I went to Nijo Castle teahouse for matcha tea in Kyoto! 🍵 + more things to do 🍵 Japan travel blog

Hi there!

So if you want to visit a teahouse in Kyoto and try out some matcha green tea when you’re in Japan, you can do so with a visit to the Nijo Castle!

You’ll be able to make your own matcha tea straight from matcha powder.

You’ll want to highly consider a trip to Nijo Castle when you’re in Kyoto anyway, as this is one of the top UNESCO world heritage sites in Kyoto.

So, with a visit to Nijo Castle, you can also conveniently tick off the checkbox of making your own matcha too!

For more convenient tea experiences, try the Ginkakuji tea room if you’ll be visiting the Ginkakuji Temple, or try the Okochi Sanso teahouse if you’ll be visiting the Arashiyama bamboo forest. You can get matcha green tea at both places.

Japanese language tip: CASTLE

You might also hear Nijo Castle being referred to as Nijo-jo Castle, or just Nijo-jo.

The attached jo means castle.

But you wouldn’t use jo on its own to talk about a castle in general. This is used when attached to the name of a castle.

On its own, you would call a castle shiro or oshiro.

The Nijo Castle teahouse as part of a one day Kyoto itinerary

I made a visit to the Nijo Castle teahouse with an unlimited one day Kyoto bus pass:

• Nijo Castle
• Kinkakuji Temple
• Ryoanji Temple
• Yasaka Shrine
• Gion to Kiyomizu-dera walk (with Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka streets)
• Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Now…

On the Nijo Castle grounds

Walking towards the teahouse

So after you’ve entered the Nijo Castle grounds and made it past the Kara-mon Gate…

…and past the Ninomaru-goten Palace…

…and past the Ninomaru Garden…

You’ll start to come close to the teahouse!

You’ll likely see signs and you can make your way over as you walk along the castle moat.

So you’ve made it to the Waraku-an teahouse!

Now you can be seated and order your matcha!

How do you make matcha?!

It’ll come with instructions so you can give it a go.

Or you can go for regular green tea too.

Good luck, and happy drinking matcha as you sit back and relax!

How much does the matcha cost at the teahouse?

So this matcha cost 600 yen (US$5). (Green tea is the same price.)

You also have the option of ordering the matcha as a set that comes with small snacks for 1,200 yen (US$11).

Teahouse menu

The Nijo Castle teahouse can also just be a good place to rest a bit after walking around the castle grounds.

There’s a little bit of a variety to choose from if you want more than just tea.

HAPPY NIJO CASTLE TEAHOUSE VISIT!

See more of the top tourist spots to visit with one day Kyoto bus pass!

Traveling around Japan and can't read Japanese? No problem! Just use the camera on the google translate app!

Is a JR pass worth it?!

• Google maps can make it easy to figure out whether or not you should get a JR pass!
• In google maps, type in your departure and arrival city, and choose the transit icon. The route will come up, and so will the estimated cost at the bottom!
• Here is an example of a train route with cost on google maps.
• So do that for all of your long distance routes to figure out how much it might cost.
• Next, go here to see how much a JR pass costs from an official JR pass vendor (and partner of this website).
• And compare!
• Not all forms of public transportation are JR, but long distance shinkansen bullet trains are, and that's where the most cost savings will come.

Best of Kyoto (and Japan!)

• Best temples to visit in Kyoto
• Japanese gardens in Kyoto

👇 Explore the best places to visit in Japan!




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