Kyoto Transportation Tips by naruto

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: The VERY best way to travel around Kyoto is by bus. Many of the best attractions in Kyoto are not situated near subway stations, while its bus system is not only extensive but also extremely easy to navigate.

Many bus lines starts at Kyoto Station, looping around the city with many of the city's sights on its route. Bus 100 is a great example stopping at/near Kiyomizu Temple, Ginkakuji, Yasaka Shrine, and the Gion area.

TIPS:

1. First thing you need to arm yourself with is a 1-day bus ticket which cost 500yen that lets you travel all day, hopping on and off.
A single trip already cost 220yen, so the ticket more than pays for itself.
If I am sightseeing in Kyoto for 3 days, I usually buy 3 bus tickets ahead of time and validate them on my first bus trip of each day.

2. A Kyoto city bus map is the most useful thing you can ever have. The user-friendly map with illustrations, shows colored coded bus routes and tells you which bus goes to which tourist attractions/sights. It is also very easy to figure out what bus to transfer to, to get to where you want to go.

Tickets and map can be obtain from the bus terminal office immediately outside Kyoto Station.

AT THE BUS STOP:

1. Get in line. Everyone does.

2. Kyoto buses are almost always on time. At every bus stop, you will find timetables with arrival times indicated, as well as electronic boards that tells you if the bus is 5 or 1 mins away.

ON THE BUS:

1. Enter through the back door and find a seat. If not, standing space then.

2. Because Kyoto is such a popular tourist destination, the announcements for each stop is broadcast in Japanese and English. The Japanese also installed electronic signboards that flash the destinations in both languages. You can't miss your stop.

As your stop nears, just hit one of the many purple "alight" buttons situated on the bus.

3. Exit through the front. For first trip of the day, the bus driver will validate the date on the ticket. After that, just flash & show the driver the ticket for the rest of the day.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: When making side trips from Kyoto, always take the express trains.

You will find yourself upon arriving at Kyoto Station faced with a departure board with many departures to Nara or Osaka within the hour. And that it will also state that the next train leaves in 5 mins and you better hurry to the platform if you are going to catch it.

Take a moment and actually see if that was a local, rapid or express train. No point rushing for the local train, the one that leaves in 5 mins, when it stops at every stop on the way and takes ages to get to where you want to go.

You may discover that though the rapid or express train leaves a good 20 mins or 1/2 hour later, they stop at far less places, the seats are more comfortable, and you may get to where you want to go alot faster.

The electronic boards for arrivals and departures rotates between English and Japanese, very convenient.

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