Kinosaki onsen JR west rail pass

Hi there,

The reason why you would go to Kinosaki is mostly the onsen town itself. You could make a visit to lake Biwa. You could also make a visit to Amanohashidate and the local sandbank.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

If you want to go to Kinosaki, then you'll want to get the JR West Kansai Wide Area Pass. There is very little inside Kinosaki itself aside from the hot springs - perhaps only the Konotori no Sato Park which is a stork sanctuary. But the pass offers a wealth of area to find many good places to see. One of the best is Himeji Castle which is Japan's finest. The Kokoen Garden next to it is also excellent, as is Mt Shosha with its huge temple complex (part of The Last Samurai was filmed there).
Okayama is not far and it is famous for its castle, plus Korakuen Garden, one of Japan's Top 3, and also the Handayama Garden. If you'd like to get off the beaten trail for a while, the half day hike up to Konpirasan in Kotohira is stunning. Going to Takamatsu is also nice - it has one of Japan's finest gardens also, called Ritsurin. Kurashiki is also a nice historical small city famous for its canals.

North of Kyoto is Amanohashidate which is regarded as one of Japan's Top 3 Views, and also about 30km north of Kyoto City is [Miyama] which can give you a taste of life from centuries ago.

Best of luck.

Hi Mr. Daniel,
I will be visiting Kinosaki Onsen from Kyoto for 2 nights in October 2018. Can you kindly advise if my 7days JR Pass also covers the similar train lines and shinkansen as the JR West Kansai Wide Area Pass?
Mr Toraneko's suggestion of places to visit as above is interesting and wonder if my 7days JR Pass covers for my trip to visit these places.
Thank you.
Best Regards,
Julie