Most of the attractions in Kanazawa are not too far away from each other and Kanazawa Station. That said, it will take around 20 to 30 minutes to move from one main attraction to another most of the time. Unless you really like walking or prefer to travel by rental bicycle, we highly recommend you utilize the regular bus services that depart from JR Kanazawa Station.
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Traveling by Bus in Kanazawa
There are a couple of different bus services that you can utilize. Apart from the regular bus services operating by JR or Hokutetsu (北鉄), below are a few tourist bus services that can suit your schedule better.
Kanazawa Loop Bus (城下まち金沢周遊バス)
- There are two types of loop buses, the Right Loop Bus and the Left Loop Bus. Both routes go through exactly the same stops but in different directions.
- Both routes depart from JR Kanazawa Station’s east exit bus stop no. 6 every 15 minutes.
- For the timetable of the services, please refer to the official brochure on Hokutetsu Railroad’s website HERE.
- If you are looking to take the bus more than 3 times a day, consider purchasing the One-Day Pass, which gives you unlimited bus rides for the day and discounts at participating facilities.
Kanazawa Light-up Bus (金沢ライトアップバス)
- The service runs on a 15-minute interval from 7 pm to 9:45 pm departing from JR Kanazawa Station’s east exit’s bus stop no. 6.
- The bus fare is slightly higher for this service
- 300 yen for adults
- 50 yen for elementary school students
- You can also purchase a Kanazawa Light-up Bus Pass for 500 yen (250 yen for elementary school students) from Hokutetsu Ekimae Center / Honkutetsu Bus ticket office (北鉄駅前センター) close to the station’s east exit’s bus stop no. 1.
- This special bus service only operates every Saturday. Currently, there is no English website for this service, so please refer to Hokutetsu’s Japanese website HERE for the timetable. You can translate it using Google Chrome’s translation function at the right of the address bar.
- Kanazawa Light-up Bus also has Special Service Day (特別運行日) that runs on a few days other than Saturdays.
Machi-Bus (まちバス)
- The service only operates on weekends and public holidays.
- The blue bus is a cheaper option to get to the main attractions in Kanazawa city center. It only costs
- 100 yen per ride for adults
- 50 yen for elementary school students
- If you are accompanying more than one preschool child, the first child will be free, but from the second child, it will be 50 yen per child onwards.
- Instead of paying by cash, you can also use rechargeable transportation cards such as Suica.
- This service departs from JR Kanazawa Station’s east exit bus stop no. 5.
- From 9:40 am to 5:40 pm, the service departs from JR Kanazawa Station at a 20 minutes interval.
- From 6 pm to 8 pm, it departs from JR Kanazawa Station at a 30-minute interval.
- If you can read Japanese, you can refer to their official website HERE.
Traveling by Kanazawa City’s Rental Bicycle
In Kanazawa, there are many rental bicycle ports around all of its popular tourist spots. Utilizing the bicycles at those ports is easy. You can either get a card key when you get to Kanazawa or purchase a passcode from the city’s Machinori website HERE, which is a bit cheaper!
Important: Please note, as a One-Day Pass holder, you will need to return the rental bicycle by 23:59.
Discover the Fascinating Attractions in Kanazawa City
Now you know how to travel between the attractions in Kanazawa, it is now time to select a couple of spots to visit on the day. The city has many attractions you won’t want to miss out on.
Refer to our Kanazawa article for information about our recommended spots in Kanazawa, including where to meet the Geishas and an amazing art museum!
