Japan free and easy : Rikugien garden Autumn leaves

Ruikugien GArden Illumiation

The nearest station to Rikugien Garden is Komagome Station of the JR Yamanote Line or the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line. The ticket cost is 300 yen.

The garden is also open in the morning. Some part of the parks are close for the illumiation.

This is one of the most famous for the night illumiation in Tokyo.

There is a queue outside. We took around 20 minutes to get into a compound.

There is a fixed route going in one direction. You can stop at your own pace to take photos and continue the tour by following the tour. It will take less than one hour if you just stroll to enjoy the scenery.  I recommend this as it is different from the autumn leaves I have seen and it is beautiful. This is not a place for group photos as there are too many people. 

I will not recommend this for kids that are very young or elderly with weak legs.There are very little places to rest.

As it is a one way tour, so you can't turn back if they are tired.

As I visited this in 2016, the photos may not be accurate.

The illumination starts from Sundown to 9pm but last entry is 930pm.

This is from November 17 to 9 December 2019

 

Japan free and Easy : Shinjuku Gyoen Kouen Shinjuku garden park Autumn leaves

We decided to visit SHinjiuku Kouen as it is walking distance from our Hotel and is not really expensive. However, the price of the ticket now is at 500 yen.


How to get there: Ten minute walk from the "New South Exit" of JR Shinjuku Station or a five minute walk from Shinjukugyoenmae Station on the Marunouchi Subway Line.


As I was there around the end of November, some of the Autumn leaves are not as vibrant. I think the best time to catch Autumn leaves should be early November or late October. Usually the tourism board will predict the autumn leaves season.

Prediction of Autumn leaves peak for 2019 click on link

Hours

9:00 to 18:00 (March 15 to June 30 and August 21 to September 30) 

9:00 to 19:00 (July 1 to August 20) 

9:00 to 16:30 (October 1 to March 14) 

Admission ends 30 minutes before closing

Closed

Mondays (or following day if Monday is a national holiday), December 29 to January 3. There are no closing days during the cherry blossom season (late March to late April) and the Chrysanthemum Exhibition (first half of November).

The place is not very big, so will be able to finish in 1.5 hours with some photo takings. There are some benches for people to take a break. Some people do bring there picnic mat and have a nice little picnic or just sit on the grass patch while kids have fun at the open space and the adults enjoy the scenery. 

I will recommend this as it is a convenient place. Some places do require a few hours of travelling.  It is not far from the train station and from city. There are a lot of good spots nearby including my favourite ebi ramen and 100 Yen shop Seria. Shall do a write up on these 2 places in the future.

The place is not big so if you are not one who want to spend a lot of time on sightseeing, this is the place to go. This is also a great spot for cherry blossoms. 

Below are more photos for you decide if this is worth going. I feel this place is very good for family as it is accessible and also there are lot ofplaces for kids to run around.