Kansai thru pass

[Stacey]

I will be in Kyoto from Dec 26th to Dec 31st and was thinking of getting the Kansai thru pass to travel between Kyoto, Osaka and Nara.  I will be coming in by train from Tokyo and would like to know the best place to purchase this pass, I will be staying near Kyoto Station.  Is this pass useful for getting from city to city, as well as seeing sites within each city?  

[Michael Lambe]

Hi Stacey,

Yes, you can use the pass the travel between cities, but you have to use one of the participating private rail companies such as Kintetsu, Keihan or Hankyu. Please remember that you cannot use this pass on JR Trains. You can get a full list of participating companies here: http://www.surutto.com/tickets/kansai_thru_english.html

You can buy the Kansai Thru Pass at the Kyoto City Bus Information Center which is right outside the north exit of Kyoto Station. You can see a list of places where you can buy the pass here: http://www.surutto.com/tickets/kansai_thru_english02.html

It is also possible to buy the pass online: http://www.surutto.com/tickets/kansai_thru_english03.html

If you want to travel from Kyoto to Nara you can use the Kintetsu rail line from Kyoto Station. However, if you want to travel from Kyoto to Osaka, you would be better off traveling on either the Hankyu or Keihan lines, and these don't connect with Kyoto Station. To catch a Hankyu train for Osaka you need to go into the center of Kyoto and travel from Karasuma Station (you can use the subway from Kyoto Station to get there). The nearest Keihan station to Kyoto Station is at Shichijo Station which is about 20 minutes' walk away. Here is a handy map of all the railway lines in Kyoto: http://www.jrpass.com/images/map/map_kyoto_metro.pdf

And here are our  guides to the private rail lines.

Kintetsu:https://www.kyotostation.com/kintetsu-kyoto-line-for-nara/
Keihan:https://www.kyotostation.com/the-keihan-main-line-keihan-electric-railway/
Hankyu:https://www.kyotostation.com/the-hankyu-kyoto-main-line-for-katsura-arashiyama-osaka-kobe/

I hope that helps!

Best wishes,

Michael

[Stacey]

Thank you so much for the detailed reply.  Very helpful!

Do you think it is pretty easy to use the other rail lines or do you think the JR lines the easier way to travel from city to city and within cities?

I am currently deciding whether I should be purchasing the JR rail pass, on the other hand I could just pay the fare to take the JR train from city to city if it is more convenient. 

Thanks, 

Stacey