Fodor's Expert Review Maruyama Park

A gift to the city in 1886, this well-attended park lies just north of the also popular Yasaka Shrine. Crowds flow through, locals stop to people-watch, vendors supply visitors with beverages, and musicians occasionally entertain passersby. Visitation spikes as the new year dawns, when many people gather to hear the gigantic bell of Chion-in rung at midnight; and during cherry-blossom season, when the sky turns pink with those overhead boughs.