Kyoto bus pass 1 day: is the ¥1,100 pass worth it?

The Kyoto bus pass most visitors mean is the Subway & Bus 1-Day Pass: ¥1,100 for an adult and ¥550 for a child, according to the Kyoto City Transportation Bureau's own pages. One city bus ride in the flat-fare zone costs ¥230, so the pass is cheaper from the fifth ride. This page sets out the price, what it covers, how the "day" is counted, where to buy it, and what the city's own fares say about the break-even.

The old bus-only pass is gone, so a pass that covers buses now means this one. Everything below comes from the city's official pages, read on November 8, 2026. If your trip also includes the trains between cities, see the Kansai Area Pass ended: what to use instead, Haruka ticket price from Kansai Airport and the JR Pass calculator.

Kyoto bus pass price: ¥1,100 for 1 day

The city's English pass page sells the pass "Year-Round" and describes it as a Magnetic Stripe Card. It does not mention a phone version.

What the pass covers

The Bureau's page says you can take the subway and bus "as many times as you want for the duration of one day (applicable routes and lines only)." The applicable routes, as listed:

• Subway: all lines (Karasuma Line and Tozai Line).
• Kyoto City Bus: all routes.
• Kyoto Bus: Ohara, Iwakura Muramatsu, Iwakura Jissoin Temple, Ichihara, Daikakuji, Kiyotaki and Kokedera routes. Seasonally limited routes such as the 51 Hieizan line (Kyoto Station to Hieizan), the 90 (Hankyu Arashiyama Station to Nishiyama Takao) and the 95 (Ohara to Kurama) are excluded.
• Keihan Bus: Yamashina, the Daigo area and the central areas of Kyoto City (the Kyoto Hieizan and Kyoto Hieidaira lines, routes that operate on highways, the Keihan Sightseeing Bus, the Highway Bus and the Airport Shuttle Bus are excluded).
• West Japan JR Bus: the Takao-Keihoku line (Kyoto Station to Toganoo).

The Bureau also says a separate fee applies on late-night buses. The city's overview page adds that on a Keihan Bus or West Japan JR Bus you should write the date of first use on the front of the pass with a permanent marker.

How the "one day" is counted

The pass is not a 24-hour pass. The Bureau says it "is only usable on the day that it is activated." You can buy it in advance and do not have to use it on the purchase day; the activation date is printed on the back the first time the card goes through a ticket gate. On a bus, if no valid date is stamped on the back, the overview page says to insert the pass in the card reader when you get off. After that you show the date to the driver.

A pass activated at 9 p.m. therefore ends that night. Start it on the first ride of a full sightseeing day.

Where to buy it

The city's list of sales points: Kyoto City Bus & Subway Information Center, Commuter Pass Sales Booth, Kyoto City Bus Management Center, subway stations, on any Kyoto City Bus, and select convenience stores, tourist information centers and accommodation in Kyoto. The page warns the pass may be sold out on the bus.

The city's bus guide lists the ways to pay on the bus as cash, a one-day ticket such as the Subway & Bus 1-Day Pass, an IC card (ICOCA, Suica, PASMO, PiTaPa) or other valid tickets, and says credit, debit and cash cards cannot be used. It also says "JAPAN RAIL PASS cannot be used" on the city bus.

Is the Kyoto bus pass worth it? The break-even

The city's English guide gives two fares to compare against the ¥1,100 (adult):

• City bus, flat fare zone: ¥230 per ride (children ¥120). The Sightseeing Limited Express Bus EX100 and EX101 are ¥500, listed separately.
• City subway: ¥220 to ¥360 per ride depending on distance (children ¥110 to ¥180).

Our arithmetic from those fares:

So the pass starts to win at about five rides, and the margin on a typical day is small. For a child (¥550), five bus rides at ¥120 are ¥600, which is ¥50 over the pass. The pass also carries discounts: the Bureau says that showing it on the day of use can bring discounts at museums, shops and other facilities. We have not added a value to those, because the pages we read do not give amounts.

If you plan to stay on the subway, the ¥800 subway pass is the one to compare: four rides at the ¥220 minimum cost ¥880. The ¥300 gap between the two passes (¥1,100 minus ¥800) is what the bus rights cost.

The bus-only pass is gone

The Bureau's Japanese notice is titled "バス1日券は令和5年9月末をもって発売を終了しました", which we read as: the Bus 1-Day Pass stopped selling at the end of September 2023. Its use ended on March 31, 2024 (the notice gives "令和6年3月31日"). The notice names the surviving ticket as the 地下鉄・バス1日券, the Subway & Bus 1-Day Pass.

The Bureau's Japanese notice gives the old bus-only price as ¥700 for adults. If a site still offers the bus-only pass, it is out of date.

Who this pass does not suit

• Walkers and one-area days. If you will take two or three rides, single fares are cheaper: three city bus rides are ¥690.
• Travelers heading to Mt. Hiei, Kurama or the airport by bus. The listed exclusions include the Hieizan line, route 95 and the Keihan Airport Shuttle Bus. Check the route before relying on the pass.
• Late-night riders. A separate fee applies on late-night buses.
• Holders of a JR pass who plan to use the pass on city buses. The city's pages say the JAPAN RAIL PASS cannot be used on its buses or the subway, so those rides need their own fare or this pass. For the national pass, see JR Pass price in 2026.
• Anyone who wants a phone ticket. The pages we read list only a magnetic stripe card.

Refunds: the overview page says a refund is available only if the pass has not been used, and a separate refund fee must be paid. It does not give the fee for this pass.

Planning the rest of the trip

To get to Kyoto, compare Tokyo to Kyoto by Shinkansen with a pass, then use this page for the days inside the city.

Sources

All checked on November 8, 2026.

• Kyoto City Bus & Subway Information Guide, Subway & Bus 1-Day Pass (price, validity, routes, where to buy): https://www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kotsu/webguide/en/ticket/regular_1day_card_comm.html
• Kyoto City Bus & Subway Information Guide, Taking the Kyoto City Bus (flat fare, ways to pay): https://www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kotsu/webguide/en/bus/howtoride_bus.html
• Kyoto City Bus & Subway Information Guide, Taking the Kyoto City Subway (subway fares, subway 1-day pass): https://www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kotsu/webguide/en/tika/howtoride_tika.html
• Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau, One Day Pass overview (price, refund, how to use): https://oneday-pass.kyoto/overview/?lang=en
• Kyoto City Transportation Bureau, notice on the end of the Bus 1-Day Pass (Japanese): https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kotsu/page/0000309762.html
• Kyoto City Transportation Bureau, Bus 1-Day Pass page (Japanese): https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kotsu/page/0000028337.html