Plan your itinerary well, and you'll find yourself being able to visit this beautiful garden - for free. That's precisely what I did, and I did it on consecutive days too.

I visited the garden first on 17th Feb 2023 where there's winter illumination in the evening and it was free admission during the night illumination. The lit-up gardens were absolutely gorgeous! However only certain fixed paths were open to visitors and you are not allowed to wander off these paths. It was extremely crowded with many locals there as well, since the seasonal illuminations are always very popular.

Then on 18th Feb (yes, the very next day), I woke up extremely early at around 5+am, and walked from Kanazawa station to the garden (buses were still not operating at that time when I started out from my hotel). The garden was open, free admission, from 6am to 7.45am (you are supposed to leave the garden grounds 15 minutes before actual opening time). Free early admission timing is dependent on the season - you can check their official website for the timing.

Going during early admission means I had the gardens to myself (almost). I only bumped into random avid photographers who were there with their professional cameras to take picturesque photos without any crowds in the background. Indeed, I really felt like I was the only one in the garden most of the time. It was an absolute surreal experience, to have one of the most renowned gardens in Japan to myself as I wander about, taking photos at my leisure. It was so quiet and peaceful. The barricades and restrictions from the previous night illumination were all removed and I was able to explore the garden fully.

1hr 45 minutes is definitely enough time to explore the whole garden since I don't need to wait for anyone else to step out of my camera frame, and that I already had been to some parts of the garden the previous night. Do give the early admission hours a try if you don't wish to jostle with crowds. You'll really love the empty garden grounds!