Kyoto trip

Hi all, I would be arriving at Kyoto station at about 10 am in mid Oct 2009 (weekday).

I intend to cover the following destinations in the order with 1 day in Kyoto.

1. Kinkakuji
2. Nijo-castle
3. Kyoto imperial palace (I understand I need to obtain a visit pass for this).
4. Kiyomizu.

1. As I have 4 adults travelling, would you recommend a taxi ride from Kyoto station to Kinkakuji? If so, what are the estimated taxi costs?

2. Is it the peak season in Kyoto in Oct? Do you recommend to buy a 1 day bus pass to cover #2-4?

3. Should I take a taxi to cover all of #1-4 to reduce the travelling time? What is the estimated taxi costs?

Thanks for your help.

It is a packed program, so you will have to plan and move efficiently in order to see everything.

The Imperial Palace complicates the plan considerably due to the fact that the tours start at fixed times (2pm tour seems to be your only possibility - no tours on weekends) and advance reservations are necessary. I strongly recommend to make advance reservations by internet. Do so as early as possible before the relatively few spaces allocated to internet reservations, are booked out:
http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/order/index_EN.html

If you succeed to make an online reservation, you can simply show up at the palace at the reserved time.

But if you fail to make an online reservation, you will have to drop by the agency office (closed over lunch) in advance of the tour, which will be time-consuming and risky, because the tours could be booked out.

Even if you suceed, your day will be split by the tour at 2pm into two halves, which are difficult to deal with.

For example, squeezing Kinkakuji and Nijo Castle into the morning (10am to 2pm) is only possible if you travel at a rather fast pace, which some people might find unpleasant or impossible.

It might be better to visit Kiyomizudera and Nijo Castle first and then the Imperial Palace at 2pm, followed by Kinkakuji after 3pm.

Considering the packed schedule, I strongly recommend to avoid buses, and take rail bound transportation and taxis, instead.

You may be better off just with the gardens at the Imperial Palace, rather than the Palace itself (as per Uji info)although we personally felt Heian Shrine and gardens were more interesting and picturesque this time. We recently went from Kinkakuji to Ryoanji to Nijo Castle and it was a full day. I also recommend subways to minimise time: Kinkakuji is easy by subway: Kyoto Station to Kitaoji station, then from the bus station it is well signed as to which bus for Kinkakuji. From there it would be better to taxi to Nijo castle, then you could subway to Higashiyama and heian Shrine, then taxi to Kiyomizudera: however that is a very very busy day: depending on crowds it can take forever to go through Nijo Castle.
Also, if you are needing to deposit luggage etc that also takes up time.

Uji and fmj, thanks for your reply and help. My guess as well that the plan is very packed and I need taxis to move around. As Japan taxi is rather expensive, I was hoping to obtain estimated taxi costs for budget purposes.