Google Maps will tell you to take the bus. Google Maps does not know that the bus is full, and has been full for three stops.
If you have visited Tokyo first, you arrive in Kyoto with a false sense of confidence. In Tokyo, the trains are a circulatory system so perfect it feels biological. You assume Kyoto will be the same. You arrive at Kyoto Station—that massive, futuristic cathedral of steel—and you feel ready.
Then you try to go to Kiyomizu-dera on a Saturday morning.
The default advice for decades was "buy the one-day bus pass." That advice is now dangerous. Kyoto's streets are narrow, ancient, and clogged. The buses are shared by tourists with suitcases and grandmothers with groceries. When these two forces collide, nobody moves. I have walked faster than the number 206 bus on multiple occasions.
The romantic idea of a bus ride vs. the reality of narrow streets.
The secret to moving through Kyoto is to respect the hierarchy of transport.
Tier 1: The Train and Subway. Use them whenever possible. They don't get stuck in traffic. The Karasuma Line cuts north-south; the Tozai Line cuts east-west. The Keihan Line runs up the eastern riverbank, and the Hankyu Line brings you into the center from the west. If your destination is within a 20-minute walk of a station, take the train and walk the rest.
Tier 2: Your Feet. Kyoto is a walking city. The distance between Gion and Kiyomizu-dera looks like a bus ride on a map, but it is actually a beautiful, uphill walk through Ninenzaka. If you take a taxi, you miss the shops. If you take a bus, you miss the vibe. Just walk.
Tier 3: Taxis. If you are a group of three or four, a taxi is often cheaper than four bus tickets and infinitely faster. Drivers know the back roads. They know how to avoid the gridlock on Shijo-dori.
Tier 4: The Bus. The bus is the last resort. Use it only for areas where the trains simply don't go, like the northern temples of Kinkaku-ji or Ryoan-ji. And even then, try to go early.
Understanding this flow changes your day. Instead of standing in a crushed metal box, sweating and checking your watch, you are moving. You are in control. You might walk the last mile, but you will see the city as a continuous landscape, not just a series of disconnected points.