Kyoto Imperial Palace Park

The Imperial Palace is surrounded by a spacious park with a welcome landscape of trees and open lawn – it’s Kyoto’s very own Central Park. It’s perfect for picnics, strolls and just about any sport that doesn’t require retrieving balls over walls. Best of all, it’s free. Take some time to visit the pond at the park’s southern end, with its gaping carp. The park is most beautiful in the plum- and cherry-blossom seasons (early March and early April, respectively). It is bounded by Teramachi-dōri and Karasuma-dōri on the east and west, and by Imadegawa-dōri and Marutamachi-dōri on the north and south.