Kinkakuji-Ginkakuji-Kiyomizudera

Hi,
I'm going to Kyoto in August, my first time. Please suggest fast ways to commune by subway, bus, and/or subway + bus:
1. From Kyoto Station to Kinkakuji Temple
2. From Kinkakuji Temple to Ginkakuji Temple
3. From Ginkakuji Temple to Kiyomizu-dera Temple
4. From Gion to Kyoto Station

Thank you very much.
Yupa

Welcome to Kyoto.

1.From Kyoto Station to Kinkakuji Temple
Get on the subway(Karasma-line).
Transfer to the bus at Kitaoji station.
Get off at Kinkakuji-michi station.
(about 30min)

OR
Get on JR Sagano line.
Transfer to the bus at Enmachi station.
Get off at Kinkakuji-michi station.
(about 30min)

OR
Get on the No.101 bus at Kyoto station.
And get off at Kinkakuji-michi station.
(about 40min)(This is the easiest way.)


2.From Kinkakuji Temple to Ginkakuji Temple
Get on the No.204 bus at Kinkakuji-michi station.
Get off at Ginkakuji-michi station.
(about 40min)


3. From Ginkakuji Temple to Kiyomizu-dera Temple
Get on the No.100 bus at Ginkakuji-michi station.
Get off at Kiyomizu-michi station.
(about 30min)


4. From Gion to Kyoto Station
Take a taxi!

OR
Walk to Shijo station (subway Karasuma line).(about 15min)
And get on the subway to Kyoto station.
When you walk to Shijo station, you can also go to Nishiki ichiba.
http://www.kyotoguide.com/ver2/thismonth/nishiki-ichiba.html


You can buy one-day tickets at Kyoto station.
If you go by subway and bus, buy 京都観光一日乗車券 for 1,200 yen.
If you take the bus only, buy 市バス・京都バス一日乗車券カード for 500 yen.


Summer in Kyoto is really hot and humid and the buses are always delayed.
So I guess it is the best way to take a taxi for all itinerary.

You can enjoy private taxi tour with English speaking driver.
The driver also guides you for extra charge.
http://www.kyoto-doitaxi.com/
https://shuttle.mk-group.co.jp/limotrip/
(I cannnot find English page on the bellow site, but they say English / Korean / French / Spanish speaking guide is available.)

Have a nice trip!

I don't recommend you do all those sites in one day as you'll be hitting the 3 farthest corners of the city, losing lots of time to bus rides along the way.

Thank you very much for the very clear instruction and time required.

Taking travel times from one place to another, I may visit Kinkakuji and KiyomizuderaTemples only.

I suggest you look at the geographic layout of Kyoto, as Kinkakuji-Kiyomizudera is one of the longest possible transfers. You may as well go via Ginkakuji at that point.

I guess you allocate 1 day for Kyoto. I think it is too short to experience Kyoto, but if you do have only one day, there might be better way to enjoy it.

The public transport within Kyoto is somewhat different from that in Tokyo or Osaka. In Tokyo and Osaka you can do it exclusively with trains/metros, but in Kyoto many touristic places are far from the train/metro station so you may need to use buses. On the other hand, buses are sometimes very crowded and there might be heavy traffic jam. So the best way to travel within Kyoto is take the bus sparingly (as short as possible) and walk by yourself in a continuous areas. As for public transport, Arukumachikyoto is very useful to find out your way.

http://www.arukumachikyoto.jp/index.php?lang=en

Among the three temples you mentioned, Kiyomizudera is most interesting, in my opinion, but it will be very crowded around noon. So I recommend you to go to Kiyomizudera in the morning when there should be less tourists. The three temples basically do not allow you to enter inside the building. Many temples in Kyoto allow you to enter the building, sit on the tatami floor, rest and see the garden, which I think is the "must" in Kyoto. Near Kiyomizu, there are Kenninji, Kodaiji and 　 Entokuin where you can enjoy the building from inside. Then walk to Yasaka Shrine, Maruyama park, Chion-in and Shoren-in. Up north are Murin-an, Nanzenji and Eikando. The most crowded place is the road to Kiyomizudera while others are not so crowded. I think you should spend the whole day in this area. You can go back to Kyoto station by metro (Keage or Higashiyama station.

If you have the time, you could easily add more places, like the Honganji Temples and Fushimi Inari. They are all open at the crack of dawn, very worthwhile, no admission fee, and very easy to get to without taking much time.

Taxi. You're talking about places that are 5+ km apart, so the fastest way is direct transport. I recently grabbed a taxi from Nishiki Market to Ginkakuji (Y1500), but it saved me 40+ minutes.

You've spent thousands of dollars to get to Japan and Kyoto, so a few US$10 taxis to enable you to actually see what you came for is better than wasting time waiting for bus and train connections.

Taxi is the best choice . Cheap and fast. Don't waste your time with public transportation.

Thank you very much, every one. All comments and suggestions are very useful. I'll definately revise my plan.

Unfortunately that I only have a very short time in Kyoto. I believe, I'll have my 2nd and 3rd time :)

All the best,
Yupa