Half Day Trip to 貴船 Kibune and 鞍馬 Kurama

The weather turned out better than expected, and we decided to go ahead with the hike from 貴船 Kibune to 鞍馬 Kurama as planned.

We headed for breakfast at a Happiness Cafe nearby at 7:30am, and caught the 8:30am subway to Kyoto station. It was crowded at Kyoto Station and we had to squeeze into our connecting train. The crowd-at-door syndrome was not unique to Singapore 😅

At 出町柳駅 Demachiyanagi Station, we purchased a ¥1800 discount ticket (Train – Hot Spring All in One Pass 貴船鞍馬散策チケット) each that would allow us a return trip to 貴船/鞍馬 Kibune/Kurama (usual ¥860) , plus the entrance fee to the 鞍馬寺 Kurama Temple (usual ¥300), and entrance fee to くらま温泉 Kurama Outdoor Onsen (usual ¥1000).

First stop was a visit to 貴船神社 Kifune/Kibune shrine. It was a pleasant walk. We then backtracked to the red bridge where the entrance to 鞍馬山 Kurama Mountain was, at around 11:10am. The staff explained that it would take about 1.5 hours for the hike, but we took close to 2 hours with many breaks in between and took the 13:05pm ropeway down the hill (¥200 per adult one way). The ropeway ride didn’t have much of a view, but we were certainly grateful for the rest!

Ending at 鞍馬 Kurama meant that we could visit the onsen to relax our tired bodies and legs 😀

You could bring your own towel, or pay to rent a bath towel (¥400) / purchase a face towel (¥300). And it was indeed very refreshing indeed!

Post soak, we shared a tempura soba (¥825) at one of the shops near 鞍馬駅 Kurama Station before taking the train back.

Note: We followed this useful guide at Japan Visitor. As at Jan 2021, the onsen is temporarily closed.