Hi, we will be travelling to Japan in October. We will be staying in Tokyo for 6 nights and doing day trips to Nikko and Mt Fuji. We will then be travelling to Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nagoya, Matsumoto, Nagano, Koro
be Gorge, Tateyama Alpine route, Kanazawa and Takayama over 14 days. We will then return to Tokyo for a couple of days and return home. What is the best JR pass for us -14 day or 21 day and is there any reason to buy the green pass?
0
Comments
The question is really if you can fit in all your travels within 14 days - it is possible but it's really packing it in and unless you are used to a fast travel pace, I would suggest using the 21 day pass and doing things a bit more leisurely.
If you find yourself pressed, you can safely skip Nagoya since it's one of the least interesting big cities.
And since you are already seeing Tokyo, you can largely skip Osaka during the day. After the temples of Kyoto close down around 5PM, you can zip over to Osaka for the evening. At night the city comes alive and has some great places to see, such as Dotonbori, plus the night views from the Umeda Sky Bldg and Abeno Harukas Bldg are wonderful.
On another evening, you could also go and see Kobe.
Instead, I suggest you take at least half a day and see Nara - it was also a former capital and has some of Japan's best sights. Nara is often neglected by some tourists, which is a shame. Missing the Todaiji Great Buddha would be a tragedy. Nara Park has a lot of other great places, such as Kasuga Shrine, Kofukuji Temple, and feeding the many deer in the area.
For the Fuji area, you'll need to decide if you'd prefer to go see the Hakone area or the Fuji 5 Lakes area.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6900.html
One of the Odakyu passes might help you save money.
http://www.odakyu.jp/english/deels/
Within Tokyo, a 2-3 day subway day pass can help too.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/value/travel/index.html#anc03
You can see regular fares, routes and schedules on Hyperdia.
http://www.hyperdia.com
You can see previews of some of the best places to see in Japan on:
https://www.youtube.com/user/thejapanfaq/videos