My Trip To Japan: Kyoto Bus System

Very few of Kyoto's temple can be reached by trains. You will need to use the bus system to get out to the tourist sites. Kyoto is a small town and it is my opinion that it is not well equipped to handle the amount of tourists that visit it every year.

I do not like to take tours. However, after travelling to Kyoto, I feel that this is the only way to visit the temples and other sites.

After arriving at Kyoto Station, you will find that the bus station is located on the same property. The tourist buses are located outside. You can buy your bus tickets from a vending machine. The instructions are in English and easy to understand. Then, you walk over to an electronic board and find out which bus takes you to which temple. Then, you WAIT in line for that bus. Then, after visiting the temple of your choice, you again WAIT in line for your return bus to Kyoto Station. However, there is a big problem with this. Most of the buses are completely full and you may have to let 5 or even 10 buses stop before there is room for even one person to get on. Then, you WAIT in line for another bus  at the station. HOPEFULLY, you will be able to get back to Kyoto Station before the buses shut down for the day.

I actually planned to spend 4 days exploring Kyoto but I only had the patience to spend 2. I spent the other two days around Osaka. Again, I highly recommend booking a tour. I'm sure they cost just a little more than taking the buses. However, I did not get any prices on this.

These are the bus lines before 8:00 am. In a couple more hours it will be shoulder to shoulder over just about every inch of concrete available.

This electronic board lists all of the buses and the temples that each bus stops at. The board is in several languages and changes views about every 20 seconds. It will take you several minutes to find your bus. If it changed once every minute, it would speed things up and cut down on the crowds.

This gentlemen is the number one problem at the Kyoto Station bus terminal. He spends about 99% of his time in front of the board with the bus information. It is impossible to find out what bus to take. This is one of the very few times that he wasn't in the way. He is able to help the Japanese people but he appears to be of no help to anyone else. It would have been better for everyone if he was not there.