Technically we did this as a day trip from Yokohama where we were staying to attend an event. However, since its under an hour by direct train from Tokyo Station, there's no reason why you can't do it from Tokyo as well. We got off at Kita-Kamakura Station and walked towards Kamakura Station, stopping by the various temples along the way.
My favorite was Engakuji, just outside Kita Kamakura Station. Its one of the leading Zen temples, and one of the 2 more important ones in Kamakura.
The temple grounds are built into the slopes of the forested hills, which makes for really nice picturesque shots.
We were really lucky to have clear blue skies accompanying us as we explored the grounds and the many individual traditional buildings.
Notwithstanding that it was supposed to be well into winter then, the beautiful halls were still surrounded by beautiful lush green trees and gorgeous red, pink and orange maple leaves. This was my absolute favorite shot. A little shrine all the way in. How can anything be so pretty? We spent a really long time there, admiring the beautiful colors and enjoying the serenity of the moment.
Just a little way down the road, is Kenchoji Temple, the number one Zen temple. It's a much larger and grander temple with the entrance passing through huge decorated gates.
The bell there has been designated a "national treasure"!
The gold plating on this gate sparkled dazzlingly against the black frame in the bright sunlight.
There was much more of the grounds to explore, including the Zen garden and entry to a hiking path that's supposed to take you up to views of the entire area, but I felt that the place wasn't that interesting after having seen Engakuji.
Moving on to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, which is Kamakura's most important shrine. This was the busiest of all the temples, with the traditional 'mon" gates, temple shops and so on.
They still had the beating of the drums by a lady dressed in the traditional miko wear.
Last stop for the day was the highlight of Kamakura, the Great Buddha statue.
With so many other temples to explore, its quite easy to turn it into a two day trip, although if you just want to catch the highlights, one day should be adequate. It's probably even more beautiful in spring with the hanami, or autumn when even more of the trees are shades of red and gold.
