3 best Kyoto day trip plans and 3 best 2-day trip plans

Kyoto, which is the most famous tourist destination in Japan, has so many attractions that it is very difficult to make a schedule. You may be wondering if one day is enough or need two days or more.

It will be a little busy schedule, but you can still visit the “Must-See” places in Kyoto for a day. Of course it would be nice if you could spend a lot of time exploring Kyoto, but the reality is that your time is limited.

In this article, I will show you these following:

☑3 best Kyoto one-day plans
☑3 best Kyoto 2-day plans including Kyoto 1.5 days and Nara 0.5 day combined plan

I believe these choices will satisfy both travelers who want to see sights as many as they want and tourists who want to pick a few places for more relaxing trip.

1-day plan : Complete all major places in one day

It is “Grand Slam” tour of Kyoto. It is busy but if you want to visit all major sights in one day, you have no choices.

But a taxi gives you lots of extra time. Before I explain you how to use a taxi, let’s see the itinerary.

Suggested itinerary

A taxi seems to be an expensive choice. But if you travel as a group of 3 or 4, it is not. And spending money on a taxi give you an extra time in return. I will show you how you use a taxi efficiently.

Travel from Fushimi Inari to Kiyomizu-dera temple

You will spend 40 minutes and 210 yen per person for a train ride. If you take a taxi, a fare is around 2,000 yen and travel time is about 20 minutes. You can get 20 extra minutes.

Travel from Kinkaku-ji temple to Arashiyama

You will spend 40 minutes and 190 yen per person for a train ride. If you take a taxi, a fare is around 2,000 yen and travel time is about 20 minutes.You can get 20 extra minutes.

You may think 20 minutes is not a big difference. But if you take a bus, you have to go to a bus stop a bit ahead of the schedule. An extra time may be longer.

1-day plan : Sagano Scenic train, Hozugawa River Boat, Fushimi Inari and Kiyomizu-dera

Sagano Scenic train may be at the top of your wish list. The combination of Sagano Scenic train and Hozugawa river boat ride is one of very popular sightseeing plans in Kyoto. I added Fushimi-Inari shrine and Kiyomizu-dera temple on top of this combination.

Suggested itinerary

If you remove Kiyomizu-dera temple, the trip is much easier. You can get more time in Arashiyama or Fushimi Inari. You may remove Fushimi Inar and keep Kiyomizu-dera in the plan. But Fushimi Inari is more accessible from Arashiyama than Kiyomizu-dera temple.

1-day plan : Sagano Scenic train, Hozugawa River Boat, and Railway museum (or Aquarium)

This plan is designed for a family traveler, a slow paced traveler or a train fan. You will enjoy Sagano Scenic train, Hozugawa river boat ride, sightsee in Arashiyama. And then you will head to Kyoto Train Museum. If you are not interested in museums, the aquarium is an alternative. You will spend the rest of the time around Kyoto station area.

Suggested itinerary

You can take a train from Umekoji-Kyotonishi to Kyoto after visiting Railway Museum. But it takes only 20 minutes. You can get to Kyoto station easily on foot.

2-day plan : Sagano Scenic train, Hozugawa River Boat and walk in Higashiyama area

This is a plan that includes Sagano Scenic train and Hozugawa River boat rides, and a few sightseeing spots in addition to the one-day plan that was introduced at the beginning of this post.

On day 2, you will cover most part of “Higashiyama area” (eastern part of Kyoto) by walk.

Suggested itinerary

Day 1

Day 2

2-day plan : All Kyoto and Uji

This does not include Sagano Scenic train and Hozugawa boat ride. You will spend this extra time for visiting Uji, Byodoin temple.

On day 2, you will cover most part of “Higashiyama area” (eastern part of Kyoto) by walk and visit Kibune shrine.

Suggested itinerary

Day 1

Day 2

2-day plan : All Kyoto 1.5 days and Nara half day

If you want to see both Nara and Kyoto but your time is limited, you will spend half day in Nara and the rest of your time for Kyoto. You can combine Nara and southern part of Kyoto easily

Suggested itinerary

Day 1

Day 2

At last

If you could spend 3 or more days in Kyoto, that would be perfect. But as I mentioned at the beginning, this post showed you how you spend your limited time in Kyoto more efficiently.

I hope this will help you to create your future trip plan to Kyoto.