Passes for Buses & Subway in Kyoto : Type, Price and Covered Area
1. Pass Type & Price
For shightseeing, mainly 3 types of day passes are available in Kyoto.
Bus One-Day Pass , Subway & Bus One-Day Pass and Subway & Bus Two-Day Pass .
Bus One-Day Pass is ¥600 for an adult.
Official english name is Kyoto City Bus & Kyoto Bus One-Day Pass.
This pass coveres most of the famous spots, such as Arashiyama, Fushimi Inari shrine, Kinkakuji temple (golden pavilion), Ginkakuji temple (silver pavilion), Kiyomizudera temple, Gion or Nijo Castle.
Subway & Bus One-Day Pass is ¥900 for an adult.
Official english name is Kyoto City Subway, Kyoto City Bus, Kyoto Bus & Keihan Bus One-Day Pass.
This pass is also very useful. Because if you take subway, you can go to some spots on schdule and save time even on a peak season such as spring (around the end of March to the top of April) or Autumn (November).
Subway & Bus Two-Day Pass is ¥1,700 for an adult.
This pass is more useful, if you travel around Kyoto for two days.
2. Pass Type & Cost Effectiveness
Bus One-Day Pass is worth using, if you ride a bus 3 times and more a day.
Subway & Bus One-Day Pass is worth, if you plan to take subway and bus more than 2 times each or 4 times in total.
For example, “Bus ride × 3 + Subway ride × 1” or “Bus ride × 2 + Subway ride × 2” is almost the same cost as this pass, ¥900.
Subway & Bus Two-Day Pass is much worth, if you take subway and bus at least 2 times each or 4 times and more in total per each day.
3. Pass Type & Covered Area
Bus One-Day Pass covers most of the famous spots in Kyoto such as Arashiyama, Fushimi Inari shrine, Kiyomizudera temple, Kinkakuji temple (golden pavilion), Ginkakuji temple (silver pavilion), Gion or Nijo castle.
But Takao, Ohara or Kurama area, in the upper north side of kyoto city, is outside of the zone.
You can ONLY ride Kyoto City Bus and Kyoto Bus within Flat-Fare Zone.
You can NOT ride West JR Bus or Keihan Bus by this pass.
The map below shows the Flat-Fare Zone.
Subway & Bus One / Two-Day Pass covers Takao, Ohara and Yamashina area in addition to Flat-Fare Zone.
By this pass, you can ride all Kyoto City Bus and Subway.
In addition, most of the Kyoto Bus and Keihan Bus services are available.
For example, you can go to Ohara (in the north of Kyoto) by Kyoto Bus, or Yamashina area (in the east of Kyoto) by Keihan Bus.
But you can NOT ride West JR Bus.
The map below shows the area covered by the Subway & Bus Pass.
