5Days4Nights in Kansai (Pass needed?)

Hi there!

OK, this is a question bonanza! I'll do my best, but here are some thoughts:

1. As you can use a Kansai Thru Pass for all of your travel, including transport between your cities, and also travel within on the metro and bus services, I strongly recommend you take a closer look at this pass vs the JR-West Pass. Here's a map of the stations services by the Thru Pass to help you plan.

2. With a Kansai thru pass you should consider the 3 day pass up to day 3, and then from then to use tickets as needed (or purchase another 2 day pass if you think it will be worth it)

3. The Tama Wakayama Electric Railway only runs between Wakayama and Kishi stations. As Kishi and Shingu are substantially far away from each other, I recommend you use JR lines to travel between Shingu and Wakayama. (have I misunderstood this question - please confirm you mean this train)

4. I think day 3 is quite busy, perhaps you could remove the garden visit from your list if you wanted to give yourself more time. Timing wise, you'll need to consult the train timetables for the company you choose to use if using the Kansai Thru Pass, or hyperdia for JR lines.

5. Overall I think your choices of where to go are good - possibly I would consider removing one of your days (maybe Day4) and spacing all of your travel out over more days, but it really depends on the level of travel you feel up for! You could easily spend 2 days in Kyoto for example, and could also plan a visit to Nara, which many people really enjoy.

Hope this helps!

Thx for your advice!!

I acknowledged that the kansai thru pass covers most of my trip, but is it better for me to ride on JR or through the subway covered by the "thru pass". Forgive me if I m wrong but I assume JR is faster? As my schedule is quite tight, especially for the day to kobe+himeji as well as the day to wakayama, i would like to minimize my traveling time.

Since I hv already booked all the hotels at hearton hotel shinsaibashi for all 4 nights, I will just go for a day trip in Kyoto. Anyway, I hv been once to Kyoto already~

For day 3, I will cut my schedule to kokoen garden, thx.

For day 4, i understand that the tama train doesnt travel to shingu n is faraway from each other ....but I really would like to take a ride on the tama wakayama electric train. I don't mind if I need to take more time to travel back to my hotel in shinsaibashi. In fact, I will take the daily tourist bus tour which departs at 12:xx at shingu station, and back at around 3:30-4pm. Where should I get to in order to ride on tama wakayama train? I mean should I get back to wakayama jr station or at the other 2 stations of takashi line?

As I am flying this sat, I would appreciate for any prompt help! Thx!

Hi there,

The JR lines may be slightly faster (and stations easier to find). Please note that the thru pass doens't only cover subways, but also non-JR rail companies too that run between these cities. Ultimately, which is best for you will depend on your schedule and tolerance for searching out non-JR stations, so I really recommend you pour over the Thru-pass map before you make a decision.

It will give you the best experience to board the Wakayama Electric Railway at Wakayama and then use it to travel up to Kishi. Please refer to this map for all the details on this line.

Hope this helps!