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The Surutto Kansai Two Day Ticket and Surutto Kansai Three Day Ticket are rail passes, providing unlimited usage of trains, subways and buses in the Kansai Region (around Osaka and Kyoto), with the prominent exception of JR trains.
There are three types of Surutto Kansai 2/3 Day Tickets:
- The Kansai Thru Pass can only be used by foreign tourists and is available around the year.
- The Zenkoku Version ("Nationwide Version") can only be purchased outside of the Kansai Region and is available around the year.
- The Kansai Version can be purchased inside the Kansai Region, but is only available during certain times of the year.
Note that apart from the 2/3 Day Tickets, Surutto Kansai prepaid cards are also available.
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Surutto Kansai
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Surutto Kansai 2 Day Ticket
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3,800 Yen
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Surutto Kansai 3 Day Ticket
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5,000 Yen
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Reduced rates (50% off) apply for children aged 6-11.
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Below is a map of major railway lines (some minor ones are omitted), which can be used with Surutto Kansai tickets:
Validity
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1)
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Unlimited usage of non-JR trains in the Kansai Region, including
- Subways of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe
- Hankyu Railways (Kobe - Osaka - Kyoto)
- Hanshin Railways (Kobe - Osaka)
- Keihan Railways (Osaka - Kyoto)
- Kintetsu Railways (Osaka - Kyoto - Nara)
- Nankai Railways (Osaka - Kansai Airport - Koyasan)
- Sanyo Railways (Kobe - Himeji)
- Keifuku Railways (Kyoto)
- Nose Railways (North of Osaka)
- Kobe Railways (North of Kobe)
- Osaka Monorail (Northern Osaka, Itami Airport)
- Kobe Kosoku Railways (Kobe)
- Port and Rokko Liner (Kobe)
- Various cablecars (Hieizan, Koyasan)
- A few more minor railway lines
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2)
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The Surutto Kansai is not valid on trains operated by JR (Japan Railways).
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3)
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An additional express fee has to be paid, if you travel on a limited express train by Nankai or Kintetsu Railways. No additional fee is neccessary on limited express trains of other railway companies.
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4)
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Unlimited usage of many buses in the Kansai Region, including, among others, the city buses of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, and the Nankai, Hankyu, Kintetsu, Wakayama and Keihan buses.
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5)
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Discounted admission to selected tourist attractions in the Kansai Region.
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6)
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The ticket can be used on any two resp. three days within the period of validity, except the Zenkoku Version of the 3 Day Ticket, which is only valid on three consecutive days.
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Availability and Points of Sale
The availability of the tickets depends on whether you are a visitor or resident of Japan and whether you are inside or outside of the Kansai Region, as explained below:
Kansai Thru Pass (For foreign visitors only)
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Foreign visitors to Japan can purchase the Surutto Kansai 2 Day and 3 Day Ticket inside the Kansai Region, across Japan and outside of Japan at any time of the year. This version of the pass is called "Kansai Thru Pass".
Points of sales inside the Kansai region include Kansai and Itami Airport and information and transport bureau centers in Osaka, Kyoto and Nara, as well as several hotels in the Kansai Region. In the rest of Japan and outside of Japan, the ticket is available through major travel agencies.
This version of the Surutto Kansai ticket is also available to 1) Japanese nationals with permanent residence outside of Japan and 2) residents of Japan who are travelling together with foreign visitors as guides.
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Zenkoku Version (For foreign visitors and residents of Japan)
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The Zenkoku Version ("Nationwide Version") of the Surutto Kansai 2 Day and 3 Day Ticket can be purchased throughout the year, but only outside of the Kansai Region, where it is available through major travel agencies.
There are some travel agencies, which can sell you the actual ticket directly, while other agencies will provide you with a voucher, which has to be exchanged into the actual ticket inside the Kansai Region.
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Kansai Version (For foreign visitors and residents of Japan)
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The Kansai Version of the Surutto Kansai 3 Day Ticket (2 Day Ticket is not available) can be purchased inside the Kansai Region. However, is is only available and valid during certain periods in spring, summer and autumn.
Dates of availability for 2007 are as follows:
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Period
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Valid
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On Sale
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Spring 2008
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March 14 to May 11
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March 14 to May 6
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Summer 2008
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July 18 to August 31
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July 18 to August 24
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Autumn 2008
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November 1 to December 25
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November 1 to December 7
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Assessment
The Surutto Kansai Ticket is one of the better rail passes available in Japan. One of its advantages is that it does not only cover the train and bus lines between cities, but also most city buses and subways inside the cities.
The tables below show approximate regular fares for one-way tickets between selected sites and the cost for one day tickets for Osaka and Kyoto. Use them to compare the cost of regular tickets with the cost of a Surutto Kansai Ticket:
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Kyoto
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Kobe
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Nara
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Himeji
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Koysan
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Osaka
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400 Yen
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300 Yen
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550 Yen
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1,250 Yen
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1,250 Yen
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Kyoto
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600 Yen
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600 Yen
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1,550 Yen
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1,850 Yen
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Kobe
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1,100 Yen
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950 Yen
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1,750 Yen
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Nara
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2,050 Yen
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1,800 Yen
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Himeji
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2,700 Yen
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Osaka One Day Pass
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800 Yen
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Kyoto Sightseeing Card (1 day)
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1,200 Yen
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Surutto Kansai 2 Day Ticket
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3,800 Yen
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Surutto Kansai 3 Day Ticket
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5,000 Yen
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Alternative Tickets
The JR West Rail Pass - Kansai Area is a rail pass for exclusive use by foreign visitors, which covers about the same area as the Surutto Kansai Ticket. It provides unlimited usage of local JR trains on one to four consecutive days.
One advantage of the JR West Rail Pass - Kansai Area is, that JR trains to Himeji are considerably faster than non-JR trains. Otherwise, the Surutto Kansai Ticket should be considered the better value, because it covers a denser and larger network than the JR Kansai Pass, especially inside the cities.
At last, there also exist a range of tickets for local travel inside Osaka and Kyoto.
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