen one way, and the Japan Rail Pass covers the line. The plan below assumes you arrive when Byodo-in's garden opens at 8:45 and finish in the evening, which in summer means a cormorant fishing boat at 19:00.

If you would rather not handle tickets and timing yourself, the Nara and Uji matcha day tour does Uji and Nara in one 8.5 hour day and includes Byodo-in admission and a matcha making session. The order of the day would differ, but the sights are the same ones listed here.

• 1. Leave Kyoto Station on the JR Nara Line rapid, about 20 minutes, 240 yen one way, covered by the Japan Rail Pass.
• 2. Walk 10-15 minutes from JR Uji Station to Byodo-in and enter the garden from 8:45 for 700 yen.
• 3. Join the Phoenix Hall interior tour, an extra 300 yen, which runs 9:30-16:10 every 20 minutes for up to 50 people.
• 4. Walk the Byodoin-omotesando tea street outside the temple and try a bowl at the Byodo-in tea room, open 10:00-16:30 and closed Monday to Wednesday except public holidays.
• 5. Browse the tea shops of the Omotesando street, where Uji has sold matcha since the 12th century.
• 6. Walk down to Uji Bridge, first built around 646 and one of the oldest bridges in Japan. Crossing it is free.
• 7. Continue to Ujigami Shrine, described as the oldest extant shrine in Japan, dating to around 1060.
• 8. Stop at the Tale of Genji Museum near Keihan Uji Station, 600 yen entry.
• 9. Have lunch or a tea set near the bridge, then, if you have energy left, take the Keihan Uji Line toward Mimurodo for Mimuroto-ji, 15 minutes on foot from the station.
• 10. In summer from the start of July to the end of September, watch cormorant fishing from a boat that leaves at 19:00 in July and August and 18:30 in September, 2,700 yen for adults and 1,200 yen for elementary students.
• 11. Ride back to Kyoto from JR Uji or Keihan Uji Station, 240 yen on JR or 400 yen by the Keihan route.

What to Skip If You Are Short of Time

Mimuroto-ji is the first thing to cut. It sits 15 minutes on foot from Keihan Mimurodo Station, away from the riverfront cluster, and its hydrangea garden of about 20,000 plants only earns the trip in season. The Phoenix Hall interior is the second candidate, since the 300 yen interior tour is held in Japanese and can close without notice for ceremonies.

The 700 yen garden ticket already lets you photograph the hall from across the pond. With a half day, do Byodo-in, the tea street, Uji Bridge and Ujigami Shrine, and you have covered the heart of Uji.

Byodo-in and the Phoenix Hall

Byodo-in is the reason most travellers make a day trip from Kyoto to Uji. The temple grounds hold a garden, a museum and the hall itself. Adult admission is 700 yen, with 400 yen for junior and high school students and 300 yen for elementary students.

The garden is open 8:45-17:30 with last entry at 17:15, and the Hoshokan museum 9:00-17:00 with last entry at 16:45. The garden, hall and museum open every day. An interior tour of the Phoenix Hall costs an extra 300 yen, runs 9:30-16:10 every 20 minutes and admits a maximum of 50 people per visit, and it can close without notice for ceremonies.

The interior tour is held in Japanese. Allow about 90 minutes for the whole temple.

Byodoin-omotesando Tea Street

The shopping street leading to Byodo-in has been Uji's tea quarter since the 12th century, when the town first became known for matcha. Shops sell tea and souvenirs along the whole street, and tea houses serve whisked bowls. The Taiho-an tea house offers usucha and sencha for 1,500 yen and gyokuro for 1,800 yen, sets from 3,000 to 4,000 yen and a matcha making experience for 3,600 yen.

Premium sets need three days notice. The Byodo-in tea room inside the temple grounds is open 10:00-16:30 and closes Monday to Wednesday except public holidays. Budget 30 to 60 minutes, more if you take the hands-on session.

Uji Bridge

Uji Bridge crosses the river at the centre of town and was first built around 646, which makes it one of the oldest bridges in Japan. There is no admission fee and no gate, so you can cross it at any hour and as often as you like. It crosses the river that the cormorant fishing boats work in summer.

Twenty minutes is enough to cross, photograph and read the plaques. In summer the bridge is also the best free vantage point for the cormorant boats on the water below.

Ujigami Shrine

Ujigami Shrine is on the Byodo-in side of the river. It is described as the oldest extant shrine in Japan, with the main structure dating to around 1060. The shrine's admission fee and opening hours are not confirmed here, so check on site.

Thirty minutes covers the approach, the main hall and the small precincts. Pair it with Byodo-in in the morning.

Tale of Genji Museum

The Tale of Genji Museum sits near Keihan Uji Station. The world's first great novel sets its final chapters in Uji, and the museum explains those scenes with exhibits and displays. Admission is 600 yen.

Hours and closing days are not confirmed here, so confirm locally before you build your day around it. Allow 45 minutes to an hour.

Mimuroto-ji

Mimuroto-ji is about 15 minutes on foot from Keihan Mimurodo Station, so it takes a deliberate detour from the riverfront. It is famous for flowers, above all a hydrangea garden with about 20,000 hydrangeas of 50 varieties. The hydrangea garden costs 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for children in the season, which starts in late May or June.

General temple admission and hours are not confirmed here. Give it an hour and a half including the walk from the station. Come for it in hydrangea season or if you want a quieter temple, otherwise the riverside sights fill a day better.

Cormorant Fishing on the Uji River

From the start of July to the end of September, cormorant fishing boats work the Uji River at night, and you can watch from a passenger boat. The cruise costs 2,700 yen for adults and 1,200 yen for elementary students and lasts about one hour. Boats leave at 19:00 in July and August, with boarding at 18:30, and at 18:30 in September.

Tickets are bought the same day and advance reservations are not accepted, and the boats do not run on Wednesdays. Trips can be cancelled for high water or severe weather, so have a fallback. This is the reason to stay in Uji past dinner if your day trip falls in summer.

Comparing the Options

No catalog tour on the site is an Uji-only day, so the honest choice is between the full independent day above and a combined tour that treats Uji as the matcha stop. The table shows what each option costs and what the money actually buys. Fares are one way per person unless the listing says otherwise.

Which One Suits You

Take the Nara and Uji matcha day tour if you want Nara and Uji in one day, value a guide, and like that Byodoin admission and the matcha session are already in the $126.24. Its full details, including the meeting point at Kyoto Avanti and the cancellation terms, are on the tour page. Go on your own if Uji itself is the point.

At 240 yen each way, the train costs a fraction of the tour, and the independent day lets you linger over tea or add the cormorant boats, which no catalog tour covers. The small-group Nara walking tour suits travellers who want Nara without Uji. For help budgeting any of these, see how to plan a day trip from Kyoto.

Two Rail Routes

JR Uji Station is your stop on the JR Nara Line from Kyoto Station, about 20 minutes by rapid or 30 minutes by local, both for 240 yen one way, and the Japan Rail Pass covers it. The Keihan route runs from the Keihan Main Line to Chushojima, then changes to the Keihan Uji Line, about 30 minutes for 400 yen one way, and it suits travellers starting near the Kamogawa River in Gion rather than Kyoto Station. Byodo-in is a 10-15 minute walk from either Uji station.

The full step-by-step journey, including platform tips, is in the guide to free day trips from Kyoto.