Local buses in Kyoto : Keihan Bus

The map below is the service area operated by Keihan Bus and others in Kyoto.

Keihan Bus covers a part of Kyoto city compared with Kyoto City Bus.

Please note that Keihan Bus is different form Kyoto City Bus.

With the color, it is easy to tell those two buses, Keihan Bus is red, and Kyoto City Bus is green.

Where in Kyoto dose the Keihan Bus operate specifically ?

Keihan Bus mainly connects downtown area (Shijo-kawaramachi) and Yamashina area in the east of Kyoto city.

Some buses are operated between Kyoto station, Takeda station (Subway, Kintetsu railway) and Yamashina area.

The map below is main bus routes for visitors.

By using Keihan Bus…

you can go to famous spots in Yamashina area such as Kajuji Temple and Daigoji Temple (World heritage).

The folowings are the main routes for visitors to Yamashina area from city center or other main stations in Kyoto.

♦ Kyoto station
⇔ Kajuji Temple,  Daigoji Temple

♦ Kyoto-Kawaramachi station (Hankyu Railway) or
♦ Kiyomizu-gojo station (Keihan Railway)
⇔ Kajuji temple, Daigoji temple

♦ Yamashina station (JR, City Subway Tozai line)
⇔ Kajuji temple, Daigoji temple

♦ Takeda station (City Subway Karasuma line, Kintetsu Railway)
⇔ Kajuji temple, Daigoji temple

The operating hours is depend on routes.

But mostly from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. for Keihan Bus.

The number of bus services is basically every 15 – 40 minutes, Some routes are every an hour.

So you should check the timetable beforehand.

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What attractions can you visit by Keihan Bus ?

You can go to…

Kiyomizudera temple, Shogunzuka Seiryuden (observation platform) in addition to Kajuji temple, Daigoji temple.

• Kiyomizudera temple :
10 min walk from Gojo-zaka bus stop

• Kajuji temple :
near Kanshuji bus stop
or 5 min walk from Kanshuji-kitadecho bus stop

• Daigoji temple :
near Daigoji or Daigoji-mae bus stop,
or 10 min walk from Daigo bus terminal, Daigo-kitanishiuracho or Daigo-eki bus stop

• Shogunzuka Seiryuden :
near Shogunzuka Seiryuden bus stop

How long dose it take from Kyoto station to attractions by Keihan Bus ?

♦ Kajuji temple : at least 23 min
(bus ride 18 min, get off at Kanshuji-kitadecho bus stop, walk 5 min)

♦ Daigoji temple : at least 31 min
(bus ride 30 min, get off at Daigoji bus stop, walk 1 min)

To Kajuji temple or Daigoji temple, Yamashina Express Bus used to be operated.
But, now, the bus services are changed to Bus  No.301 ,  303  ,  305 , (called “Kyoto-Daigoji line“), which is also convenient. 

The bus departs at Hachijo-guchi bus stop H4, located south side of Kyoto station (the picture above).
(there is no Kyoto Tower on south side)

All the bus No.301, No.303 & No.305, (Kyoto-Daigoji line), take you to Kajuji temple, operated every 30 min every day.

On the other hand, to Daigoji Temple, only bus  No.301  (&  No.305 ) take you there.
Actually, in the daytime on weekend & holydays, bus  No.301  is mainly operated as Kyoto-Daigoji line, so, as a result, all the bus services take you to Daigoji Temple (operated every 30 min).

But, in the daytime on weekdays, some of the Kyoto-Daigoji line are operated as bus  No.303  bound for Kyoto Tachibana University, which does not go to the Daigoji Temple. (Bus No.301 is operated every 30 – 60 minutes∗.)

So, in that case, please try the following way (to Daigoji Temple via JR Yamashina station).

«On weekdays to Daigoji temple from Kyoto station»

You can also go to the temple by way of JR Yamashina station.

Take trains on JR Biwako line (track No.2 or 3 at Kyoto Station) to Yamashina station. 

Then, there are more bus services for Daigoji Temple available (Bus No.22, 22A, 24, 24A from Yamashina Station Bus Stop 1), operated every 20 minutes.

From Shijo-Kawaramachi (Hankyu Railway Kyoto-Kawaramachi station), you can go to Kiyomizu Temple, in addition to Kajuji Temple and Daigoji Temple. (The bus service to Shogunzuka Seiryuden is no longer available.)

♦ Kiyomizu Temple : total at least 17 min
(bus∗ ride 7 – 9 min, get off at Gojozaka bus stop, walk 10 min)

∗Bus No. information :
No.70, 83A, 84, 84B, 84C, 85, 86, 86A, 86B, 87, 87B, 88, 88B, 88C, 92, 93,
operated almost every 10 min.

♦ Shogunzuka Seiryuden (observation platform) : No longer in service.

♦ Kajuji Temple : total at least 30 min
(bus∗ ride 25 min, get off at Kanshuji-kitadecho bus stop, walk 5 min)

∗Bus No. information :
No.84, 84B, 84C, 87B, 93, 95, 
operated every 20 min.

♦ Daigoji temple : total at least 36 min
(bus∗ ride 35 min, get off at Daigoji-mae bus stop, walk 1 min)

∗Bus No. information :
No.86, 86B∗,
operate every an hour.

∗In fact, the number of bus No.86, 86B services is small, so you can take other Keihan buses and walk to Daigoji temple.

The other Buses are…
No.83, 83A, 84, 84B, 87, 87A, 87B, 88, 88B, 93, 95,
operated every 10 – 20 min.
It takes at least 43 min in total.
(bus ride 33 min, get off at Daigo bus terminal, Daigo-eki or Daigo-kitanishiuracho bus stop, walk about 10 min from the each bus stop to the temple)

You can also ride many of these Keihan Buses at Gojo-keihan bus stop (Keihan Railway Kiyomizu-gojo station), except for buses for Shogunzuka Seiryuden.

Please note that…

on peak season such as cherry blossoms (from the end of March to the beginning of April) or autumun leaves (November), it takes more time to get to each attractions becouse of heavy traffic jam.

The Keihan Bus fares depend on areas and routes.

From city center (Shijo-Kawaramachi) to Kiyomizu Temple, the fare is ¥230 for an adult / ¥120 for a child (6 – 11 yares old) per ride becouse of within Flat Fare Zone.

Flat Fare Zone means that no matter where you get off, the fare is the same.

But Yamashina area (Kajuji temple or Daigoji temple) is not included by the zone.
So the fares vary depending on the distance.

The folowings are the fares for main sections. (adult / child)

«The Sections within Flat Fare (¥230 / ¥120)»

♦ Shijo-Kawaramachi
(Hankyu Railway Kyoto-Kawaramachi station)
⇔ Kiyomizu Temple (the picture above)

♦ Gojo-Keihanmae
(Keihan Railway Kiyomizu-gojo station)
⇔ Kiyomizu Temple

♦ Sanjo-Keihanmae
(Keihan Railway Sanjo station)
⇔ Kiyomizu temple

«The Sections beyond or outside Flat Fare»

♦ ‹¥280 / ¥140›
Kyoto station, Takeda station (Subway, Kintetsu) & Shijo-kawaramachi
    ⇔ Daigoji Temple (the picture above)

♦ ‹¥250 / ¥130›
Kyoto station, Takeda station & Shijo-kawaramachi
    ⇔ Kajuji Temple

♦ ‹¥220 / ¥110›
Yamashina station
   (JR, Subway, Keihan Keishin line)
    ⇔ Kajuji Temple, Daigoji Temple 

Any IC cards including Kansai One Pass are accepted.

You can use Subway & Bus One-Day Pass for almost all routes including Yamashina area such as buses for Kajuji Temple or Daigoji Temple.
But you can Not ride buses for Mt. Hiei line or Airport line from Kyoto station.

On the other hand, “JR pass“ cannot be used for Keihan Bus.