Honmaru-goten Palace — Attraction in Kyoto

As some others have mentioned already, purchasing tickets at the door via QR link was the most annoying and cumbersome experience. No I shouldn’t have to create an account, give you my birthday, address, phone number, or generate a password with the most obscure and confusing format rules, just to buy a ticket. All you should need is how many tickets and a credit card. Took us about 20 minutes to finally obtain the tickets online while standing in the glaring sun, with very little help from staff. As for the site itself, it was pleasant but nothing spectacular. The only positive is that the wall paintings here appear to be originals rather than replicas. The Ninomaru was much more impressive overall. This place was definitely not worth the extra price (and hassle)...

Disappointing and not worth the time or money. Honmaru Palace looks impressive from the outside, but once inside, there’s very little to see — mostly plain white sliding doors and paper walls, with almost no original art or decoration. Everything is new because of the 2024 restoration. The staff inside (and there are a lot of them) are just there to point you in the right direction — all the actual information comes from a short video at the beginning and a pamphlet. Compared to the excellent guided tour of the Ninomaru Palace, this was a letdown....

A fascinating structure that does not follow the traditional style of Japanese castles but presents itself more in the form of a large palace. The castle grounds are divided into several sections (palaces) and a wonderfully kept garden. I highly recommend paying the extra fee to visit the Goten Palace (1300 yen in total), as well as climbing to the base of the keep tower to get a...