Hi I was looking for some help with deciding on my rail pass. Im not sure if I benefit more from a 7 day pass or a 14 day pass.
I arrive in toyko and will stay 4 days, I believe I could use a local pass for this? and I hope to make a day trip to Nikko also from toyko during these days.
I then want to travel to Kyoto. I will spend 5 days here. And will include a trip to Nara, an evening in Oskara and an evening maybe in Kobe.
Then onto Hiroshima for an night and an night on Miyjama Island.
I will travel back to Hakone for one night and from here back to Tokyo.
Can you give me any recommendations on which pass benefits me most? or if you think I need to amend some of my itinery.
Thank you .
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Comments
You can make both a 14 and 7 day pass pay off, although you'd get much better savings using the 7 day pass.
But from the above, it looks like you're traveling more than 7 days. So you'd need to either cut the trip by a day, or pay for a regular ticket from Hakone to Tokyo. It's up to you.
If you want to cut out a day, you can see both Hiroshima and Miyajima with an early morning start. You can cover the Peace Park/Museum, castle, Shukkeien Garden and Okonomiyaki-mura, and then go down to take the JR ferry to the island. Aside from the Itsukushima Shrine with the giant "floating" torii, the Daishoin Temple is also a must-see place. There are several other pagodas and temples, and climbing Mt. Misen offers a fantastic view over the island and whole area.
Be sure to take a walk around in the evening - once the day trippers leave, the whole island becomes a lot more tranquil and relaxing.
For Hakone, you can save money on a Hakone Free Pass from Odawara.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html
The Loop Course is a common way to see all the sights and takes a full day.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5210.html
You can see previews of some of the best places to see in Japan on:
https://www.youtube.com/user/thejapanfaq/videos
Hope that helps.
Alternatively, there is also the Kuroshio Ltd Express from Shin-Osaka, or you can take a 5 minute ride to Osaka Stn and ride the Loop Line to Tennoji. The best way depends on your timing.
You can take JR the whole way.