Arashiyama Monkey Park — officially Iwatayama Monkey Park — is a mountainside in Kyoto with around 120 to 170 wild Japanese macaques living on it, and one of the best views over the city at the top. Entry is ¥800 for adults and ¥400 for children aged 4 to 15, and it is cash only.
The part every other guide underplays: to get to the monkeys you walk 20 to 30 minutes uphill on a forest path, and there is no other way up. Whether this visit works with your family is almost entirely a question about that climb, so let’s start there.
The short version
- Cost: ¥800 adults, ¥400 children 4–15, under 4 free. Cash only — no cards, no IC, no ATM on the mountain.
- Hours: daily from 9:00, closing around 16:00. Check on the day; closing moves with the season.
- The climb: 20–30 minutes uphill on an uneven forest path with steeper sections. No shuttle, no shortcut, and strollers are not usable.
- These are not the hot-spring monkeys. The macaques that bathe in an onsen are at Jigokudani in Nagano, five hours away.
- The feeding hut reverses the zoo: you go inside the mesh, the monkeys stay outside. Children find this much funnier than adults expect.
Where to stay in Kyoto with kids
Sakura Cross Hotel Kyoto Kiyomizu – four nights for two adults and two children, under 2 km from Higashiyama. That’s what made reaching Kiyomizu-dera before the crowds possible on foot.
Mimaru Kyoto Shinmachi Sanjo – downtown, with family apartments and connectable rooms. Connecting rooms are rare in Kyoto, so apartment-style is the practical answer for four.
The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto – on the Kamo river, with family-sized suites, an indoor pool and the Ritz Kids programme. Becomes a destination between temples, which by day three is worth something.
We stayed at Sakura Cross Kiyomizu. The other two are the ones we’d book, chosen on room capacity and location rather than from a stay of our own. Affiliate links — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
What the climb is actually like
The trail starts near Togetsukyo Bridge, at the bottom of the Arashiyama river front, and goes up the side of Mt Arashi. Twenty minutes if you are moving well and nobody stops. Thirty if you have children. Longer if it is hot.
It is not technical. It is a maintained path with steps in places and a handrail where it needs one. But it is continuously uphill, it is uneven, and there is no point at which you can say “actually, let’s go back and do something else” without that also being a walk. Commit at the bottom.
Practical consequences worth planning around:
- Strollers are out. If you have a child who still needs carrying, you will be carrying them up a mountain. Take a carrier or don’t come.
- Shoes matter. Not hiking boots — but not the sandals you wore around the temples either.
- Take water up with you. There is a vending machine at the top but you will want it before then.
- Bring cash. Entry is cash only and there is no ATM on the path. It is a genuinely common way to get turned around at the gate.
Our kids didn’t complain about climbing as they knew what’s coming, and they were keen to watch monkeys, but on our way back, even if it was all the way down, they were upset of how long is the trail.
Doing it in July, which is what we did
We went in July. Kyoto in July averages around 33°C with humidity in the high seventies, and a 20-to-30-minute uphill climb in that is a different proposition from the same climb in April.
Go at opening. Not for the crowds — for the temperature. At 9:00 the path is shaded and the air has not yet turned. By 13:00 you are doing the same walk in the worst heat of the day with children who have already done a morning. We wrote up what July in Japan actually does to a family itinerary — the short version is that everything moves to the morning.
How much does Arashiyama Monkey Park cost?
¥800 for adults, ¥400 for children aged 4 to 15, free for under-4s. Cash only. Checked September 2026.
For a family of four with two school-age children that is ¥2,400 — around €14 at current rates. It is one of the better-value attractions in Kyoto, particularly measured against Kinkaku-ji at ¥500 adults and ¥300 children for something you look at for twenty minutes.
The feeding hut, and why kids remember it
At the top there is a small building with mesh windows. You go inside. The monkeys stay outside. You buy the food there — outside food is banned — and pass it through the mesh.
The inversion is the whole thing. Every zoo a child has been to has put the animal in the enclosure. Here they are in the enclosure and the macaques are wandering around freely on the mountain, deciding whether you are worth their time. It lands, and it lands hardest on children somewhere between about five and eleven.
We bought 3 portions of food and fed the small monkeys, kids were very happy with the experience.
The rules, and why they are not decoration
These macaques are wild. They are habituated to people, which is not the same as tame, and the park’s rules exist because of things that have actually happened.
- Do not touch them, and do not try.
- Do not look them in the eye. Direct eye contact reads as a threat display in macaque behaviour. This is the rule children break without meaning to — tell them before you get to the top, not after.
- No outside food anywhere in the park. Not a snack in a bag, not a drink that looks like food. Buy the park’s food in the hut or feed nothing.
- Feed only from inside the hut.
- Keep it calm. No shouting, no flash photography, no running at them for a photo.
The eye-contact rule is the one worth rehearsing with kids on the way up. “Look at their hands, not their face” is easier for a child to hold on to than a negative instruction.
The view, which is the other reason to come
The top opens out onto a clearing looking north over Kyoto — the Ōi river below, the city spread out, mountains behind it. On a clear day it is the best free view in Kyoto and you have already paid for it.
It is also, for what it is worth, the reward that makes the climb make sense to a child. “There are monkeys” gets you up the first ten minutes. “You can see the whole city from the top” gets you up the rest.
How to get to Arashiyama Monkey Park
The trail entrance is by Togetsukyo Bridge. Get to Arashiyama on any of:
- JR Sagano Line to Saga-Arashiyama — covered by the JR Pass, which is how we went. About 10–15 minutes’ walk from there.
- Hankyu to Arashiyama — closest to the bridge, about 5 minutes.
- Keifuku (Randen) tram to Arashiyama — about 5–10 minutes, and the tram itself is a small attraction with kids.
Combining it with the rest of Arashiyama
Everyone does the monkey park and the bamboo grove on the same morning, and they are right to — the grove is a 500-metre path on the other side of the river and takes far less time than its reputation suggests.
Do the monkeys first. The climb is the hard part and it should happen while everyone is fresh and the air is still cool. The bamboo is flat, shaded and short, which makes it the right thing to do on tired legs.
That pairing is one morning of our four days in Kyoto with kids, and it works well ahead of an afternoon somewhere indoors.
Is it worth it?
Yes — if the climb is right for your family. It is the only place in Kyoto where children get to be outdoors, uphill, slightly out of breath and rewarded with something genuinely wild, in a city that otherwise asks them to be quiet and look at buildings. After three days of temples that is worth a lot more than ¥800.
Skip it if you are carrying a toddler, if anyone in the group struggles with hills, or if the only slot you have is the middle of a July afternoon. It will still be there next time.
Frequently asked questions about Arashiyama Monkey Park
How much does Arashiyama Monkey Park cost?
Entry is ¥800 for adults and ¥400 for children aged 4 to 15, with under-4s free. The park is cash only — no cards, no IC cards, and there is no ATM on the mountain path, so bring yen with you.
How hard is the walk up to the monkey park?
It takes 20 to 30 minutes uphill on a maintained but uneven forest path with steeper sections and steps. There is no shuttle and no shortcut, and strollers cannot be used, so a child who still needs carrying will have to be carried the whole way. In July, when Kyoto averages around 33°C, go at opening.
Do the monkeys at Arashiyama bathe in hot springs?
No. The macaques that bathe in an onsen are at Jigokudani Yaen-Koen in Nagano Prefecture, about five hours from Kyoto. The Arashiyama macaques are wild monkeys living freely on the mountainside, which is a different and arguably better thing to see.
Can you feed the monkeys at Iwatayama?
Yes, but only from inside the feeding hut at the top and only with food bought there. Outside food is banned everywhere in the park. You stand inside the mesh and the monkeys stay outside, which reverses the usual zoo arrangement and is the part most children remember.
What are the rules at Arashiyama Monkey Park?
Do not touch the monkeys, do not make direct eye contact — it reads as a threat in macaque behaviour — do not bring outside food, feed only from inside the hut, and keep noise down with no flash photography. The eye-contact rule is the one children break by accident, so explain it on the way up.
How do you get to Arashiyama Monkey Park?
The trail starts by Togetsukyo Bridge. Take the JR Sagano Line to Saga-Arashiyama, which is covered by the Japan Rail Pass and is about a 10 to 15 minute walk away, or the Hankyu or Keifuku Randen lines to Arashiyama, both about 5 minutes from the bridge.
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