Takeda Castle Ruins — Attraction in Asago

A few days ago, I travelled with my family to visit the "Takeda Castle Ruins" in Asago-shi, Hyōgo-Prefecture-Japan. It's a bit of a drive from Kyoto, about 21/2 hours to be precise. There are a few options available on maps, and we opted for driving most of it through the countryside. Time-wise, it hardly made a difference. About halfway in, we stopped at an udon restaurant for lunch. Our first stop was high up on NR 163; it's a winding road to the top and easily accessible by car. On the top, there is a spot from where you can see Takeda Castle Ruins. The distance to the castle is just under 3.00 kilometres or 1.8 miles. I used a 70-200 telelens with a 2X extender. The weather was not at its best, with slight rain and dark clouds; still, it was a fun experience. Of course, the prime time to shoot a legendary picture is in late autumn when there is fog in the morning. There is a second spot that is very popular with photographers. Located on the opposite side of the castle, you'll need to hike up between 10 and 30 minutes. There are three observation spots, with number one the hot place and the highest. Because it was getting dark, I opted for the third observation spot. The shooting distance to the castle is just under 2.00 kilometres or 1.2 miles. There is a path, but it is steep and rugged. This area is famous for its clusters of cherry trees during the sakura season. I definitely would like to go back in autumn to see the castle in a...

A few tips that I could‘t find any information on in advance: (1) The bus that runs from the second car park / visitor center is infrequent and if too many people line up, the bus will be full and you can‘t get on. However, there are two taxis available that you can take and it‘s only ¥650 to go further up. You can also easily walk that short distance on the paved road - it‘s not steep. Check my photo for bus times. (2) There are toilets by the visitor centre and the ticket gate by the entrance. (3) The entrance was actually ¥500. (4) It‘s absolutely beautiful to visit during cherry blossom season! (5) I seems that the main way up (when you follow the signposted path to Takeda Castle) is paved, not steep and easy to walk on. There are other hiking trails on the sides from the town that are much more challenging. Walking on the castle grounds has a few steps, but is fairly easy. (6) Even though it‘s a fairly well-known spot, it doesn‘t have an touristy feel about it. This place is absolutely amazing with some of the best views I‘ve...

If planning to visit the Takeda castle ruins, please be aware that they close at 1300 for new entries! even though information on the web states they are open until 1600 and it only takes 40-60 minutes to see...so we travelled from Kyoto and arrived by noon at the station. But by the time we got up the mountain far enough to pay the entrance fee we were told it was not possible to enter and had to walk back down. There was no bus and we couldn't find a taxi. It is possible to drive a private car up to the entrance though we didn't have access to one. It would have been helpful to have this information on the website, not even the local tourist office seemed to be aware of this, so maybe there was a special circumstance. Very dissappointed to travel from Australia looking forward to seeing this and could not alter plans the following day (everything prepaid) although we stayed nearby that night we travelled to Kinosaki...