Hikone visit for 4 hours

Overview

Just only an hour ride of local train from Kyoto station, you will see a beautiful castle and its garden in Hikone. Hikone is located in the eastside of Lake Biwa. It was very important place in politics and commerce. The trust worthy samurai lord, Ii family was designated to govern this area and be a protection of Edo( Tokyo) , where Shogun was. The castle itself is made along with special concept, in a current word, SDGs. Some of the buildings including the keep tower are recycled.

On the other hand, it has very beautiful garden, this garden was for the retired lord.
I will lead you and show you to very enjoyable castle with interesting stories .

This area, Omi, is famous for Omi beef, which is evaluated one of the best beef in Japan.
If you like it, I will show you a nice beef restaurant near the castle.

In 4 hours, you can fully enjoy Japanese castle, history, and the beautiful garden at the same time.

Meeting place

Your guide will be waiting for you in front of the ticket gate with a welcome board. you will fine me easilyFrom there we walk to the castle

Route

1

JR Hikone station

Let's start the tour seeing the statue of the first lord of Hikone, Ii Naomasa. You can see the castle at the end of the street.
2

The gate

Actually there is no gate when you cross the bridge over the malt, but from here, the lord came back into the castle
3

Stable house

In Japanese castles, there used to be stable houses, but almost all of them were removed, This is rare stables which remains till now. This was used for the horses owned by the lord.
4

Museum

This place used to be a living space of the lord in those days. Unfortunately, it was removed after Samurai time. However, based on the drawing sheet founded later, it was restored. The first part is now a museum and back part is restoration of the living space. You can glimpse the life of the lord. At the museum, you can see the amore and helmet which is well-known as a red battalion.
5

the way to the keep tower

There are a couple of spots which are well-considered as a protections, Your guide will show you in detail about how!
6

The watch tower of balance

This is also a recycled watch tower, when you are on the 2nd floor, you can find how they protect the castle
7

Keep tower

The main attraction, keep tower, is also a recycled, It was moved from Otsu castle.
Why many buildings are recycled? It has some reasons. Your guide tell you interesting stories too. If you are lucky, you can meet a mascot here called Hikonyan, very polular mascot.
8

The garden, Genkyuen

My favorite place.
The retired lord created the retired house and a garden for himself. It is relaxing and peaceful
Please enjoy the quiet time here.
9

shopping street

The other side of the street, a shopping street is ready to welcome you.
Here you can buy a crocket at the butcher, or you can have beef donburi, and so on.
On the second floor, there is a very nice beef restaurant, we can finish the tour here, and you can spend more time here.

Details

Location Shiga
Languages English
Max participants Up to 6 people
Activity duration About 4 hours

Things to know

The tour starts at Hikone JR station. Please come to JR Hikone station by yourself.
However, if you worry, I can pick you up at Kyoto station or your hotel. In this case, please cover my transportation fees.
This tour fee is just included guide fee, the other necessary expenses are on your side.

Keywords

Art & Architecture
Beautiful Scenery
History
Insta-worthy