Train/Travel Passes in Kansai Area

Hi, my partner and I will be traveling to Japan in early March. We arrive on a Tuesday night and leave on a Wednesday night so we effectively have 8 days and 8 nights. We will be basing ourselves in a ryokan in Kyoto and plan to explore the Kansai area as much as our knowledge will permit.

Now my question is what train/travel passes should we get? I was originally thinking the JR-West pass but that only seems to let you use that for a maximum of 4 days. I was also thinking of the Kansai/Surutto pass but again that seems to only have a maximum validity period of three days. Am I mistaken and confused or can you get multiples of these passes - like can I buy 2 of the 4 day JR-West pass for each person so that we are covered for the full 8 days?

Our itinerary isn't quite definite but since this is a holiday on the cheap we're willing to see as much as train/travel passes permits. Can anyone tell me whether there are other alternative type of passes to make our traveling easier and simple? Or which of the JR-West or Kansai/Surutto pass is better?

Thanks in advance.

Consider an additional Kintetsu Rail Pass, only 3500 yen for 5 days. It's good for Osaka, Yoshino, Kyoto, Nara, Iga-Uneo, Nagoya, Ise-shi, Toba and Kashikojima.

http://www.kintetsu.co.jp/foreign/english/useful/ticket/rpw1...

Thank you for pointing out the Kintentsu pass. That really is a great bargain!

Ok, so this is what I've now decided: Arrive Tuesday night and use 4 day JR-West rail pass until Friday. Then use 5 day Kintetsu pass and possibly upgrade to the wide pass to make avail of the airport transfers.

However, do you think the the Kansai/Surutto pass would be better than the JR-West? I was just needing a JR-West pass to get on to the Haruka train so I could get from the airport to Kyoto faster. So I was thinking that I could also get a one day JR-West pass, then a 3 day Kansai/Surutto pass and then the Kintetsu pass for the remaining 5 days. There seems to be pro's and con's for both the passes.

day 1 & 2

JR West Rail Pass pays off when traveling from the airport to Kyoto, and making 1day trip between Kyoto and Himeji.

day 3 & 4
Buy 1 day bus pass for each day. If you dont travel intensively, it might be better to buy Surutto Kansai Prepaid Card(not unlimited pass)

day 5
Use Surutto Kansai Prepaid card to make a sidetrip to Nara. Many tourist just Walk around Nara. (taxi and loop line bus are avaiable when you get tired)

day 6
Use JR West Sannyo area pass to make a daytrip to Hiroshima and Miyajima.

day 7
Use the prepaid card to make a daytrip to Osaka. If you use Osaka Subway intensively(more than 3 times a day), Osaka subway 1day ticket has a good value.

day 8
Use the remaining Prepaid card to KIX, and you can pay the difference at the airport train station.(of course you need to have JP yen there).


The destination on day 6 can be changed in accordance with your interest.(Iga-ueno Ninja, or the Holliest shrine Ise, hiking to Mt. Hiei, Kyoto)

The type of pass you should buy is very dependant on where you with to travel. Like another poster pointed out if you want to go to Hiroshima then you will need a pass like the West Sanyo pass, or for Himeji and the aiport the West Kansai pass is good. You should try and come up with a rough itinerary and then look at how much the travel between places are and what passes can be used (use http://www.japanrail.com/JR_hyperdia.html to look up train fares). If you have already done this then maybe post your itinerary ideas and people could have a better idea of what to suggest for you.

Another thing to note is that most tourist sites in Kyoto are reached by bus so a 1 day bus pass for 500yen is good for that.

Thank you for all the replies. As you can probably tell we are quite overwhelmed with the many places to visit and see and all the information to absorb. So we only plan to stay within the Kansai region.

We kind of want to do go with the flow so don't want to lock down a fixed itinerary. But on our list of places to explore is Kyoto (Nishiki market, some temples, Gion), Osaka (aquarium, Niponbashi, Dotonbori) Kobe, Nara. I'm sure we'll add/subtract more as we go along.

We're really just after a relaxing and stress free time without having to change trains or buses ten times in order to get to one place. We ideally want a mix of city/urban sites and regular tourist type stuff like temples, shrines and gardens.

Here is an idea of the prices for these places and the trains to take:
Kansai Airport to Kyoto (Limited Express Haruka) 3690yen
Kyoto to Kobe (JR Special Rapid Service) 1050yen
Kyoto to Nara (JR Nara Line) 690yen
Based on these prices I would recommend the 3 day JR West Kansai Pass for 5000yen which will cover these trips as well as the express train from the airport to Kyoto.
I also recommend visiting Himeji Castle, the trip is also covered by the JR West Kansai Pass, so if you choose to go there then you should get the 4 day pass for 6000yen.

Here is a suggested Itinerary:
Day 1: Purchase a 4 day JR West Kansai Pass from Kansai Airport station, catch the limited express haruka train to Kyoto
Day 2: Day trip to Himeji in the morning, afternoon in Kyoto
Day 3: Day trip to Nara
Day 4: Day trip to Kobe
Day 5: Osaka
Day 6: Kyoto
Day 7: Kyoto
Day 8: Kyoto, depart from Kansai airport

This is a suggestion anyway. You are only allowed to purchase 1 JR west Kansai pass so you will have to pay for the train ride returning to the airport, or you can take a local or rapid train for cheaper but it takes a lot longer.

Osaka has 2 main hubs: Kita-Umeda and Minami-Namba.. the later is where you have Shinsaibashi covered shopping street, the Dotonbori canal area and Den-Den town (Niponbashi). Don't forget to check Namba Parks, a shopping mall with 8 levels of gardens cascading down the side of the building..For my money Yodobashi cameras truly huge electronic store in Kita, is a more convenient place to check a big range of electronics (including amazing refrigerators and toilets and thousands of cameras) than the small crowded stores of Den-Den town. Kita has also great department stores and a huge underground shopping mall, not to mention the big red Ferris wheel on top of the Hep five building. .Try to visit the Fushimi Inari shrine, with 10000 torii up Mt Inari, a 10 min. train ride from JR Kyoto main station (that station is a looker too)

Thanks for the reply, AusEz. We have similar ideas and your suggested itinerary is almost what we had in mind.

This is our proposed itinerary based on a 4 day JR-West Kansai pass (6,000 Yen) and a 5 day Kintensu regular pass (3,500 Yen).

Day 1: Arrive at KIX at night. Use JR-West pass to catch Haruka train from airport to Kyoto.
Day 2-4: Use remaining days of JR-West pass to make day trips to Nara, Kobe and Himeji.
Day 5-6: Use Kintentsu pass to explore Osaka sights.
Day 7-8: Use Kintetsu pass to explore Kyoto sights.
Day 9: Check out of accommodation and spend rest of the day in Kyoto. Depart at night.

We will either use the airport limousine bus or airport shuttle to get from Kyoto back to KIX.

Monkey see, thanks for the tip regarding the shopping areas. The whole seeing 'amazing refrigerators and toilets' comment has definitely sparked my interest! :)

So, so far our foreseeable expenses is around 80,000yen for accommodation and transport over 9 days for 2 people. Not bad, right?

Kintetsu Railway mainly offers Inter-city transportation.

Its Rail Pass has GREAT value for sure, when you make a trip to, say Yoshino, Ise-Shima or Nagoya from Osaka or Kyoto. Please check out its rail map.
http://www.kintetsu.jp/english/route/index.html

Basic Business hotels charge yen 6000 to 10000 for doubles/ twins (or more, much more) so your budget is a bit tight. Usually I count on Yen 10 000 (in cash) for 2 per day for meals and local transport (unless I bought a JR pass) and use my credit cards for hotels. Again I budget Yen 10000 for 2 per night. I am careful w/ money but don't want to be in a hostel dorm w /shared bath either.

Thanks, Monkey see. I have searched far and wide for accommodation that is reasonable and at a fair price and at a convenient location. One of the reasons we decided to base ourselves in Kyoto instead of Osaka was price difference. And I too, like yourself, don't like shared baths. We have booked ourselves into a small ryokan in Kyoto in a double room which has it's own ensuite at just under 7,000 Yen per night.

Having said all that It's the food budget I'm not sure of. What would you say is a good price range to budget for each person per day? We don't want to eat out of convenience/supermaket type stores all day. My partner loves Japanese food so I'm sure he would want to taste the cuisine as much as he can. Although not high end places. Maybe more like mid range type of places.

Ts, Nagoya is on the list pending time. Thanks for the tip, though.