Best Osaka/Kyoto Transportation Passes

Hello,
I've read a few questions regarding passes on the forum but I'm still so very confused.
There are so many types of passes
(http://www.osaka-info.jp/en/plan/practical_information/travel_passes/)

My question is what would be the best transportation pass for 4 days in Osaka and 4days in Kyoto?
Are the unlimited passes worth it? If so, which one would be the best?

Thanks in advance for the answers!

Have you seen this page? http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357_kansai.html

It depends on what you're doing. If you're just spending time in each city, the one-day Kyoto bus pass pays off for three trips or more per day by bus, and the Osaka Amazing Pass is supposed to be good value.

It all depends on where you are in the city, and what you plan to do that day.

Let's assume that you have a hotel in the Minami (Namba) area of Osaka. Here is a link:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4001.html

Now if you are planning on walking around Minami, go to the Kabuki Museum, visit the different mall area, and attend the theater that night, the you will not need to ever get on a train that entire day. No pass is needed.

If you plan to spend the entire day at say, Nara or Universal Studios, then you will just need to get back an forth from that location. The fare from Osaka-Namba to KintetsuNara station is 560 yen each way. The fare from JR-Namba to UniversalCity station is 180 yen each way. I'm not sure you need a fancy pass on these days either, but if you have an extra day on an existing pass, you could use it to travel, and save the train fare.

On a day where you plan to hop from one location to another, and need transportation five of six times on one day, then YES, get a pass. As stated in an earlier reply, if you are in Kyoto, and plan to use the bus system more than three times, it will pay to get a bus pass for that day.

In general, you will need to have an idea on where you want to visit on a particular day to figure out what you need. A multi-day pass will pay off if you have a clear idea what you want to do on those days, but can be useless and a waste of money.

Again, even with a well though out plan, a very rainy day can change what you plan to do. A day where you planned to go to several parks may end up being a Museum day, or a shopping day in an area with covered walkways.

For this reason, without knowing what exactly are your interests are, the pace that you like to go at, and what you are planning to visit, it is impossible to make a clear recommendation.

Thank you all for your answers!

I guess I really have to finalise my schedule first before deciding on these passes. All the information is helpful, thank you again!

You didn't say if this is part of a larger trip, and if you just needed assistance with Osaka/Kyoto transport.

If you are going into KIX, and just doing Kyoto and Osaka, you might look into the Kintetsu Wide Area Pass for transportation to and from the airport, and to and from Kyoto from Osaka. Here is the Japan Guide Link:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357_006.html

This pass will give you round trip tickets from the Airport to Namba. These are on the Nankai Private train line, and can be used outside of the five day period that the Kintetsu Pass is active. Since you plan to have four days in Kyoto, you could activate the pass, spend four days in Kyoto, and then travel back to Osaka on the fifth and final day of the pass. You could also use it during the five days to go to Nara.

But, as for getting around Osaka, and Kyoto, this pass does not do much for you. You could get some additional value out of the pass by visiting Ise, Yoshino, Nagoya, or Iga-Ueno. If you had no intension of visiting these places, I would not add these to get the greatest value out of the pass.

This pass is most effective if you are going to stay in Namba. This might not be where you want to stay.

This could also be a push, in terms of cost. A Icoca & Haruka package would cost 1600 + 2000 = 3600 yen, for a trip directly to Kyoto. You could then use the Icoca Pass to get to Namba, or wherever you plan to stay in Osaka, and use about 1000 yen of the prepaid card. You could then take the Nankai Rail line to the airport for around 1000 yen again Check out the Kanku Chikatoku Ticket on this page:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2033.html

This is about the same cost as the Kintetsu pass.

Look into the bus pass for Kyoto. It all depends on where you stay and where you are going in Osaka.

In the past, I have stayed at Shin-Osaka station, and used that location for taking day trips around the Kansai Region. I usually had an active JR Pass, and would go to Kyoto, Himeji, Kobe, and Okayama from Osaka. Shin-Osaka was where JR Central and JR West lines linked together, and so it was a place where lots of trains departed to other places. In short, is was a good central hub to start from.

You have to think about where you are going to go and see. It depends on the distances that you will travel on if you need a Pass. Like I said in my first post, you can easily spend a whole day and evening wandering around the Namba area without ever getting on a train or subway, and you will not need some fancy pass for that day.