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Kyoto itineraries fail when they try to do Fushimi, Kinkaku-ji, and Arashiyama before a 4pm Osaka train. Stay the night.

2 nights: Inari and the pavilion

Day one: Fushimi Inari and Gion dusk. Day two: Kinkaku-ji at opening, Nishiki, train to Osaka if you must. This skips bamboo.

3 nights: add Arashiyama

Keep the two-night core, then Arashiyama and Tenryu-ji. Ryoan-ji if legs allow. This is the comfortable Kyoto chapter on a 10-day Japan trip.

With Tokyo and Osaka

Shinkansen from Tokyo is about 2 hours 15 minutes. Osaka is 15 minutes further. Activate a JR Pass on the morning you leave Tokyo if the maths works.

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