For this day trip, I recommend staying in one of the hotels in Kyoto and Nara where I personally enjoyed my stay the most. These hotels are listed as the next locations on this itinerary (three of them are listed here).

If, for any reason, you are unable to book any of these three hotels, you can find my other hotel recommendations (which are equally great) on my map or under the "things to do" list by selecting the option to show only hotels.

All of my recommended hotels cater to a wide variety of preferences for every type of traveler, including different budget ranges, modern or traditional options, and more. They are especially perfect, considering their location right in the heart of Kyoto and their convenience for one-day trips (due to their 5-minute walking distance to either Subway or JR stations).