JR pass or Kansai pass?

Hi,

I'm planning to spend 8 days in Kansai and hoping to get advice on whether to buy the JR 7-day pass, Kansai pass or no pass.

The plan is to go by shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto, visit nara and kobe, travel from kyoto to Wakayama, and then Wakayama to Kansai airport.

Thanks for the help!

A 7-day Japan Rail Pass will come cheaper than regular train tickets.

If you really wanted to save money, you could consider traveling to Tokyo by overnight bus:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4006.html

A 7-day Japan Rail Pass will come cheaper than regular train tickets.

I think the OP will arrive at Tokyo (Narita or Haneda) and then travel to Kansai region and leave from Kansai airport. If this is the case, the 7-day pass will not pay off.

I searched Hyperdia and calculated Kyoto-Kobe, Kyoto-Nara, and Kyoto-Wakayama-Kansai airport to be 7600 yen. Kansai wide area pass (7200 yen for consecutive 4 days) will be slightly cheaper.

Thanks for the advice. To make things clearer, this is my plan:

Day 1: Tokyo to Kyoto via Shinkansen
Day 2: Kyoto
Day 3: Arashiyama
Day 4: Nara
Day 5: Kobe or Kyoto
Day 6: Kyoto
Day 7: Kyoto to Wakayama
Day 8: Wakayama to Kansai airport

Hope this helps

Day 1: Tokyo to Kyoto via Shinkansen
Day 2: Kyoto
Day 3: Arashiyama
Day 4: Nara
Day 5: Kobe or Kyoto
Day 6: Kyoto
Day 7: Kyoto to Wakayama
Day 8: Wakayama to Kansai airport

If you are flying with Star Alliance or One World, you can use Star Alliance Japan airpass

http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/wws_common/fare/special/airpass.html

or the oneworld Yokoso/Visit Japan Fare.

https://www.jal.co.jp/yokosojapan/

There are many flights between Tokyo Haneda airport and Osaka Itami airport which is about one hour from Kyoto (there are various ways to go there, within 1000 yen or so).

Of course you can take Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto which costs about 13000-14000 yen. And as Uji says, you can take a (night) bus which takes 7-8 hours and 4000 yen.

If you can move Nara to day 6 (supposing you are staying in Kyoto), Kansai Wide Area Pass (4days) might be slightly cheaper than buying individual tickets.

https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/travel-information/pass/kansai_wide...