Mount Yoshino is very well known – even outside of Kansai – as one of the best cherry blossom viewing spots. You’ll literally find hills full of cherry blossoms there – and they bloom later than in central Kyoto / Osaka / Nara.
Visited: April 15th 2012

Mount Yoshino, also known as Yoshinoyama (???), is located in Nara Prefecture (map) just a day trip away from Kyoto or Osaka.
It has been a very popular cherry blossom viewing spot for ages and if you look at the photo above you can probably understand why.

Access to Mount Yoshino in Nara
Mount Yoshino can easily be reached by public transportation. Just get off at Yoshino Station (~ 2h from Osaka / Kyoto ) using the Kintetsu Express or Ltd. Express.
From there it’s just a very short walk as you can see in the photo above. The mountain full of cherry blossom trees is right ahead. There’s also a ropeway and a shuttle bus for those who don’t want to walk, but I highly recommend walking as you can enjoy sakura right from the start.  

What Makes Mount Yoshino So Special"
It is said that over 1300 years ago the first few cherry blossom trees were planted there.
Now, you’ll find over 30.000 cherry trees of different types (mainly yamazakura) at Mt. Yoshino.
Mt. Yoshino is divided into 4 areas:

Shimo Senbon (???, lower 1000 trees)
Naka Senbon (???, middle 1000 trees)
Kami Senbon (???, upper 1000 trees)
Oku Senbon (???, inner 1000 trees)

On your way from one area to an...