Kyoto in a Day by Coach: Early Bamboo Grove, Golden Pavilion, Nijo Castle and Fushimi Inari

Kyoto's problem is not what to see, it is that the highlights sit at four corners of a city whose public transport was not designed for visitors trying to link them. Doing Arashiyama, Kinkaku-ji, Nijo Castle and Fushimi Inari independently in one day means three long bus rides and a great deal of standing. This coach day removes that entirely, and starts early enough to fix the other Kyoto problem.

The Arashiyama bamboo grove is first, and it is first for a reason. By ten in the morning the main path is shoulder to shoulder; arriving before that, you get the thing people actually come for — the light filtering green through stalks fifteen metres tall and the particular creaking sound the grove makes when the wind moves through it.

From there the day runs to Kinkaku-ji, the Zen pavilion covered in gold leaf that sits on its own mirror pond, then Nijo Castle, the Tokugawa shoguns' Kyoto residence — a building designed for display and intimidation rather than defence, with the famous nightingale floors that chirp underfoot. Fushimi Inari's tunnels of vermilion torii gates close the day.

One thing to get right at booking: there are two versions. The one with tickets includes admission to the Golden Pavilion, Nijo Castle and Kiyomizu-dera; the cheaper one does not, and on that version you see those sites from outside and have free time instead. Buying the option with tickets is almost always worth the difference.

The guide works in both English and Spanish, groups run to a maximum of thirty, and food and drinks are not included. Meeting is outside Hotel Keihan Kyoto Grande near Kyoto Station, which is easy to find with luggage or after an early train.