Rail Passes

Should I get a JR Rail Pass or JR West Kansai Area Pass?

My itinerary:

Shiga Prefecture (2 nights)
Osaka (1 night)
Kyoto (3 nights)
Nara (day trip)
Tokyo (3 nights)

It depends on the order in which you visit the places. Most of all, it depends on whether you travel between Tokyo and Kyoto only once or twice.

If you travel only once, a Japan Rail Pass will not pay off, but if you make a round trip within 7 days, a 7-day Japan Rail Pass will pay off.

As for the JR West Kansai Pass, it pays off if you want to take the Haruka airport train from Kansai Airport to Kyoto or if you make a day trip from Kyoto to Himeji. For most other itineraries it usually does not pay off.

We have felt that sometimes, even if the cost of a pass turns out to be a bit more than buying tickets, that the convenience of by-passing ticket machines and turnstiles is worth the difference.