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Shall I buy a JR rail pass for my itinerary?

ramy15473
ramy15473
about 9 years ago
2 responses

I have the following itinerary and I am at a loss as to where I can buy the rail tickets :

1 March 2015 -- from Shin-Osaka to Awara Onsen. I understand I can take the Limited Express Thunderbird at JPY6,570 for each person but just do not know where I can buy this from Hong Kong.

3 March -- from Awara Onsen to Arima Onsen. Should I take the Limited Express Thunderbird from Awara Onsen to Shin-Kobe and then change to the Hokushin Kyuko Railway and Shintetsu Arima or Sanda Line, or should I take a JR bus from Shin-Kobe to Arima Onsen? Or, better to go from Shin-Osaka to Arima?

5 March -- from Arima Onsen to Osaka. Should I take a JR train? If so, which line?

6 March -- from Osaka to Kansai International Airport. Should I buy a Kansai Area Pass at JPY2,060 just for that one trip? Is there any cheaper way to get to the airport from the Granvia Hotel Osaka?

avatar
Daniel-san
18832 posts
about 9 years ago
Expert

Hi there,

1.) Tickets can be purchased once you arrive in Japan. Just go to a station and buy them at the ticket window. It is currently not possible to do so from abroad.

2.) Arima Onsen can be accessed in different ways. Personally I like the option of taking the ropeway up to mount Rokko and from there an other ropeway to Arima Onsen. This however is not very convenient with luggage and a better option may be to just take an express bus from Shin-Kobe or Kobe stations.

3.) Either take an express bus back to Kobe and the train from there to Osaka or a direct express but from Arima onsen into Osaka.

4.) The Kansai Area pass is 2,000yen a day, while a normal tickets Osaka - Kansai Airport on the JR rapid airport express is around 1,200yen. So I would just stick to a normal ticket here.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

ramy15473
ramy15473
2 posts
about 9 years ago

Thank you so much Daniel-san. You really put my mind at ease. I am sure many independent travellers like us will benefit from your expert advice.


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