What pass i should get?

Hi all,

I'm from Malaysia. I'm travelling from Tokyo to Hakone then to Osaka. Then will travel day trip from Osaka to Kyoto, Kobe and Nara. Can i check what is the best pass that can travel between these cities and within these cities? Thank you.

The full JR Pass would not pay off. Just get regular fare tickets. For Hakone, you could save some money from Odawara with a Hakone Free Pass, provided you're doing the Loop Tour. It's quite difficult to make the Kansai regional passes pay off unless you're taking them to their furthest reaches. For what you mention though, the Hankyu Tourist Pass might be worth looking at.

Read the "Kansai" section of this page.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

There are "Kansai Thru Pass " and "JR Kansai Area Pass" which may or may not suit you. Without knowing your day by day and station to station itinerary it is hard to decide, but in many cases these passes are more expensive than the normal single tickets. You may better think of an IC card such as ICOCA.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html

Hi! I'm not sure exactly how you'll be allocating your time on the trip so I'd skip the elaboration for the segments between Tokyo and Osaka, but I'll just go with the rest. I assume that you won't be going with the JR pass since it's highly unlikely that it'll pay off.

To get to Hakone from Tokyo, you can take either the Odakyu Railway or the Odakyu Highway Bus, with both starting their journey from Shinjuku Station. If you're not travelling back to Tokyo, you don't have to buy a pass for that.

Within the Kansai Area, there are several rail passes that you can consider:

1. JR Kansai Area Pass (1D/2D/3D/4D)
The coverage of the pass goes all the way from Kamigori and Himeji in the west, all the way to Maibara and Tsuruga in the north – this includes Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, and Nara. However, it's unlikely that the pass would pay off unless you're travelling from one end to another.

2. Hankyu Tourist Pass (1D/2D)
The coverage of the pass includes all lines covered by Hankyu, including the Kobe, Kyoto, and Takarazuka lines. Having used this pass before, it is worth it as long as you make about 2-3 trips via Hankyu Railway per day.

3. Hanshin Tourist Pass (1D)
The coverage of this pass is limited to between Kobe and Osaka, and is perfect for a day trip to Kobe if you're based in Osaka. While you do save some money, it's not considerable

4. Kintetsu Rail Pass (1D/2D)
For the shorter durations of the Kintetsu Rail Pass, the coverage is limited to Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto. However, the pass makes it more convenient to visit some parts of Nara Prefecture compared to JR lines.

5. Keihan Kyoto-Osaka Sightseeing Pass (1D/2D)
While there are other variations of this pass, this pass is worth it if you're also interested in visiting places between Osaka and Kyoto, including cities like Uji and places like Fushimi Inari Taisha.

Do note that you can also use your Suica/Pasmo cards from Tokyo in the Kansai Area if you're not using any passes.

Hope that helps :))

Thank you so much for the valuable inputs.