With a small child, I wouldn’t, unless you and she are particular garden fans. She’d enjoy it, I’m sure; it’s very child-friendly. But it’s something like two or 2 1/2 hours on the train each way, and I’m skeptical it’s worth it. Why not try some of the gardens in and around Kyoto? I just found this post about it: https://www.insidekyoto.com/kyotos-best-gardens. Enjoy!

I really love your blog about Kanazawa. I plant to visit Kanazawa especially the Kenrokuen garden with my wife and a young daughter but I am not sure is it worth to stay in Kanazawa just for the garden? Should we just do a day trip from Kyoto instead? Or should I just forget it.
Thanks.

You’re welcome, Doreen! I’m actually not in Japan anymore. I decided to stick to my twice-a-week schedule of posting even though I was writing much more than that. So I have posts about Japan and Korea lined up and scheduled well into October! I’m home in the Netherlands and back to my “real job” now!

Thanks, Lesley! I agree, Kanazawa might be worth it for the garden and the villa, but not so much for the castle, or, rather, not if you have the time to see Himeji or Matsumoto!

I didn’t go to Shinakawa-go but I did visit Takayama. Unless you’re particularly into gardens, I’d recommend Takayama over Kanazawa.

I had never heard of it until they opened that shinkansen train line, which I think was last spring or winter. There were several blog posts and newspaper articles about it at the time which made me want to see it. Definitely try for a weekday during their school year!