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.

Find your hotels in 500 cities throughout Japan!!!

Hotels in Kyoto
Hotels in Osaka
Hotels in Kansai International Airport
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Hotels in Kobe

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. Jinwei says:
    March 26, 2018 at 12:57 am

    Hi Takeshi, my itinerary for april will be like:
    Day 1: arrive in Kyoto from Tokyo and start sightseeing around Kyoto.
    Day 2: sightseeing around Kyoto.
    Day 3: arrive in Osaka from Kyoto and start sightseeing around Osaka.
    Day 4: Universal Studio and sightseeing around Osaka.
    Day 5: leave for Kansai Airport.

    Can you kindly advice me on what pass to get? thanks

  2. Karina Yap says:
    March 25, 2018 at 6:58 pm

    Hi Ken,

    I will travelling to Osaka early July 2018. I would like to seek your advise which is the best passes for my trip there.

    My tentative itinerary as belows:

    Day 1 : Arrived KIX late afternoon, staying at Daikokucho
    Station,tentative to go Namba for dinner and later on
    proceed to Umeda Skybuilding .

    Day 2 : Universal Studio Japan (1 whole day)

    Day 3 : Explore Kyoto( Kiyomizudera Temple, Nishiki Market,
    Arashiyama then back to Osaka)

    Day 4: Tentative Nara/Kobe (half day) later on back to Osaka

    Day 5: Osaka 1 day

    Day 6: Late afternoon flight at 4.40pm, checkout at 10am, as
    more time , tentative plan Rinku Town before proceed
    to Airport

    I do some research on the passes available but need your expertise on which best for my trip there.

    Thank you.
    Regards
    Karina

  3. Ken says:
    March 24, 2018 at 10:46 am

    Hi Takeshi: Here is my tentative itinerary for my upcoming trip:
    I will be going to Japan from April 20-29th

    Originally my plan was to just use the Nankai train to get to my hotel near Namba on April 20th and then use the 1-day unlimited pass in osaka (April 21st) and then for the rest of the trip I will use a 7-day JR pass. But after reading your forum I am thinking the JR pass may be not worth it and so I need some advice from you!
    So here is what I am thinking

    April 20th: arrive at Kansai airport 8pm (use Nankai to get to hotel)
    April 21st: Osaka (use 1-day unlimited pass)
    April 22nd: Osaka (use 1-day unlimited pass)
    Is that a good choice for the pass?

    April 23rd: Leave Osaka and go to Kyoto in Morning . go to Toei studio park in afternoon
    April 24th: Himeji day trip
    My question is that for these 2 days is it better to use the Kansai Through pass or the JR WEST Kansai pass? I read somewhere it is complicated to get to kyoto from osaka using the Kansai Through pass especially with luggage. So is it better I use JR pass for these 2 days?

    april 25th: arashiyama, kinkakuji, ryoanji
    April 26th: kiyomizudera, inari shrine, Gion
    April 27th: morning I may go to uji, after leave Kyoto to go to Hakone
    For these 3 days I am thinking of using Kansai Through Pass. Is it ok?
    For Hakone, I will buy a regular fare from JR rail to Odawara and then buy a Hakone free pass?

    April 28: Hakone, then in evening go to Narita
    April 29th: leave Japan from Narita airport at 10am
    I will buy a regular fare from JR pass to get to Narita?

    So do you think buying these multiple passes is better than using the JR 7-day pass?

    any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

  4. Pf says:
    March 5, 2018 at 5:05 pm

    Hi Takeshi,

    I will be travelling to Osaka this year OCT. As this would be the first time traveling there, I am confuse on which card to purchase.

    I will be staying Osaka for about 7days and would like to plan a day trip to Kyoto, Nara and Kobe then back to Osaka on different day. Which card would be the most ideal for me?

    Also, I would like to visit USJ for 1 day. Hence I am looking to purchase a card that is convenient and ideal for me to purchase that can be use everywhere .

    Would you pls give me some suggestions? Thank you!

  5. Ady FS says:
    January 24, 2018 at 10:46 pm

    Hi Takeshi,

    Thanks for this useful write ups!
    However i would like to still seek for your advise on my below itinerary. Can you advise which pass is the best for me.
    Thank you.

    Stay : TANIMACHIYONCHOME

    Nara – 3 Feb (Saturday)
    • Nara Park
    • Kasuga Taisha Shrine
    • Isuien garden

    Kyoto – 4 Feb (Sunday)
    • Nijo Castle
    • Pontochoo Alley
    • Kiyomizudera temple
    • Fushimi, Inari Taisha Shrine
    • Gion
    • Sagano Station
    • Arrashimaya

    Osaka – 5 Feb (Monday)
    • USJ & Tempozan Ferris Wheel
    • Daimara Umed
    • Umeda sky building
    • Himeji castle

    Namba – 6 Feb (Tuesday)
    • Shinsekai & Tsutenkaku tower
    • Dotonbori

  6. CK says:
    January 24, 2018 at 7:09 am

    Hi Takeshi san

    I will be travelling to Japan in early Mar this year.

    Our itinerary will be:
    Day 1: Land in KIX at evenning and talking ferry to kobe and stay near kosoku kobe station

    Day 2: depart from kobe to kyoto

    Day 3: sight seeing in kyoto and will stay near gojo station. we plan to go kiyomizu dera with other place of interest near by and fushimi inari taishi

    Day 4: arashiyama and golden pavilion

    Day 5: back to osaka staying near nipponbashi station.

    Day 6: universal studio

    Day 7 to day 8: sight seeing around osaka

    Day 9: depart from nipponbashi station to kansai airport

    As the japan railway system is so complex, we having hard time to do research on which ticket or id card best suit our trip.

    Hope you could provide your advise on this. Many thanks in advance for your help

  7. Melvic Mae Roxas says:
    January 19, 2018 at 6:19 am

    Hi good day my name is Mae. I’m going to japan this april. I just want to ask what’s the best card to choose? I’ll be staying in Tokyo for 4 days then travel to Osaka, Nara, Kyoto and Kobe for another 5 days. What card can i choose the best and one that i can use for my entire trip? Thank you!

  8. Oliver says:
    January 15, 2018 at 6:35 am

    Good day, Takeshi!

    May I seek advice from you regarding which train passes to purchase for our Kansai Trip?

    As of now, here is our general itinerary:

    Day 1: Arrive at KIX and then go to Kyoto

    Days 2 to 4: Kyoto Sightseeing

    Day 5: Depart from Kyoto and then go to Osaka

    Day 6 to 7: Osaka Sightseeing

    Day 8: Trip to Nara (from Osaka)

    Day 9: Trip to Himeji and Kobe (from Osaka)

    Day 10: Departure from KIX

    We may change our plan, which will look like this:

    Day 6: Trip to Nara (from Osaka)

    Day 7: Trip to Himeji and Kobe (from Osaka)

    Day 8 to 9: Osaka Sightseeing

    Day 10: Depart from KIX

    Thank you very much for your time!

  9. Ann says:
    January 7, 2018 at 5:56 pm

    Hi,
    Could you please advise if the 7-days JR Pass would covered for trips from Narita Airport to Tokyo (4days) and one way bullet train to Osaka (3days) and then to Kansai Airport ?
    Many Thanks & Kind Regards, Ann

  10. Stephanie says:
    January 3, 2018 at 8:03 am

    Hi Takeshi,
    I will be travelling to Japan in end Mar/early Apr this year. Our itinerary will be:
    Day 1: Land in KIX and stay in Osaka
    day 2: travel to Kii-Tanabe and then take a bus along the kumano Kodo to Yunomine onsen
    day 3: bus/walk kumano Kodo from Yunomine onsen to Koguchi
    day 4: bus/walk kumano Kodo from Koguchi to Nachi or Kii-katsuura
    day 5: travel from Kii-katsuura to Ise.
    day 6: travel around Ise and lake Toba
    day 7: travel to Kobe
    day 8: travel to Himeiji
    day 9: Osaka
    day 10: Osaka & fly back via KIX
    Is there any pass I can get that covers all these places? I am not sure if the Kansai Thru Pass covers the buses in the Kumano Kodo area as I can’t find them on the map. Which pass would be the best value for me or should I reschedule my itinerary?

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