Kansai Thru Pass (3 days, 5300 yen)

In September, I will be planning to stay in Osaka for a week. I am thinking of taking day trips to Kobe, Kyoto, and Nara. If I live near Tengachaya station, is it cheaper to pay for the Kansai Thru Pass or would it be cheaper to just use an ICOCA card (I did not buy a JR pass)?

Thank you all for your help!

William

If you stay in Japan for more than 7 days, then I strongly recommend you to buy Nationwide JR pass.Because this will give you Life time experience.In your lifetime, you will earn millions of Dollars. But this
Experience you will not get other than visiting Japan.However only for Osaka, Kobe,Nara I again Recommend you to buy kansai thru pass.

A 3-day Kansai Thru Pass may be too expensive
for one round trip each to Kobe Sannomiya, Karasuma | Kawaramachi and Kintetsu-nara
from Tengachaya.

2160 yen for Kobe trip
: 1480 yen on the way and the way back
for Tengachaya --[Osaka Metro]-- Nippombashi
+ Kintetsu-nippombashi --[Kintetsu]-- Osaka Namba
+ Osaka Namba --[Hanshin]-- Kobe Sannomiya.
: 660 yen on one-day pass for City Loop bus,
which is not covered by Kansai Thru Pass.

1960 yen for Kyoto trip
: 1360 yen on the way and the way back
for Tengachaya --[Osaka Metro + Hankyu]-- Karasuma | Kawaramachi.
: 600 yen on Kyoto City Bus & Kyoto Bus One-day Pass.

1960 yen for Nara trip
: 460 yen on the way and the way back
for Tengachaya --[Osaka Metro]-- Nippombashi.
: 1500 yen on Kintetsu Rail Pass 1-day
to be used for the rail section Kintetsu-nippombashi -- Kintetsu-nara
and for Nara Park - Nishinokyo bus zone of Nara Kotsu,
which is not covered by Kansai Thru Pass.

Total = 6080 yen for the three trips.

cf.
6460 yen on
3-day Kansai Thru Pass (5300 yen),
Kobe City Loop bus one-day pass (660 yen),
and Nara Kotsu bus one-day Nara Park - Nishinokyo Pass (500 yen).

@Teresa, frankly there are so many ways how to experience Japan and buying the 7 day nation wide JR pass is not a pre-requirement to enjoy Japan, at all. Many of us have travelled extensively through and to Japan without buying ever a JR pass or with buying it only for a specific itinerary. The decided itinerary will ultimate tell you among other factors such as Nozomi vs. non-Nozomi if a 7 day pass is worthwhile.

For the itinerary the OP posted a 7 day pass is totally not going to pay off.

Hello Everyone

Thank you all for your answers. I wish I found out about this forum post earlier and posted my initial itinerary. In September 2019, I will actually be staying in Japan for 14 days (10 days in Osaka and 4 days in Tokyo). I have already purchased plane tickets from Kansai International Airport to Narita International Airport for $200 round trip.
I did consider purchasing the 7 day JR pass for $350, but I did not think that I would use $150 ($350-$200) for commuting around Tokyo or Osaka, especially with the Osaka 1 or 2 day visitor pass for 700 or 1300 yen and the Tokyo 24,48,72 hour subway pass for foreigners. After hearing such good stories from everyone about taking the bullet train, I do have a bit regret not buying the JR pass. However, I cannot make any changes anymore, so its too late to look back.

Out of the 10 days in Osaka, I will devote a day trip for Kobe, Kyoto, and Nara. Based on your responses above, it seems like some of you recommend Kansai Thru pass while others do not. In that case, Should I just rely on my ICOCA pass?

Also, does anyone have any other recommendations for day trips around Osaka other than what I listed above?

Lastly, if you have suggestions for day trips from Tokyo, I would love to hear it.

Thank you all
William

First of All,you need to understand why I will buy JR pass
1)I don't want to buy ticket every time I want to travel
2)I don't stand in Line/queue for ticket with hundreds of travelers
3)My Japanese is basic or not at all/mada mada desu
4)This probably my last Japan trip(for millions case)
5)I don't know all station name other than Tokyo st,Osaka st or big cities station (Even millions of Japanese don't know all station name located in Tokyo).
6)I want to travel Japan extensively (From wakkanai to Kagoshima)
7)This pass cover kansai airport to narita airport
Now it is up to you whether you will buy JR pass or not.
My personal opinion: Don't buy JR pass.
Always buy one way ticket. Good Luck.

@William, well you now have your flight booked (from Kansai to Tokyo) so itfs a bit too late for the Shinkansen experience. However one thing you need to understand is that if you only do Osaka-Kyoto-Tokyo one way a JR pass is not going to pay off (unless you put some crazy long daytrips in there). You can however always buy a single ticket, which isnft that difficult as Teresa paints it. But well , you are going to fly and thatfs fine.

For Teresa if she is going to do a fairly fast paced trip from Wakkanai to Kagoshima obviously the JR pass will pay off. But @William this is not your case.

For the subway pass in Tokyo consider that it is only valid on certain lines. Ie when you look at a map of gtrainh lines in Tokyo youfll see A LOT:
https://images.app.goo.gl/RoYr79nR3KtJ4jdy9

But not all of them are g subwaysh. Some are JR trains, some are from other companies (eg Yurikamome Line) that donft participate in the 24 h subway pass. Do read carefully the description of the subway pass before buying it. Ok, overall it is not such a huge investment so even if you loose instead of gain money with it itfs not that bad, but just be aware.

For me (ex-resident,slow traveler) an IC card is so much more convenient. But yes, maybe occasionally a day pass would be cheaper. You can read up more here.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2017.html

Out of the 10 days in Osaka, I will devote a day trip for Kobe, Kyoto, and Nara. [...]Also, does anyone have any other recommendations for day trips around Osaka other than what I listed above?

I wonder why you decided to stay 10 days in Osaka. I go regularly to Osaka for work and have yet to find interesting things to do IN Osaka. So unless you have specific interest that glue you to Osaka , I would stay those 10 days in Kyoto or even split them up in 5 days in Kyoto plus the rest elsewhere depending on your interests. But this is your trip, your interests.

Daytrips from Osaka:
1) more than 1 day to Kyoto. I think with 10 days in Kansai region at least 3 you should spend in Kyoto at a bare minimum. But thatfs me.
2) Himeiji
3) Koyasan (better with a night stay)
4) Hikone castle
5) Imaicho and Asuka (https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4185.html) okay, I confess I really love this area and have already spent like 5 days there (in two trips: http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/search/label/Nara?m=1). And will go there again!
6) Okayama and Kurashiki
7) Dorogawa onsen (also better with a night stay)
8) Ise /Toba
9) Miho museum
...
I think I could go on..., but my mobile is running out of battery and you out of days for daytrips.

I find that the pages on JG give a lot of information, but you need to drill into it.

Some of these places are a bit further and the more of these daytrips you do the closer you come to a break even point for some of the many passes that exist (there are several in Kansai region)

For daytrips from Tokyo
Kamakura, Enoshima,Nikko, Chichibu, Karuizawa...

Enjoy!

@Likebike

I have actually been to Osaka and Tokyo 2 years ago (10 days in Tokyo and 5 in Osaka). I found that I started running out of things to do by the 6th day in Tokyo. Since it was my first in Tokyo at the time, I did not make any attempts to take day trips outside of Tokyo. I remember that I enjoyed the Ueno area and the Imperial gardens. However, the cost of living in Tokyo is substantial higher than Osaka. It was difficult finding an affordable Airbnb.

Anyways, I think I just found more things to do in Osaka (Aquarium, Dotonbori, Shinseikai, Castle, Shinsaibashi). Plus, since I am devoting at a full day to each of these cities (Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, maybe one more), I really am only spending 7 days in Osaka. This time, I am taking my mom there, so I am acting more as a tour guide .

Thank you for your suggestions.
William