1 day in Kyoto

Hi,
I am planning for a 1 day trip to Kyoto (leaving Osaka at 7am) and would like to cover a few places, any kind soul could advice me on the sequence of the places to cover in order to have a smooth travel?

Places hoping to cover :
- Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
- Tenryuji Temple
- ride on Sagano Romantic train
- Nishiki Market
- Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion)
- Fushimi Inari Shrine
- Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion)
- Kiyomizudera Temple

Too much for one day sorry.

if not, any recommendation on which is a "must-go" and able to cover in a day?

Thank you.

I personally am not overly impressed with Nishiki market, but it's also one of the places easier to fit in with your itinerary because it will have later hours.

You could fit in all the Arashiyama sights and Nishiki Market no problem. (Since the bamboo grove, train, and Tenryuji are all in Arashiyama or in the case of the train start there.) If you finish this with enough time I would I guess try to add in Kinkakuji. The fastest way to get there is hands down a taxi. If you don't want to pay for one, you'll need to look at bus schedules. It might make sense to take a train to a closer station. I walked from Kitano Tenmangu to Kinkakuji, but my daughter complained a lot. lol I can't remember I seem to remember Omuro-Ninnanji Station was very near Ninna-ji and I know we took the bus between Kinkakuji and Ninna-ji.

It would also be easy to do Fushimi Inari and Kiyomizu dera in a combined trip since you can take the Keihan line directly from Osaka to Fushimi Inari Station and then continue onwards Kiyomizu-Gojo Station and either: take the bus; take a taxi; or just walk to Kiyomizudera from there. The walk is not that bad, though in your case it will be mostly uphill. I did it with my 7 year old.

If you had time you would be able to then go to Ginkakuji again by bus or by taking the Keihan line to Jingu Marutamachi and from there taking the bus, a taxi, or walking. It all depends on your/your groups energy level and how much you want to spend. You could take a taxi from Fushimi Inari to Kiyomizudera to Ginkakuji as well. It will just cost more, though it will probably save you on time. It's easy enough from any of these sights to end at the Nishiki Market, which is easily walkable from the Keihan Station Gion-Shijo.

You can't do everything though and what is best really depends on you and your interests.

I would start a 7am at Fushimi Inari, then head to Arashiyama sights, then Golden Pavillion, then the markets.

I'd doubt you have time for anything else. 60 minute travel time between Fushimi Inari and Arashiyama. End of Sagano railway to Golden Pavillion will take one hour, and golden pavillion to markets another hour. Plus the time you spend at each location.

We recently did a one-day trip for a family group and we filled the day with the following order:
• Fushimi Inari Shinto shrine with its famous 10,000 torii gates.
• Nijo Castle (the palace buildings are one the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of Japan's feudal era).
• The 'Golden Pavilion' Kinkaku-ji in the north-west of the city.
• The Arashiyama district. At Arashiyama for the views across the Oi River from the Togetsukyō Bridge and the Sagano bamboo grove. From the bamboo grove enter the Tenryu-ji temple gardens before making our way back to Saga-Arashiyama train station and to Kyoto Station.

This was actually a day trip from Tokyo, but there was an early start and a late finish, but even staying in Kyoto, I wouldn't normally squash in more than these four places and usually only do three of them across eight hours.

I'd give up on Nishiki market which really is not interesting at all, and not particularly pleasant either. Think of Takeshita street in Tokyo with more vegetables and fish. Or pretty much any market street in any Japanese town.

I'd also give up on Fushimi Inari unless you are there really early or really late, and the same goes for Kiyomizudera. Both are great places, but just an absolute crush of people these days so most of the day it isnt worth the aggravation.

Personally if I had only one day in Kyoto I'd see Arashiyama which is really pretty (get there first nice and early and enjoy the bamboo before the crush) then Silver temple and walk the philosopher's path to Nanzenji, and if you have time left go to Kiyomizudera and walk in to Gion.

It`s definitely too much for one day.

Arashiyama is a one day adventure.
Fushimi inari - half day
Kyomizu - half day

because they are in different areas of Kyoto and will take some time to get around.

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