How to choose discount railway ticket and pass for the trip in Kansai area

Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and Nara
Katsura river in Arashiyama, Kyoto is very popular in Spring and Fall. ©Yasufumi Nishi/© JNTO
2011.11.27
Dotonbori (道頓堀) is one of the popular spot around Osaka Namba area. ©JNTO
Dotonbori (道頓堀) is one of the popular spot around Osaka Namba area. ©JNTO

There are JR lines and lots of private railway lines, such as Hankyu, Hanshin, Kintetsu and Keihan in Kansai area. There are so many kinds of ticket or passes as well. It makes you confused to choose it.

In this post, I would like to share the information about the discount tickets and passes that cover Kansai area.

Kansai Thru Pass

  • Online purchasing price (2-day) – Adult : 4,300 yen / Child : 2,150 yen
  • Online purchasing price (3-day) – Adult : 5,300 yen / Child : 2,650 yen
  • Coverage – All Non JR lines, subway lines and city bus in whole part of Kansai area
  • Valid period – 2 or 3 days (not required using in consecutive days)

This is the most recommend one. This pass includes all major private lines and subway lines, such as Hankyu, Hanshin, Keihan, Kintetsu, Nankai, Osaka Metro and Kyoto Subway. You can access Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Nara, Himeji, Mt. Koya, Kansai airport, Wakayama and many more place. This pass is sold at 5,300 yen for 3-days and 4,300 yen for 2 days. It gives you the greatest value in any railway pass of Kansai area. But if you think about only round trip between Kyoto and Osaka, the regular fare may be cheaper. Please see the details at the post in the link below:

How to use Kansai Thru Pass. Compare pass and single fare.
Kansai thru pass is one of the best option to travel in Kansai area, such as Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara, Himeji, Wakayama, Koyasan. This post shows you how to use this pass.
jprail.com
2012.10.07

JR West Rail Pass – Kansai Area Pass

  • Price (1-day) – Adult : 2,200 yen / Child : 1,100 yen
  • Price (2-day) – Adult : 4,300 yen / Child : 2,150 yen
  • Price (3-day) – Adult : 5,300 yen / Child : 2,650 yen
  • Price (4-day) – Adult : 6,300 yen / Child : 3,150 yen
  • Coverage – All JR railway lines in whole part of Kansai area
  • Valid period – 1 to 4 days (midnight to midnight)
Limited Express Haruka connects Kansai airport and Kyoto via Tennoji and Shin-Osaka. This is covered by Kansai area pass.
Limited Express Haruka connects Kansai airport and Kyoto via Tennoji and Shin-Osaka. This is covered by Kansai area pass.

This pass includes most of JR lines in Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Kobe, Himeji and Kansai airport. But the Shinkansen and all express trains are not covered except Kansai airport express “Haruka”. Please see the details about this pass in the link below:

How to use JR West Kansai Area Pass. Compare pass and single fare.
This posts explains you how to use Kansai Area Pass. It is one of JR West rail passes and it covers whole part of Kansai area.
jprail.com
2012.10.19

Hankyu Tourist Pass one day and two days

  • Price (1-day) – Adult : 700 yen / Child:Not available
  • Price (2-day) – Adult : 1,200 yen / Child:not available
  • Coverage – All Hankyu railway lines
  • Valid period – one day (midnight to midnight) and two days (must be used in consecutive days)

Hankyu Railway operates trains among Umeda (Osaka), Takarazuka, Kawaramachi (Kyoto near Gion), Arashiyama (Kyoto) and Kobe (Sannomiya). The price of this deal is very attractive to cover three cities, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe. If you access to Kobe-Sannomiya from Umeda, single fare is 320 yen. If you access to Kyoto-Kawaramachi from Umeda, single fare is 400 yen. You can get the worth of one day pass by one round trip to Kyoto-Kawaramachi from Umeda. If you look for deal to access to just Kobe, Arashiyama and Gion area, this is a good choice.

But if you want to visit all part of Kyoto and many places in Kobe, Kansai Thru Pass is better choice. Because you have to take other train or bus than Hankyu Railway. Kansai Thru Pass covers all.

Please see the link below to find more information:

Hankyu Railway official site- Hankyu Tourist Pass

Kyoto-Osaka Sightseeing Pass one day and two days

  • Price (1-day) – Adult : 700 yen / Child : 350 yen
  • Price (2-day) – Adult : 1,000 yen / Child : 700 yen
  • Coverage – All Keihan railway lines
  • Valid period – one day (midnight to midnight) and two days (must be used in consecutive days)

Keihan Railway connects Yodoyabashi (Osaka) and Demachiyanagi (Kyoto). It covers Kyoto and Osaka only but the price is cheaper than Hankyu Tourist Pass. And many places in Kyoto are located along Keihan Railway. Fushimi Inari shrine, Uji, Kiyomizu-dera temple and many places in Higashiyama area can be accessed from Keihan Railway stations.

This pass has same issue as Hankyu Tourist Pass. You may have to take subway to get Keihan Railway station in Osaka, such as Yodoyabashi, Nakanoshima, Kitahama, Temmabashi and Kyobashi. And when you visit western part of Kyoto, such as Arashiyama, Kinkaku-ji temple, you have to pay extra to access this place. Kansai Thru Pass may be better choice if you have another trip(s).

Please see the link below to find more information about Kyoto-Osaka Sightseeing Pass:

Keihan Railway official site – Kyoto-Osaka Sightseeing Pass

Kintetsu Rail Pass one day and two days

  • Price (1-day) – Adult : 1,500 yen / Child : 750 yen
  • Price (2-day) – Adult : 2,500 yen / Child : 1,250 yen
  • Coverage – All Keihan railway lines
  • Valid period – one day (midnight to midnight) and two days (must be used in consecutive days)

This deals covers Kintetsu Railway in Osaka, Kyoto and Nara.

In Nara, many of places can be accessed by walk from the station. But this deal can take you to Kyoto station only You cannot use this deal to access to most of places in Kyoto.

Please see the link below to find more information about Kintetsu Rail Pass:

Kintetsu Railway official site – Kintetsu Rail Pass

Hanshin Tourist Pass

  • Price – Adult:700 yen / Child:Not available
  • Coverage – All Hanshin railway lines
  • Valid period – one day (midnight to midnight)

Hanshin Railway operate trains among Umeda (Osaka), Osaka-Namba, Kousoku-Kobe and Kobe (Sannomiya). The price of this deal is very attractive. If you access to Kobe-Sannomiya from Osaka-Nmaba, single fare is 410 yen. It is paid off by just one round trip. If you look for deal to access to just Kobe, this is the one for your trip.

However if you access to Arima-Onsen and/or Himeji, Kansai Thru Pass or Kansai Area Pass may be better choice.

Please see the link below to find more information about Hanshin Tourist Pass:

Hanshin Railway official site – Hanshin Tourist Pass

Kansai Wide Area Pass

Kyushu Shinkansen Sakura and Mizuho give you direct trainsfer to Shin-Osaka from Kyusyu.
All Shinkansen trains non reserved seat on Sanyo Shinkansen are covered by this deal.

If you may travel both inside and outside of Kansai area, Kansai Wide Area Pass is the best choice. You can get same coverage as Kansai area pass in Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Himeji and Wakayama. And also this pass covers Kinosaki Onsen, Shirahama, Kii-Katsuura, Shingu, Okayama, Kurashiki and even Takamatsu in Shikoku. You can take non reserved seat on limited express trains and Sanyo Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Okayama. Please find more information in the post below:

Kansai WIDE Area Pass user guide. The best deal for the traveler who want to travel Kansai and surrounding areas, such as Okayama, Kurashiki, Kinosaki and Kumano.
Kansai Wide Area Pass offers bigger coverage area than Kansai Area Pass. This pass covers Kansai area and surrounding places, such as Kinosaki, Kurashiki, Okayama, Kii-Katsuura. Please find the details about Kansai Wide Area Pass in this post.
jprail.com
2012.04.26

ICOCA and Kansai One Pass

ICOCA is most popular IC card in Kansai area. (C) タンジェント (own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
ICOCA is most popular IC card in Kansai area. (C) タンジェント (own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

You may use these cards to take any trains and buses in all Kansai area. You can use even other area’s card, such as Suica, Pasmo too. These cards give you convenience. You can avoid to purchase a ticket whenever you make a train trip. You can take any kinds of trains, such as JR, subway and Non JR trains. However these cards do not give you any discount and unlimited ride.

If you meet these following things, IC card is your choice.

1. You intend to visit a few places in a day.
2. You need to take several kinds of trains and buses, like subway, Hankyu, Keihan, JR.
3. You cannot fix your plan and want to have some flexibility.

However if you have day trip to other cities, such as day trip to Kyoto from Osaka, Kansai Thru Pass or Kansai Area Pass is better choice in most of cases.

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Hotels in Kyoto
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Kansai One Pass

This is same type of card as ICOCA. You can use this pass by same way as ICOCA. But this card is designed for overseas tourist. Preload amount is 2,500 yen (plus 500 yen deposit and sold at 3,000 yen) and you can get discount at many attractions. ICOCA is sold at any JR stations throughout Kansai area. But Kansai One Pass is sold in the designated stations only. Please see the link below to find the detailed information at official site.

Kansai One Pass official site

For traveler who use national or regional pass

If you use JR pass (national pass) or other regional deal, such as Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass, JR train network in Kansai area is covered. You may have same or better coverage than Kansai Wide Area Pass. If you use these passes, please try to use this pass as much as you can. I think you may add only city deal, such as bus pass in Kyoto.

For the traveler who stay in Kyoto or Osaka and visit inside city only

These above deals are too much for the city sightseeing only. You may find the deals in the links below:

How to choose the best train pass for sightseeing in Kyoto
How to choose the best train pass for sightseeing in Osaka

I hope you get the best deal in this post and enjoy your trip in Kansai area.

Comments

  1. grace says:
    July 27, 2015 at 10:04 pm

    Hi Takeshi,

    My family and I will be travelling to Osaka via Tokyo domestic flight and arriving in Itami airport on Dec. 19-26. We plan to visit kyoto and himeji on one day tour each. We will be staying at the Umeda area. We hope to explore parts of Osaka as well.

    I’m so confused with the passes available as this will be our first time in Osaka. Could you recommend which type of pass should we avail? By the way, there will be 4 of us.

    Thank you.

  2. June says:
    July 27, 2015 at 6:19 pm

    Hi Takeshi -San
    We are planning to cover Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. My flight arrive and depart from Tokyo Narita.
    We will take domestic flight from Narita to Osaka. Stay in Osaka for 3D, and Kyoto for 3D, cover Nara, Yokohama, Hakone(Maybe) and back to Tokyo.
    My question – Should I buy the 7D JR Pass? I was thinking to take a domestic flight back to Tokyo from Osaka (Price is cheap, 5900YEN) instead of usng the JR Pass which is more expensive. Then for loal travel, we can buy the discount pass..
    Can you please advise which is the best?

    • Takeshi / JPRail says:
      July 27, 2015 at 7:44 pm

      Hi June,

      JR pass 7 days price is a bit higher than round trip Shinkansen fare between Tokyo and Osaka. As long as you have one way trip between Tokyo and Osaka, JR Pass is not your choice. As you think, round trip domestic flight and local deals, such as subway pass are better choice for your trip in my opinion.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  3. Pao says:
    July 21, 2015 at 9:07 pm

    Hello Takeshi!

    Thank you for your helpful post. I need your advice.
    We will be coming on the 25th of July (9pm) til the 28th (9pm) via KIX Airport. we’ll be staying at Omiya Kyoto.

    I’m having a hard time choosing the best train pass for our short trip since we are just planning to make the most out of our short stay. Most probably we will just roam around Osaka and Kyoto only.

    Also, I’m thinking about the validity of the passes. Considering our late night arrival on the 25th, is it already counted as day 1 after midnight, or the next day 26th same time of purchase?

    Do I really need to rent out WIFI in KIX airport as I have read in other blogs or there are free wifis in most areas?

    Hope to receive your response. Thanks soo much!

    Sincerely,

    Pao

    • Takeshi / JPRail says:
      July 21, 2015 at 10:19 pm

      Hi Pao,

      Before choosing the deal, I want to know what you will do on day 2, 3 and 4. Do you go to Osaka on day 2 or 3 or both? Or dropping by Osaka on day 4 on the way to airport? If you want to save your cost as much as possible, you need to make the detailed itinerary before choosing the deal.

      WIFI spot is getting more popular in Japan. It’s not enough for me because free WIFI is everywhere in north America. (I live in Canada)
      I recommend you to use rental WIFI. But it depends on how much you want. If you want to upload photo to SNS, like Facebook when you are on trip, you will need it.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JP Rail

  4. Aideain says:
    July 21, 2015 at 2:13 am

    Hi Takeshi,

    My friends and I are travelling to Osaka for four days, I was wondering what are the best passes to get for our travels.

    Day 1 Kansai to shin Osaka and use the Subway to travel around Osaka
    Day 2 Sightseeing and travelling around Osaka
    Day 3 Travel to Kyoto for one day and use Subway to travel around Kyoto and back to Osaka in the evening.
    Day 4 Osaka and travel around by Subway.

    I would be very grateful for any advice.
    Thank you in advance for your help.

    Aideain

  5. Joanne says:
    July 9, 2015 at 9:17 pm

    Hi . My friend and I are going to Osaka on end-Sept. We are going to stay at Tennoji.
    Below is our itinerary:
    Day 1 Sept 23 Arrival from KIX at 3.50 pm
    Day 2 Sept 24 USJ
    Day 3 Sept 25 Tour around Osaka (shrines and Umeda area)
    Day 4 Sept 26 Tour around Nara and Namba area at night
    Day 5 Sept 27 Departure from KIX at 5.30 pm

    Planning to take ICOCA+Haruka from KIX to Osaka. Since I’m planning to get 1-day Amazing Pass. Should I get One-day ticket Enjoy Eco Card and Osaka Visitors’ Ticket for the remaning days? Or Kansai Thru Pass is more suitable for the rest of the trip?
    Thank you!

    • Takeshi / JPRail says:
      July 9, 2015 at 11:14 pm

      Hi Joanne,

      ICOCA and Haruka is a good choice. It will cover day 1, 2, 3 and 5.
      You may use either Eco card or visitor ticket. Visitor ticket includes subway pass too. You don’t need to have both. If you intend to visit many attractions, visitor ticket is your choice. Otherwise eco card is okay.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JP Rail

  6. Terence says:
    June 6, 2015 at 8:31 pm

    Hi Takeshi,

    A great thanks to your sharing of the wealth of knowledge on rail in Japan.

    Need some advice and recommendation from you.

    My family will be travelling to Japan in Dec 15 and our iternary as follow:
    Land at Kansai airport.
    Travel to USJ and staying there for 3 nights.
    -Spend 1 day at USJ
    -Spend 2 days travelling around in Osaka via trains.
    Depart for Tokyo via Shinkansen.
    Stay in Tokyo for 5 nights and travelling around Tokyo via trains.

    With the plans, which pass do you recommend for our family, including a child 8 years old.

    Regards
    Terence

  7. Peggy Iin says:
    May 2, 2015 at 3:02 am

    Hello Takeshi, we ars planning 2 wks in kansai area(kyoto, nara and wakayama) and nagoya (which include side trips to shirakawa-Go, takayama).which pass will be suitable for us?

  8. Maria says:
    April 6, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    Hello Takeshi,

    I will be travelling with my mother and brother on the 2nd of May to Tokyo. We would stay there 2 nights (until the 4th) and then we want to go to kyoto until the 6th. Then the 6th to osaka and the 7th we leave Japan. I was reading about the trains and I see they are very expensive and is quite confusing. So my question is what would be the more economic way to travel from tokyo to kyoto and then to oasaka? It will be cheaper a railpass or tu buy them separate? Teh rail passes include transportation within a city, like inside tokyo or inside kyoto so we can move around? What do you suggest? If not, how do we move inside the cities? Regards

    Maria

  9. Joanne says:
    April 6, 2015 at 3:57 am

    Hello Takeshi San,

    We are a group of 4 adults, travelling to Japan for the first time in May 2015. We will be staying in Osaka throughout our 10 days trip.

    Below is our plan :
    Day 1 – arrival Kix, travel to APA Villa Hotel Osaka-Tanimachi 4 Chome-Ekimae, Japan by taxi. (not sure what area this is)
    Day 2 – sight seeing in Osaka
    Day 3- Kyoto (go back to Osaka hotel when finished)
    Day 4 – Kyoto (go back to Osaka hotel when finished)
    Day 5 – Kobe
    Day 6 – Nara
    Day 7 onwards – no plans yet at this moment

    I hope you can help us decide on what pass to buy and perhaps give us some suggestion on where we should go. We plan on getting the Icoca card but should we also get the Haruka ?
    Thank you very much.

  10. liang says:
    March 31, 2015 at 4:24 am

    Hi Takeshi,

    Thanks for your prompt reply, if i change my plan as following:
    Day 1: narita airport-tokyo
    Day 2: tokyo
    Day 3: tokyo
    Day 4: tokyo-kyoto
    Day 5: kyoto
    Day 6: kyoto
    Day 7: kyoto-osaka-kobe-osaka
    Day 8: osaka-nara-osaka
    Day 9: osaka-kansai airport

    Day 5 and day 6 will use kyoto day pass,
    is it worth to use kansai thru pass in day 7 and day 8?
    Osaka to kansai airport will be as per ur recommendation.

    Thank you.

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