Garden Museum on Mount Hiei

I enjoy art museums, but I enjoy gardens even more. This place combines both, displaying framed artwork on easels positioned around a large, well designed European style garden that includes many different areas, including a lily pond that is straight out of a Monet painting. The art on display is full-size framed reproductions of famous impressionist paintings, standing on easels set right in among the plants. For example, you can view one of Monet's water lily paintings with the real life lily pond in the background. Mount Hiei is usually cooler than the city below, so a visit to the Garden Museum also offers a respite from the insufferable heat of Kyoto summer for a while.