Sagano Romantic Train & Hozugawa Boat in One Day
Ride the open-sided train up the Hozu gorge, float back down the rapids by wooden boat, then spend the afternoon in Arashiyama's bamboo grove and temple gardens
Last updated 2026-09-03 · 1-day self-guided plan
Sagano Train & Hozugawa
Up the gorge by rail, down it by boat
For anyone who wants Arashiyama with the gorge attached: a slow train up, a two-hour river descent, and the bamboo and temples saved for the afternoon light.
- 1
Torokko Saga station
Take the JR Sagano Line from Kyoto Station to Saga-Arashiyama, about 15 minutes; the sightseeing railway's Torokko Saga station is next door. Be there around 8:30 for one of the first departures. Reserved seats sell out on weekends and in autumn, so buy online in advance or at a JR ticket office the day before; a small railway museum in the station fills any wait.
45 MinutesCost: ¥500–1,000 
2Sagano Romantic Train to Kameoka
The old wooden carriages take about 25 minutes to climb the Hozu gorge, crossing the river several times with the rapids directly below; the open car with no glass is the one to ask for, wet weather aside. The train slows at the best views. Get off at the terminus, Torokko Kameoka, where the fare you already paid covers the trip.
45 MinutesCost: Free- 3
Hozugawa boat descent
A shuttle bus meets the train for the 15-minute ride to the boat landing in Kameoka; boats leave through the morning, so you should be on the water by about 10:30. Three boatmen pole and row a flat wooden boat 16 km down the gorge, through a dozen rapids, with kites overhead and the train crossing above you. In winter the boats are covered and heated.
2 HoursCost: ¥4,000–5,000 - 4
Lunch by Togetsukyo bridge
The boat lands just upstream of Togetsukyo bridge in Arashiyama around 12:30. Walk over the bridge for the classic view of the river and Mt Arashiyama, then eat on the north bank: yudofu boiled tofu sets, soba, or a bowl of eel over rice. The lanes near the bridge are busiest at this hour, so a five-minute walk in any direction finds a shorter queue.
1 HourCost: ¥1,000–2,000 
5Tenryu-ji and the bamboo grove
Ten minutes north of the bridge, Tenryu-ji's pond garden has been borrowing the hillside behind it for seven hundred years; pay for the garden and leave by the north gate, which drops you straight into the bamboo path. Walk it uphill to Okochi Sanso villa, whose entry includes matcha and a view back over Kyoto. By 16:00 the light comes through the bamboo sideways and the grove empties.
1.5–2 HoursCost: ¥500–1,000
Day 1 Estimated Cost
- Food¥2,000–3,500
- Transport & boat¥5,000–6,500
- Admissions¥500–1,500
Tips
Book the train, not the boat: Romantic Train seats are reserved and sell out, while the boat runs on demand through the morning; the two connect by a shuttle bus that waits for each train.
You step in and out of a boat and climb a bamboo hill in one day: flat shoes with grip, and a jacket on the water even in spring, as the gorge is cooler than the city.
Eat after the boat, not before it: there is nothing at Torokko Kameoka beyond a kiosk, and the landing in Arashiyama drops you among fifty restaurants.
From the boat, the train crossing the iron bridge above you is the shot; the boatmen will call it out, so keep the camera on your lap through the second half.