This castle is so spectacularly beautiful it has to be seen to be believed.It took 7 years of restoration work which had only been completed recently and a perfect job was done. We arrived by train and it was only a short walk up the road to the castle itself. it was peak time for the cherry blossom so the place was literally teeming with people. So much so that we decided not to join the long queue to enter the castle but walked the grounds and then went on to enjoy the adjacent garden instead. The alternative would be to get here for when it opens in the morning. As the weather was so wonderful and the cherry blossom so beautiful we did not feel that we had missed out by not going inside

The castle grounds are pretty, but the tour is literally torturous. After waiting over an hour in the sun to enter, we had to remove and carry our shoes for the tour. This meant climbing up hard, slippery steps in socks to see basically nothing. There are no displays, just occasional plaques which say nothing that’s not in the brochure—maybe this was a storage room or this was rebuilt in such a year. The huge crowd meant constant pushing and herding along like cows. Air pollution prevented much of a view. Bruising my heel by stepping on some protrusion in a dimly lit room and twisting my ankle in a near disastrous fall caused by an overly enthused schoolboy on a ladder-like climb has ruined my trip, as every other site requires plenty of walking, too. Definitely NOT worth the trip. There’s nothing here that you can’t see better in Osaka, Kyoto, Hirosaki, or any other typical castle.

I was here for the second time with the Castle undergoing a complete restoration the first time 6 years ago. The restoration is complete and they did a fantastic job. This time I am here at the height of "hanami" season and the cherry trees were in full bloom. Families and friends were having hanami get-togethers under the trees with a cloudless blue sky and the breezes were showering the celebrants with pink and white snow. It was crowded for sure but well worth it. Make time for Himeji, you won't be sorry.

Being in Japan for the Cherry Blossom season, Himeji castle is the best cherry blossom spot we have been to. Very beautiful castle and lots of cherry blossom trees around. The inside is not worth visiting for me, especially had to wait in the queue with the crowd for ages. The little garden next to the castle is nice and pretty.