In Kyoto, it’s cheap and convenient to travel by bus. However, you do have to take into account the potential waiting time and crowdedness of buses.
A little tip about riding the bus:
- Anytime you hop onto a bus, you’ll pay 220yen (regardless of how far/close you’re going within the city).
- If you plan to go to more than 1 tourist site within a day, you should consider buying their City Bus All Day Pass at a bus station. It’s 500yen valid for unlimited rides within the area in the diagram below (that houses most of the temples/shrines you want to visit). Any trips outside of that area, you’d have to pay extra.
- Do expect some waiting time for buses and the chance that buses may be crowded and that you may have to board the next available bus.
- Another option is to purchase the Kyoto Sightseeing One and Two Day cards. One day Pass (Adult: 1,200yen | Child: 600yen). Two Day Pass (Adult: 1,200yen | Child: 600yen). This can be used on bus, subway and along Kyoto bus route.
Pictures courtesy of http://www.city.kyoto.jp/
WHAT WE DID
We purchased the All Day Bus Pass and found that it was sufficient to take us to the essential tourist attractions (Kiyomizu Dera, Kinkakuji & Nijo Castle). We purchased the pass from the Bus Ticket Center (see on map below).
It’s very convenient to catch your bus from the Kyoto Station. Go to the Kyoto Tourist Information Center inside the Kyoto JR station and get the following map. You can then:
- Lookup the place you want to go
- Identify the bus number
- Identify bus stop and the location of the bus stop in front o the JR station.
RIDING THE BUS
See this for more details about riding the bus.
- Board from back of bus
- Exit through the front door
- Pay/show all day pass when you get off the bus
- Buy all day bus pass (500yen) if you plan to visit more than one tourist destination
- Buy Kyoto sightseeing pass if you plan to visit outside the area covered by the bus pass.
Hope this helps!
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3 Comments
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Hi,
May I know if the All Day Bus Pass can be used on all buses in kyoto? I am a bit confused with so many terms of buses like City Bus, Kyoto Bus, RAKU Bus. Please advise. Thanks.
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Hi Idelish. I am from Malaysia planning to go to Kyoto next year around February. I need your help for my transportation as I am a little bit confused here. I plan to use Kyoto City Bus Pass which cost 500 yen for a day trip but it only can be use in a limited region. I will be staying near Demachiyanagi Station which is not so near the Kyoto Station to buy the pass each day. So, I plan to buy the pass during my arrival in Kyoto Station and need to arrange what type of pass that I need to buy. So, these are my list of places that I would like to visit. I don’t know whether it is within the area covered for 500 yen and I might want to ask some help from you to figure it out.
Day 1: Ginkakuji temple, Nanzenji temple, Kyoto Handicraft Center and Kyoto Manga Musem
Day 2: Kyomizudera temple, Gion district
Day 3: Fushimi Inari Shrine
Day 4: Arashiyama and Sagano, KinkakujiSo that if I have to pay extra from 500 yen, then I think I should get the Kyoto Sightseeing On Day Pass rather than the Kyoto City Bus Pass.
Thank you.-
Author
Hi,
This is the map that you’ll get when you go to Kyoto station: http://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kotsu/cmsfiles/contents/0000019/19770/bus_navi_en200801.pdf
See the picture of the pass above? The green area are all covered by the pass. Take a look at the map here and compare. http://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kotsu/cmsfiles/contents/0000019/19770/bus_navi_en200801.pdf
I know for sure that Ginkakuji, Kiyoinzudera and Fishimi Inari Shrine are all covered by the all day pass. I’m not sure about Arashiyama. Another great source of info is the “Special Tickets” section here: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2363.html
Another advice is to show the customer service people your Day 1 – 4 plan and then they will tell you which bus passes to buy. It’s really very easy. That’s what we did. We showed the lady at the ticket counter the list of places we wanted to go and then she said All day bus pass was sufficient.
Hope this helps!
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