Kyoto 1-day itinerary

Hi all,

1. I'd like to know the best way to travel around Kyoto in 1 day, including the visit to Bamboo Groves, Kinkaku-ji, Fushimi Inari, and Kiyomizu-dera. The starting point is from Kyoto Station since I will go to Kyoto from Osaka and vice versa.
2. Should I buy Kyoto City Bus All-day Pass or Kyoto Sightseeing Card 1-day to do the travel?

Thanks :)

1. Plot all your destinations on a map, and then decide what the most efficient route would be. Don't forget to add any specific places you want to have lunch and/or dinner.

2. Once you've plotted your itinerary, think about transport between places, and then decide which card is most cost-efficient (if either). The 1-day bus pass pays off if you take the bus three or more times.

1. I'd like to know the best way to travel around Kyoto in 1 day, including the visit to Bamboo Groves, Kinkaku-ji, Fushimi Inari, and Kiyomizu-dera. The starting point is from Kyoto Station since I will go to Kyoto from Osaka and vice versa.

The bamboo groves and Kinkakuji are in the northwest of the city while Kiyomizudera and Fushimi Inari are in the southwest, which makes this itinerary sort of difficult. But luckily, both the natural sights can be done early in the morning, which will save quite a bit of time.

You can either start in Arashiyama with the bamboo groves (you can get there via Hankyu Railways from Osaka bypassing Kyoto Station along the way), then do Kinkakuji, then take the long trek across the city to Kiyomizudera (by various routes depending on how much time you can afford to lose to the transfer), then Fushimi Inari.

Alternatively you if you start at Kyoto Station then you would do it in the reverse order. Note that you should probably get as early a start as possible, unless you don't mind exploring in the dark. When will you be travelling and what is your pace?

2. Should I buy Kyoto City Bus All-day Pass or Kyoto Sightseeing Card 1-day to do the travel?

Depends, do you have any other passes or IC cards at this point of your trip? You may be better off paying regular fares, and/or skip the buses altogether to save time.

1. I'd like to know the best way to travel around Kyoto in 1 day, including the visit to Bamboo Groves, Kinkaku-ji, Fushimi Inari, and Kiyomizu-dera. The starting point is from Kyoto Station since I will go to Kyoto from Osaka and vice versa.

I would stay start off at Kinkakuji as early as possible to beat the crowds. Then take the bus to Emmachi station and take the train to Saga-Arashiyama. Alternatively there should be a bus that travels from Kinkakuji to Arashiyama directly. You should be able to cover the Bamboo Groves by early morning/lunchtime.

Afterwards, cross the bridge to Arashiyama(Hankyu) station, and take the train to Kawaramachi station, then walk to Kiyomizudera directly (about 30 mins).

After Kiyomizudera, you can take the subway from Kiyomizu-Gero station to Fushimi Inari station, and finish off at Fushimi Inari. From there, it is just a short train ride back to Kyoto station.


2. Should I buy Kyoto City Bus All-day Pass or Kyoto Sightseeing Card 1-day to do the travel?
You may be able to rework my suggestion to exclude JR trains, in which case the latter might pay off. I do not recommend using buses if you are going all around Kyoto in a single day since they are less frequent than trains/subways, and take longer to reach your destination.

I would stay start off at Kinkakuji as early as possible to beat the crowds. Then take the bus to Emmachi station and take the train to Saga-Arashiyama. Alternatively there should be a bus that travels from Kinkakuji to Arashiyama directly. You should be able to cover the Bamboo Groves by early morning/lunchtime.

Afterwards, cross the bridge to Arashiyama(Hankyu) station, and take the train to Kawaramachi station, then walk to Kiyomizudera directly (about 30 mins).

That would be more efficient travelwise, but note that Kinkakuji opens relatively late (9:00) which will be somewhat limiting. Also, the overall transport between Arashiyama and Kiyomizudera takes about 1 hour (10 minutes walking, 20 minutes of train, 30 minutes of walking if you don't shop along the way).

Fast travelers may be ok, but I think the average traveler wouldn't arrive at Fushimi Inari till around 3-4pm which is relatively late if you want to climb up to the observation deck. So depending on your travel speed you may want to consider starting a bit earlier.

thanks a lot sq, yllwsmrf and Taiakun for your kindly advise :)

So the best way is like this:
Kinkakuji - Bamboo Groves - Kiyomizudera - Fushimi Inari

If you don't mind, I have another questions:
1. Alternatively there should be a bus that travels from Kinkakuji to Arashiyama directly. May I know the bus number I should take?

2. Is it possible to walk to Fushimi Inari from Kiyomizudera? If it is possible, how long will it take?

3. I already have my JR-Pass with me, but I think it only works if I want to go to Arashiyama and Inari since both of them can be reached through JR Line. Should I buy another pass (e.g. Surutto Kansai Miyako Card \1,000 or Kyoto Sightseeing One-day Pass Card) or just pay per trip?

thanks :)

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

With this link you can plan your route in Kyoto. It includes bus, train and walk. I also did my plan with this site.

Walk from Kiyozumidera to Inari Shrine is impossible (it takes too much time)

I think paying per trip will come out cheaper - with passes you have to make a lot of trips for them to pay off, usually. Like I said, the 1-day bus pass only pays off if you take the bus 3 times or more. I'm sure you can calculate yourself whether a pass will pay off by adding up your planned trips.

As well as the link posted above for public transport (which is excellent), Google Maps also has the public transport schedules for Japan - just search for public transport directions between sights and it will tell you which bus/train/walking path to take.

Kodaiji temple near Kiyumizudera also has a bamboo grove but probably not as big as the one in Arashiyama.

wow... thanks a lot guys..
can't wait to go there :)