If you’re wanting to see Snow Monkeys when you’re in Kyoto, Arashiyama Monkey Park is the place for you.
When visiting the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, this is an easy walk up to Monkey Park and is a great way to spend a morning.
Not usually one for promoting zoos or animals in captivity, but the Arashiyama Monkey Park is a semi-wild population of Snow Monkeys that they use for research and conservation. Impressive that it is also the largest troop of Snow Monkeys in Japan!
How to get to Arashiyama Monkey Park
Not too far outside of Kyoto, this is an easy-to-do side mission if you’re visiting the historical capital of Japan.
The famous Bamboo forest is right near so you can kill two birds with one stone by visiting the Arashiyama Monkey Park.
There’s no parking at the park itself, but plenty of options close by. Be warned that some of the paid parking is extortionately priced, so might be worth having a look around to find the best spot.
My Experience with Arashiyama Monkey Park
The Arashiyama Monkey Park was brilliant in all honesty. As mentioned I am not really one for a zoo, or wildlife park, but this was worthwhile and definitely could see that the monkeys were well looked after and they had a huge area to roam.
Be warned though the walk to the actual site where the monkeys are is steep and can take 10-15 minutes. But when you’ve made it, it’ll be worthwhile as the monkeys are brilliant.
If you visit in the winter you can see them using the local hot springs, but visiting them on a warm day in May didn’t give me such an option.
They observe and research the monkeys here and they are the largest group of Snow Monkeys in the whole of Japan. I think usually there are anywhere between 20-40 in on group, where as the Arashiyama Monkey group is around 120 large.
Babies galore, youngesters and big ol’ bois roaming around. Was a fun way to spend the morning and definitely recommend visiting.
Entry is 600 yen, which is around £3.50.
If you’ve any questions about Arashiyama Monkey Park, then drop them in the comments below and I’ll be happy to help.
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