advice on Kyoto itinerary

We will be visiting Kyoto in April staying at Toyoko Inn Shijo-Karasuma. Your help appreciated in providing advice in best way to travel and plan sightseeing itinerary. There are four people in our group Here is my thoughts:

First day: KinkakujiTemple, Toei Movie Studio, Tofukuji Temple and Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Second day: Kiyomizu Temple, Maruyama Park, Sanjusangendo, Heian Shrine, Gion area.

We will have JR pass and open to using taxi or bus whichever is most convenient. Confused whether buying all day bus pass is worthwhile with 4 people, or taking taxi from site to site preferable in some instances. Between Ryoanji Temple and Tofukuji, which is preferred sight to see? Thank you.

You will only be in Kyoto for 2 days? That is a very short stay for such a beautiful city. If you are staying in early to mid April, you might be able to see cherry blossoms. If they are blooming, I'd recommend going to Nijo Castle one of the nights to see the illuminated cherry trees. Very beautiful at night.

Another place I'd recommend is the Arashiyama area. Walking around by the river is very beautiful. Also hiking the hill to the top of the monkey park gives you an excellent view of the city. I would highly recommend it. If the cherry trees are in bloom, this area is also very beautiful. (It was when I was there.)

Here's my recommendations for just 2 days:
Day 1: Arashiyama, then Toei Movie Studio, then Kinkakuji temple (all close to each other). Then to Heian Shrine, because it is not as far as Fushimi Inari. (and possibly Nijo castle at night if interested)

Day 2: Fushimi Inari, then Tofukuji, then to Sanjusangendo, and then can walk to Kiyomizudera, Maruyama Park and Gion area in the evening (all fairly close to each other if you can walk well).

I would recommend Tofukuji over Ryoanji. I've been to Ryoanji, and it was nice, but pictures of Tofukuji look nicer.

If you needed to cut anything out of these days, I would cut out Heian shrine the first day. And the second day I would cut out Tofukuji. Maruyama park would not take long to see. Fun to walk through and see the Hanami parties, if they are having them when you go.

But I think the above itineraries are doable, if you keep on the move. Good luck and have fun!!!

Just saw on this site that for Kyoto the cherry blossoms are forecasted to be the best between March 31 and April 10. Hopefully you'll be there during that time! Again, have to recommend the illuminated cherry trees inside Nijo castle walls. Breathtakingly beautiful. Especially if the trees are in full bloom. Also had traditional Japanese music being played live there. Very neat too.

Thank you for your good advice. Will be in Kyoto April 16 and 17 and day trip on April 11. Planning to visit Nijo Castle earlier on a day trip and hopefully cover Nishiki market and do some shopping. Will reconsider based on your suggestion and rearrange schedule. Should we be concerned of crowds at mentioned places--reason for my selecting popular places early morning. Fushimi has no closing time, hence put it at end of day. Would you recommend using bus pass or taking taxi to these sites?

By April 16-17, many of the blossoms would probably have fallen off, but there might be some trees that are late bloomers still with flowers. So, a night trip to the castle might not be so spectacular as it was for me. As for what kind of transportation to use, it kind of depends where in Kyoto you'll be staying. If you are near Kyoto station, I would take a bus to Kinkakuji, that's what I did, and it takes you quite close. It's kind of far for a taxi. It would be good to see it early before it gets crowded. Then you could see about taking a taxi to the Toei movie studio. You could finish both of these by noon. Have lunch, then take a taxi to Arashiyama. The area can be crowded around the bridge, but once you walk up the river it is nice and not crowded. And hiking up the hill to the monkey park to see a view of the city is not crowded. Also, the bamboo groves are neat to walk through (they are on the east side of the river). Then from Arashiyama area, you should take trains to Tofukuji and Fushimi Inari. It's direct by train, and it's a long distance from that area of Kyoto. Take the JR Sagano line to Kyoto station (from Arashiyama) and then the Nara line to Tofukuji and Fushimi Inari. Yes, Inari is open late, so it would be good to go in the early evening.

As for day 2, all the sites you had in mind for day 2 are near each other and are not far from Kyoto station. It would be best to take a taxi to Kiyomizudera first, then walk to Maruyama park, and then you could walk or take a taxi to Sanjusangendo (about a 20 minute or so walk). And then taxi to Gion district. Hope this helps.