Two nights: should you visit Kotohira or Yashima?
Choose Kotohira for worship at the main shrine and a walk through the shopping street on day two, or Yashimaru for views over the Seto Inland Sea and city. Take Kotoden to and from Kotohira, or JR to Yashima Station followed by the summit shuttle for Yashimaru. Stay two nights in Takamatsu and visit the garden and castle site on the first and last days.
Choose a 3 days / 2 nights itinerary
Garden walks and a day trip to Kotohira
Stay two nights in Takamatsu to combine garden walks with worship at Kotohira-gu’s main shrine. Visit Kotohira for a day on the middle day.
Garden walks and a day trip to Kotohira →3 days / 2 nightsYashima views and Takamatsu
Stay two nights in Takamatsu for gardens and a castle site, with the middle day set aside for Yashima’s hilltop views.
Yashima views and Takamatsu →Garden walks and a day trip to Kotohira
Stay two nights in Takamatsu to combine garden walks with worship at Kotohira-gu’s main shrine. Visit Kotohira for a day on the middle day.
Day 1: Tamamo Park and Takamatsu Port
Explore the park and port according to your arrival time in Takamatsu. If the gate hours do not fit, move the park to another sightseeing day.
- Takamatsu hotel and JR Takamatsu Station → Tamamo Park entrance
Head to Tamamo Park, about a 3-minute walk from JR Takamatsu Station. If you arrive after the gates close, visit the park on another day.
Current admission and gate hoursTakamatsu city visitor information
- Tamamo Park → Takamatsu Port and hotel
Explore the castle remains and moat, then walk around the port. Have dinner near the station and continue to your booked hotel.
Current admission and gate hoursTakamatsu city visitor information
Park gates have different closing times. Check the hours for the entrance you will use.
Day 2: Kotohira-gu’s main shrine
Visit Kotohira-gu’s main shrine, walk the shopping street and return to Takamatsu today. Allow time for climbing and descending, meals and breaks.
- Kotoden Takamatsu-Chikko Station → Kotoden Kotohira Station
Take a Kotohira-bound train from Kotoden Takamatsu-Chikko and get off at the terminus, Kotoden Kotohira. Distinguish it from JR Kotohira Station. Choose outward and return services for your date in Kotoden’s official timetable.
Kotohira Line timetableCurrent timetable listStation-to-approach and steps information
- Kotoden Kotohira Station → Shrine-approach entrance
Walk about 10 minutes from Kotoden Kotohira Station to Omotesando. The climb to the main shrine is additional.
Kotohira Line timetableStation-to-approach and steps information
- First steps on the shrine approach → Kotohira-gu main shrine and shopping street
Official guidance gives about 1 hour one way to climb the 785 steps from the first step to the main shrine. Allow time for descending and breaks too. After worship, have lunch and rest in the shopping street before returning to the station.
Station-to-approach and steps informationWalking-route precautionsShrine official hours
- Kotoden Kotohira Station → Kotoden Takamatsu-Chikko Station
Take a train from Kotoden Kotohira back to Takamatsu-Chikko. Have dinner in Takamatsu and rest at the same hotel.
Allow time to climb the main-shrine steps, descend and rest.
Day 3: Ritsurin Garden
After visiting Kotohira the previous day, walk Ritsurin Garden on your final day and return to Takamatsu-Chikko.
- Takamatsu hotel → Kotoden Takamatsu-Chikko Station
Go to Kotoden Takamatsu-Chikko Station, separate from JR Takamatsu Station. From a Kawaramachi hotel, start at nearby Kotoden Kawaramachi Station and check that section’s fare.
- Kotoden Takamatsu-Chikko Station → Kotoden Ritsurin-Koen Station
Take a train towards Kotohira and get off at Ritsurin-Koen. The adult one-way fare is ¥250; the ¥500 return from Takamatsu-Chikko is included in the listed budget. Choose services for your date in the official timetable.
Kotohira Line timetableCurrent timetable listTakamatsu-Chikko fares
- Kotoden Ritsurin-Koen Station → Ritsurin Garden east gate and gardens
The official roughly 7-minute walk starts at Kotoden Ritsurin-Koen Station. Enter through the east gate, buy a ticket and explore the gardens. Do not confuse this with JR Ritsurin-Koen-Kitaguchi’s north-gate access. Adult admission is ¥500 and October hours are 06:00–17:30. Ticket purchase, sightseeing and breaks are extra to the 7-minute walk. Check operating notices for other months or storm warnings.
- Ritsurin Garden and east gate → Kotoden Ritsurin-Koen Station
Leave through the east gate and retrace your walk to Kotoden Ritsurin-Koen Station. Allow time to reach the east gate from within the gardens, plus about 7 minutes to the station.
- Kotoden Ritsurin-Koen Station → Kotoden Takamatsu-Chikko Station
Take a train from Kotoden Ritsurin-Koen back to Takamatsu-Chikko. After arriving, continue to your next destination.
- Kotoden Takamatsu-Chikko Station → Boarding point for your booked departure
If returning to your hotel first, allow further time to reach your departure point. For the airport, walk to JR Takamatsu Station and take an airport limousine from bus stand 3. The ¥1,300 adult fare is excluded from the listed budget. Choose your date’s service and scheduled arrival in the official timetable to meet airline check-in deadlines. For another city, board JR trains at JR Takamatsu Station or Kotoden at Takamatsu-Chikko.
Airport limousine use and monthly changesAirport limousine fares and city boarding points
Ritsurin Garden’s opening and closing times vary by month. Distinguish the starting stations for east- and north-gate access.
Included items: Ritsurin Garden ¥500 + Tamamo Park ¥300 + Kotoden Ritsurin-Koen return ¥500 + Kotohira return ¥1,560. Train fares start at Takamatsu-Chikko.
Extra costs: Flights, accommodation, meals, airport travel, additional transport between hotels, stations and boarding points, and other extra journeys are excluded. Garden boats and teahouses, Kotohira-gu’s additional buildings and prayers are excluded too.
For one adult. Kotoden fares use Takamatsu-Chikko as the starting point; check the actual section fare if starting elsewhere.
Fees and seasonal hoursCurrent admission and gate hoursTakamatsu-Chikko faresKotohira return fares
Yashima views and Takamatsu
Stay two nights in Takamatsu for gardens and a castle site, with the middle day set aside for Yashima’s hilltop views.
Day 1: Ritsurin Garden
First check whether your arrival leaves enough time before that day’s garden closure. For a late arrival, move the garden to another day and revise that day’s transport too.
- Your booked Takamatsu hotel → Takamatsu-Chikko and Ritsurin-Koen stations
Take a train from Kotoden Takamatsu-Chikko towards Kotohira and get off at Ritsurin-Koen. Walk towards the east gate. If arrival leaves too little time in the garden, swap the visit with another day.
- Ritsurin-Koen Station → Ritsurin Garden east gate
Walk about 7 minutes to the east gate and explore the gardens. Allow extra time for ticket purchase, sightseeing and breaks. Compare your arrival with that month’s closing time to decide whether the visit fits.
Fees and seasonal hoursOfficial access informationKotohira Line timetable
- Ritsurin Garden and Ritsurin-Koen Station → Takamatsu hotel
Return from the same station on a Takamatsu-Chikko-bound train. You can get off at Kawaramachi for a meal, but recheck that section’s fare. Continue to your Takamatsu hotel afterwards.
Ritsurin Garden’s opening and closing times vary by month. Distinguish the starting stations for east- and north-gate access.
Day 2: Yashimaru
Travel from your Takamatsu hotel to JR Takamatsu Station.
- Takamatsu hotel and JR Takamatsu Station → Shuttle stop outside JR Yashima Station
Take a JR Kotoku Line local train from Takamatsu towards Hiketa and get off at Yashima. Leave the ticket gates and go to the summit-bound shuttle stop outside. Check JR and shuttle timetables for your date together and choose a connection with enough time.
- Outside JR Yashima Station → Yashima Sanjo stop and Yashimaru
Take the summit shuttle to its terminus, Yashima Sanjo. On the official summit map, locate the visitor car park, Yashima-ji and Yashimaru at number 11, then follow the path towards Yashimaru’s main entrance. The facility leaflet marks that entrance separately. The official roughly 10-minute walk starts at the visitor car park; allow separately for finding and walking the route after getting off the bus. See the viewing spaces, then have a meal and break on the summit. Paid exhibitions and meals are excluded from the listed budget.
Current shuttle fares and timetableOfficial walk from the visitor car park to the facilityYashimaru current operationYashima official summit mapYashimaru shuttle access and main entrance layout
- Yashimaru → Yashima Sanjo stop and JR Yashima Station
Return from the facility to the summit stop and take a shuttle to JR Yashima Station. A late facility closing time does not mean the last shuttle leaves then, so choose your return bus first.
- JR Yashima Station → JR Takamatsu Station and the same hotel
Take a local train from JR Yashima towards Takamatsu, have dinner and return to the same hotel. Return local-train fares total ¥560, and the return shuttle from the JR station costs ¥680, making the day’s transport total ¥1,240. A limited express costs extra.
Yashimaru closes Tuesdays, or the next weekday when Tuesday is a public holiday. Evening facility opening and evening shuttle operation are separate; check the official facility calendar and bus notices together.
Day 3: Tamamo Park
Finish your trip at Tamamo Park after the Yashima day. Continue to Takamatsu Station or the port after visiting.
- Takamatsu hotel → Tamamo Park west gate
Travel from your hotel’s address to the west gate on the JR Takamatsu/Takamatsu-Chikko station side. The official roughly 3-minute walk from the JR station is not your hotel walk. City guidance places the west gate on the station side and the east gate on the car-park/prefectural-museum side.
Takamatsu city visitor informationCurrent admission and gate hours
- Tamamo Park west gate → Park visit and west gate
Pay the ¥300 adult admission and explore the castle remains and moat. October hours are 06:00–17:30 at the West Gate and 08:30–17:00 at the East Gate. Gate hours change in other months, and the park closes from 29 to 31 December. Use the West Gate you entered as a reference when returning to your hotel. For a morning departure, leave out either sightseeing or lunch.
Takamatsu city visitor informationCurrent admission and gate hours
- Your booked Takamatsu hotel after the visit → Boarding point for your booked departure
For the airport, take a Takamatsu Airport limousine from JR Takamatsu Station bus stand 3. The ¥1,300 adult fare is excluded from the listed budget. Choose your date’s service and scheduled arrival in the official timetable to meet airline check-in deadlines. For another city, board JR at JR Takamatsu Station or Kotoden at Takamatsu-Chikko.
Airport limousine use and monthly changesAirport limousine fares and city boarding points
Check each gate’s closing time. For an early departure, move the park visit to a previous day and go to the station.
Included items: Ritsurin Garden ¥500 + Tamamo Park ¥300 + Kotoden Ritsurin-Koen return ¥500 + Takamatsu–Yashima JR return ¥560 + Yashima Station–summit shuttle return ¥680.
Extra costs: Flights, accommodation, meals, airport travel, additional transport between hotels, stations and boarding points, and other extra journeys are excluded. Garden boats and teahouses, Yashimaru’s paid exhibitions and parking are excluded too.
For one adult. Kotoden fares start at Takamatsu-Chikko; check section fares if starting elsewhere. Day 1 garden admission and Kotoden return cost ¥1,000, day 2 return JR and shuttle journeys to Yashima cost ¥1,240 and final-day Tamamo Park admission costs ¥300, totalling ¥2,540.
Fees and seasonal hoursCurrent admission and gate hoursTakamatsu-Chikko faresJR fare tableCurrent shuttle fares and timetable
Frequently asked questions
If Yashimaru opens at night, do buses run late too?
Evening opening hours and shuttle services are separate. This itinerary returns from the summit in the afternoon. To stay into the evening, check a suitable return connection for your visit date.
Yashimaru current operationCurrent shuttle fares and timetable
Official sources and check dates
- Fees and seasonal hours ·
- Official access information ·
- Current admission and gate hours ·
- Takamatsu city visitor information ·
- Shrine official hours ·
- Station-to-approach and steps information ·
- Walking-route precautions ·
- Official walk from the visitor car park to the facility ·
- Yashimaru current operation ·
- Current shuttle fares and timetable ·
- Current timetable list ·
- Kotohira Line timetable ·
- Takamatsu-Chikko fares ·
- Kotohira return fares ·
- JR fare table ·
- Airport limousine fares and city boarding points ·
- Airport limousine use and monthly changes ·
- JR Shikoku timetables by station and route ·
- Yashima official summit map ·
- Yashimaru shuttle access and main entrance layout ·