The temple complex comprises several temple areas, each of which requires a separate entrance fee. Nikkō Tōshogū is the most popular, the most expensive, and the largest. Tickets must be purchased from a machine, which accepts cash, Suica card, and credit card. All other temple areas have cashiers to handle ticket sales.

We spent approximately two hours visiting three paid areas. My favorite was Nikkō Tōshogū, followed by Taiyu-in Temple and Nikko Futarasan jinja Haiden.

The ticket to Nikkō Tōshogū included a second ticket for entry to a building. They gather you into a group, as the guides explain the exhibits in Japanese only. At the end, the guide clapping two wooden sticks together to produce a surprisingly loud but crisp echo within the building, something about sending wishes to the dragon in the sky. We had almost forgotten about the second ticket until we heard the pleasant sound and followed it to the building.

At the Taiyu-in Temple, visitors can purchase a ticket for admission to the temple only, or a combination ticket that also includes admission to the Nikkozan Rin’nōji Temple, which was not particularly interesting. The Taiyu-in temple was intricate and worth the visit.

We drove to the temple and paid 700 yen to park our car in one of the 3-4 parking lots. You can take a bus from town for 300 yen one way per person.

The map may give the impression that the temples are a considerable distance apart, but in reality they are quite close. Walking between them did not take a long time, but visiting the interior of each building took up the majority of our time.

This is truly a beautiful UNESCO site.