Wenfy,

Your itinerary is very busy. It would be very rushed and tiring.

A Kansai Thru Pass won’t get you to all your locations and does NOT work on JR trains – https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357_005.html
A JR West Pass gets you to most places you want, but not to Nagoya if you do the Ghibli Park. It can also only be bought for 7 days – https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_west.html
Depending on what you end up deciding on, you may need a JR Pass.
I personally found Kobe beef to be a bit boring. They cook it teppanyaki and I much prefer the North American style where they grill it.
Think about what are the most important things you want to do and then build a realistic itinerary.

We like to do Osaka, Nara, ghibli park near Nagoya, Kyoto, Kobe and a few days driving in the kyushu island. Young family of 5. Age 10 to 15. If time allow, the island off Hiroshima or Fukuoka.

Must visit universal studio, ryankon stay, onsen, fish market, cup noodle museum, Kobe beef, Like to try as many yummy Japanese local good and sashimi as possible.

Any suggestion on itinerary and which train pass I should get? I am think Kansas pass through. Hello kitty train is still running next June/July?

My nephew in Osaka and he might be able to help us get ghibli ticket when they become open for lottery next spring.

Second time there first only in Tokyo and surrounding as kids were younger then.

Thanks so much.
Wenfy

KW,

All of those sites are outdoors so not much you can do about that if you know what I mean.

From Kyoto station, Arashiyama and Fushimi are on JR lines. Kinkakuji is sort of near Arashiyama so do that on the same day (probably easiest to take a cab there) or bus to Kinkakuji first, then cab to Arashiyma. Gion is about a 15min bus ride from Kyoto station.

You’d probably need a bus pass and use your IC card or JR pass for the trains.

My family shall be in kyoto for 2 nights on 26/12 and 27/12. we shall be travelling form osaka on 26th. since its winter season, can u please provide information on which place is nice to visit in Dec given the 2 days?

At this point, i am still searching on how to travel in kyoto and this raku bus seems good but does not include Fushimi Inari in its route?

To summarise, , i hope to cover Arashiyama, Gion, Fushimi, Kinkakuji and Golden pavilion but have no idea how these places are in winter, whether it closes early and what mode of transport ? appreciate your advise if i need to buy any passes for ease of travel in kyoto. Thank you

I deeply appreciate the info you provided, very useful indeed. I am going to be in Kyoto for 4 days & I have calculated to buy 4 x 1 day pass bus tickets (based on the link you provided, I could get lower 1 day pass if I have JR pass instead of 2 days pass), but by any chance you know if I could buy the pass for the whole 4 of them at once or I only could 1 day at the time?

Thank you in advance.

Louis,

Pretty much, but note that to get to Kiyomizudera Temple from the bus stop, it’s a little bit of a hike.

Paul,

It was when I was last there 4 years ago. Most people just get a bus pass for the day which was 500 Yen at the time.