Visit Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Kobe for 5 to 7 days sample itinerary

4 to 6 days
Fushimi Inari shrine is most popular spot in Kyoto in these days. ©Kyoto Convention Bureau /©JNTO
Yasaka shrine in Kyoto Higashiyama area. ©JNTO
Yasaka shrine in Kyoto Higashiyama area. ©JNTO

I have received inquiries about the trip to Kansai area many times. So I make a basic itinerary that includes Kansai area, such as Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Nara only. This is 7 days itinerary. But you can shorten or extend as you can.

Now I would like to tell you the best route and most economical deals about this trip.

Day 1 – Kansai airport (KIX) to Kyoto

Central exit of Kyoto station. (C) JP Rail
Central exit of Kyoto station. (C) JP Rail

Kansai One Pass and Haruka one way trip to Kyoto at 4,600 yen.
Overnight around JR Kyoto station

If you arrive in Kyoto early, you can visit somewhere around Kyoto station. Fushimi Inari is only 5 minutes away from Kyoto station. Kyoto Tower is just located in front of Kyoto station. You can use Kansai One Pass to get there.

Day 2 and 3 – Sightseeing in Kyoto

Togetsukyo bridge in Arashiyama, Kyoto. ©Yasufumi Nishi/©JNTO
Togetsukyo bridge in Arashiyama, Kyoto. ©Yasufumi Nishi/©JNTO

There are several deals available. I recommend you to use both Kansai One Pass and Kyoto City Bus Pass. Kansai One Pass covers city bus too but Kansai One Pass does not give you unlimited travel. It offers only convenience. On the other hand, Kyoto City Bus Pass is sold at 600 yen for one day. You can take a bus as many as you want. You can get the worth of it by only 3 rides. You can use Kansai One Pass only for taking a train and/or a subway.

Kyoto City Bus and Subway Pass (Kyoto Sightseeing Card) is also available. But this does not cover other railways, such as JR, Hankyu, Keihan railways. You will take various trains in Kyoto. Please see the link below to find the train route in Kyoto:

Kyoto train guide

You can get anywhere in downtown Kyoto by bus. It is possible to visit all places only by city bus. However city bus is always crowded and the traffic in Kyoto has been very heavy in these days. I recommend you to take a train or a subway as much as you can.

Kansai One Pass and Bus Pass are the best combination for sightseeing in Kyoto, in my opinion.

Day 4 – Trip to Nara and transfer to Osaka

Todai-ji temple in Nara  	©Nara Prefecture/©JNTO
Todai-ji temple in Nara ©Nara Prefecture/©JNTO


Visit Nara on the way to Namba, Osaka from Kyoto.

You can take either Kintetsu Railway or JR to get Nara. Both trains depart from Kyoto station. But Kintetsu railway’s Nara station is better location. It is 1 km closer to most of tourist spots in Nara than JR Nara station.

After Nara, you can take either JR or Kintetsu to get Osaka. Please see the link below to find the route to Nara:

Nara access guide

Day 5 – Trip to Kobe and Himeji from Osaka

There are lots of castles in Japan. But Himeji castle is one of four existing original catle buildings. (C) JNTO
There are lots of castles in Japan. But Himeji castle is one of four existing original catle buildings. (C) JNTO

You may use JR Kansai Area Pass one day at 2,200 yen if you book it online in advance. If you buy it online, you have to exchange the pass at Shin-Osaka, Osaka, Kyoto or Kansai airport.

JR West Pass official site

You can purchase this pass at many major stations in downtown Osaka but the price is a bit higher. There is other trains to Kobe and Himeji, like Hanshin railway. But JR is the fastest to get Himeji. Please see the post, How to access to Himeji and Kobe from Osaka to get the details.

Day 6 – Sightseeing in Osaka

Dotonbori is very popular place to eat and shop near Namba. ©Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau/©JNTO
Dotonbori is very popular place to eat and shop near Namba. ©Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau/©JNTO

There are lots of deals available in Osaka. Please see the link below to find the deal:

How to choose the pass for sightseeing in Osaka

Day 7 – Osaka to Kansai airport (KIX)

If you want to take Haruka again, you can purchase Haruka discount ticket. This discount ticket is available for overseas tourist who has ICOCA or Kansai One Pass only.

ICOCA and Haruka, Kansai One Pass and Haruka

Otherwise you can choose other deal in the link below:

How to choose the deal for trip to/from KIX

I hope this sample helps you to build your trip plan.

Comments

  1. Yu says:

    Hi Takeshi,

    My family will be reaching Osaka (Kansai airport) at about 8pm,
    our hotel is located at Sakaisuji Hommachi.

    We are planning to go to these places:

    – Day 1: Arrive at Kansai Airport > To Sakaisuji Hommachi
    – Day 2: Kyoto (Day trip)
    -Day 3: Nara (Day trip)
    -Day 4: Osaka
    -Day 5: Osaka > Back to Kansai Airport

    After reading your blog, is it right that I buy:

    Kansai Thru pass for Day 2 and 3.
    Kintetsu Rail pass (one day) for the 4th day to Nara.

    Then should I get a pass for Day 1 and 5?

    Thank you in advance for your help!!:)

  2. Annie says:

    Hello Takeshi,

    Thank you in advance for your advice on my upcoming trip to Japan.

    12/19 arrive KIX at 6pm, staying close to Nagahoribashi station in Osaka.
    12/20 tour Osaka area ( Osaka Amazing 2 day pass)
    12/21 tour Osaka area (using day 2 of Amazing pass)
    12/22 Osaka to Hemeji ( one day trip)
    12/23 Osaka to Kyoto ( stay in Kyoto for 4 nights)
    12/24 Kyoto area
    12/25 Nara/ Kobe
    12/26 Kyoto area
    12/27 Kyoto to Tokyo
    12/27-1/1 Tokyo area

    1. Which transportation pass should I get?
    2. Do I need a 7 dat JR pass vs JR Kansai pass?

  3. Josephine K says:

    Hello Takeshi San …

    Need your advise as our family of 5 will be arriving at Narita Airport on 20th Dec at about 2.30pm.
    I plan to take the Shinkansen to Kyoto and have book a hotel from 20th till 23rd Dec.Would need your suggestion for the tours to go to in the 3 days we are in Kyoto and our main interest is to explore the food and nature.

    Will it be better to travel from Kyoto to Yokohama (because we will need to be at Narita for our departure on 28th 4pm) or are there any outskirts area which we can can find lodging and explore the road less travelled!

    Otherwise , plan is to stay in Yokohama and travel to Tokyo (cos unable to find suitable lodging in Tokyo during the peak period)

    Appreciate your input….JK

  4. nur says:

    Hi,

    We would like to seek advise about our itinerary and which pass is suit for us. We are planning to Kyoto-Osaka in January 2016.

    Day 1
    arrive Kansai Airport (10.25pm)

    Day 2 (Kyoto)
    *buy 2days Osaka Pass
    sightseeing Kyoto

    Day 3 (Kyoto-Nara)
    sightseeing Kyoto and Nara

    Day 4 (Osaka)
    sightseeing Osaka
    go to airport at night

    Day 5
    flight depart from Kansai Airport at 11am

    is it possible for us to go to Takayama & Shirakawago on day 2? is it too expensive? we want to see snow 😀

  5. Hannah says:

    Hi takeshi.we need your help.we are travelling on april 9-16.this is our plan:
    9-10:kansai-wakayama,staying at wakayama
    11-12: osaka,kyoto,nara,staying in nara.
    13-15:tokyo,plan to have a day trip to mt.fugi,visit disneyland.
    16-flight from narita to sg
    Can help us with an itenerary and the most economical passes we can purchase?thanks

  6. Sook Han LAM says:

    Dear Takeshi San,

    We are a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 teenagers aged 13 &14 years old. We will be travelling to Osaka next month. I have read through numerous sites plus reading through all your suggestions and other commenters suggestions as well over the past two weeks and came up with the following. Note we will not be visiting Kyoto this round as we had been to Kyoto last year. Our current planned itinerary :

    Day 1: Arrival in KIX at 6:50am. Will pick up the Kansai Hiroshima Pass (5days) which will be ordered online to take advantage of the discounted fare. We will also buy the 2 days Osaka Amazing Pass to be activated later. Then take the 8:50 train to Kinosaki (Route will be KIX-Shin Osaka-Kinosaki) for 2 days
    Day 2: Kinosaki
    Day 3: Kinosaki- Osaka. In Osaka, our apartment is in Nishishinsaibashi area. Afternoon explore surrounding area.
    Day 4: Hiroshima and Miyama
    Day 5: Kobe & Himeji
    Day 6: Universal Studios Japan ( individual day trip)
    Day 7: Explore Osaka with the Osaka Amazing Pass. Hoped to visit Osaka Science Museum, Osaka Castle, Umeda, Kaiyukan Aquarium, Temples etc
    Day 8: Continue from Day 7 to fully utilise the pass
    Day 9: If family up to it, buy individual return train tickets to Nara. Otherwise, explore Osaka shopping on foot (???)
    Day 10: Buy single ticket to KIX airport. Most likely to take Nankai line. Flight departing at 11:00am.

    Your advise is greatly appreciated in commenting on my choices of passes in view of the fact that I had to take into consideration several places being closed at from Dec 28 onwards. For eg, the ramen museum is closed from 26 Dec onwards.

    Thank you in advance for your time.

    Kindest regards,
    SookHan

    • Hi SookHan san,

      You have done great job!
      Actually I have nothing to tell you about your plan. It’s perfect and I don’t want to change any part of your trip plan.

      I have only one tip for travel by Kansai Hiroshima Pass. As you know, this pass does not allow you to book a seat. You have to take non reserved seat car. That meany it’s first come first serve. When you go to Kinosaki, train runs between Shin-Osaka and Kinosaki. So you may find seat easily. But when you go to Hiroshima, there are many trains and many of them come from Tokyo. That means many seats many be occupied. But there are many trains that depart from Shin-Osaka too, such as Sakura. So pick up these Shin-Osaka departure trains. It’s way easier to get four seats together. The following links shows you Shinkansen timetable. When you go back to Osaka, you can find some Hiroshima departure trains and pick up these trains.
      http://english.jr-central.co.jp/info/timetable/_pdf/westbound.pdf
      http://english.jr-central.co.jp/info/timetable/_pdf/eastbound.pdf

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  7. JayKay says:

    Takeshi-san,

    my family of 4 is planning a 7 day trip to Kyoto-Kobe-Osaka-Nara next month and your sample itinerary fits us perfectly!
    Would you advise us on
    1. if this itinerary is too ambitious for December winter season and
    2. where would you recommend we stay to minimise travelling?

    Arigato!

  8. Sandra Sanders says:

    Hello:

    We are planning the following 3-day trip in Osaka/Kyoto:
    Nov 13: Arrive KIX at 19:20, travel to hotel near Tennoji Station
    Nov 14: Local travel around Osaka to see sights from Tennoji Station
    Nov 15: Take train from Tennoji Station to Kyoto Station, then traveling to Kibune and returning from Kurama to Kyoto, local travel to Guin
    Nov 16: Local travel with Kyoto, then 2 of us will take the train to Tokyo and 1 of us will take the train back to KIX.

    Can you recommend a rail pass? Is it better to take the limo bus to the hotel in Osaka, then use ICOCA cards to do local travel and purchase single tickets for longer travel? Or do the Haruka express and ICOCA pass?

    Thanks so much for any guidance you can provide.

    • Hi Sandra,

      ICOCA and Haruka is recommended for arrival and departure to/from KIX.
      You can use subway pass for travelling in Osaka on day 2. Don’t use ICOCA card for this and save it for day 3.
      ICOCA e-money can cover the trip to Kyoto and exploring in Kyoto.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  9. Lai Ling Yap says:

    Hi Takeshi-san,
    My family of six are planning for a 7D6N trip to Kyoto-Nara-Osaka in February 2017. I would appreciate it if you could advise us on the transportation that is most suitable for us.

    Thank you.
    Lailing

    Day 1 (Kansai – Kyoto)
    Arrival Kansai International Airport at 10:30pm;
    To go to Ryokan Ishicho, Kyoto.

    Day 2 (Kyoto)
    Kinkakuji Temple;
    Toei Kyoto Studio Park;
    Manga Museum;
    Gion;
    Nishiki Market
    Hotel Sunlight Kyoto Gion Shijo

    Day 3 (Kyoto-Nara-Osaka)
    Deer Park;
    Daiwa Roynet Hotel Osaka-Kitahama
    Umeda Floating Garden Observatory;
    Tempozan Ferris Wheel;
    Naniwa Food Theme Park;
    Dotonbori

    Day 4 (Osaka)
    Osaka Castle;
    Aqua Liner;
    Shinsaibashi;
    Electric Den Den Town

    Day 5 (Osaka)
    Shinsekai (Tsutenkaku Tower);
    Pokemon Center;
    Osaka aquarium Kaikuyan

    Day 6 (Osaka)
    Universal Studio

    Day 7 (Osaka-Kansai)
    Return flight at 11:00am

  10. Priscella says:

    Hi,

    Would like to seek your advise on which pass should I buy, I’m still confuse as there are many passes available.

    Day 1 (Sat)
    Reach KIX at noon
    Check in Dotonbori Hotel (Namba station) and spent the rest of the day at nearby area

    Day 2
    Osaka shopping and sightseeing

    Day 3
    Breakfast at Kuromon market then depart to Kobe
    Kobe beef lunch at Oriental Avenue
    Some sightseeing and back to Osaka

    Day 4
    Osaka-Kyoto
    Kurama temple by Eizan railway
    Arashiyama by Sagano Scenic railway (Hozugawa River Cruises optional)
    Nishiki market
    Pontocho old street
    Back to Osaka

    Day 5
    Osaka shopping and sightseeing

    Day 6
    USS

    Day 7
    Flight depart from KIX at 7pm

    Thanks!

    Regards,
    Priscella

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