Before going to Fushimi Inari Shrine with a kid, you need to plan carefully your transportation and accommodation. We came from Tokyo and traveled to Osaka. We chose to stay at an AIRBNB house near Dotonbori and just set a day for Kyoto tour and another one for Nara Tour.
From TOKYO/OSAKA to KYOTO
From Tokyo, you need to ride a bus or train to reach Kyoto within 6-10 hours for only P800 to P4000. Through bullet train, the travel time is only 3-4 hrs but you have to spend more than P4000 for its ticket. From Osaka, the fastest and efficient way to go to Kyoto is via train.
If you are coming from Umeda or Shin Osaka, hop on the orange (JR Kyoto Line) or red line (JR Shinkansen) then alight at Kyoto station to reach the old city. Going directly to Fushimi Inari Shrine, it is just a station away from Kyoto Station, the JR Inari Station. The most comfortable way for visitors of Fushimi Inari Shrine with a kid is the rail.
Fushimi Inari Shrine
At the entrance, the big Romon Gate will welcome the visitors who want to pay respect at the main hall behind. Don’t forget to give small offering or prayer to their deity. You’ll see statues of dogs in every corner because Inari is the Shinto God of Rice and is associated with foxes or dogs. Do you know that “Inu” in Japanese means “dog”?
At the back of the main hall is the entrance to the trail of Mt. Inari where you’ll see thousands of Torii. If you are wondering about the Japanese characters written in each torii, these are names of individuals or companies who gave donations to the shrine.
Since we have a kid, we opted to stop at the middle of the trail and not reach the summit. But if you want to complete the trail, it will take 2-3 hrs of walking.
Down the shrine, a line of street food kiosks will greet hungry hikers. Souvenir shops can also be found in this area.
Are you planning to visit Japan? Our travel tips might help you. We have traveled to Tokyo and Nagoya in 5 days, click this link to see our itinerary.
Do you have problems with your visa processing, we’re here to help you ease your worries. Here are our tips on securing Single Entry Visa or Multiple Entry Visa to Japan.
How beautiful! My daughter visited Japan twice while she was in high school and I love hearing her stories about it!
This looks amazing. And it’s nice to have an article that gives a parents perspective on travel, as I always have my little with me.
this looks like a fun trip! I would love to visit Japan!
I’ve always wanted to visit Japan! My co-worker just went a few days ago, and she sent me a picture of the Inari Shrine! It looks beautiful!
I hope I am still able to continue to hike when I have kids.
Keep on sharing your adventures guys. It made me nostalgic. Thank God I will revisit it next year.
There’s a lot to see at Inari Shrine! It’s more beautiful when there’s a matsuri being held! I’m glad you enjoyed your stay in Japan!
Not a kid or a parent, but would love to visit! My fiance fell in love with Japan. he visited before we met and we hope to go together in a couple of years 🙂
I think that its awesome to go out of your way to let kids experience such cultural sites.
I don’t have plans to visit Japan but I really want to do one trip! Will see if time and money helps me to accomplish this in future.
I sure will save this up for future travel to Japan.
I wish I knew more about the Japanese culture. I always feel so ignorant when I read about it. I have always seen pics of the famous Fushimi Inari Shrine but really had no idea what it was about. It looks like a great place to visit and there seems to be plenty of activities at the Fushimi Inari Shrine to occupy a kid of any age. Is the hike up to the top the kind of walk you can do in normal shoes?
I love the vividness of the pictures!
Looks beautiful! Always wanted to visit japan
One of the most must visited place 😊 Grabe ang Japan, nakakaengganyong pasyalan 😊