Kyoto Bamboo Forest

The towering trunks of Arashiyama's bamboo forests are one of Japan's most iconic landscapes.

With just a short trip from Kyoto's city centre, visitors can find themself in peaceful Arashiyama. Resting at the foot of the thickly forested hills that border western Kyoto, and on the banks of the Hozu River, Arashiyama has been a popular city escape since the Heian period. Promising idyllic rest and relaxation just minutes from the bustle of central Kyoto, visitors have been drawn to the area's natural beauty for centuries.

Most popular during cherry blossom and maple leaf seasons, visitors can beat the crowds by arriving early and renting bicycles to explore local temples and, most-famously, Arashiyama's bamboo forests.

Walking through this awe-inspiring forest transports guests to an alien world – a world that has to be seen to be believed as towering trunks loom from every direction up to 30m tall.