Kyoto Hieizan Ropeway

Hieizan is one of Kyoto’s well-known mountains, everyone knows that. You can experience hiking there, there is a garden museum there…it is just a great place to go. However, no one seems to have talked about how to get to the peak of Hieizan so that you can visit all these wonderful attractions.

So here, we will talk about the Hieizan Cable Car and Ropeway.

Now, there are actually many ways to get to the summit of this mountain. You can drive there, there are buses going there and of course there is the cable car! Take note though, there are two cable cars leading to Hieizan, Sakamoto Cable Car and the Hieizan Cable Car.

Today, we will be looking at the Hieizan Cable Car and Hieizan Ropeway which can be accessed via the Eizan Line from the Yase-Hieizanguchi Station.

The cable car and ropeway combination, I personally feel is the better way of accessing Hieizan, purely due to the scenic and experience value.

At ¥1700 for the round-trip (because as beautiful as Hieizan is, you probably do not want to be up there, alone, at night), the price is rather reasonable. Once you buy your ticket, you are off to the boarding platform for the cable car…and realize that it is not really a cable car as we know it. Instead of being suspended on a cable, the Hieizan Cable Car is more like a tram that is being pulled up the steep hills of the mountain by a cable pulley system. It is precisely this unique set-up that makes this cable car a worthy experience.

As you travel up and down the tree-covered hill, it sort of feels like you are travelling through a forest-tunnel into a new world…although on occasions a bug may fly through the window and result in some screaming in the car.

9 minutes later you should be at the Hieizan Ropeway station!

I suppose another aspect that makes the cable car and ropeway combination worth the trip is the fact that you can stop at the mid-section of the mountain to take photos of the valley below instead of scrambling to do so through the dirtied glass of the cable car if it went up all the way in one shot.

Switching to the ropeway, you realize that the ropeway is what we normally associate with cable cars (oh Japan…). The trip up with the ropeway is much shorter but no less enjoyable, seeing as you are suspended a few hundred feet above sea level. The view is of course, amazing and even better views (and activities) await you at the summit!

An additional tip for the ride, try and plan it such that you will run into golden hour on your return trip down the mountain so you can take advantage of the beautiful lighting for your shots.

Enjoy!