Hi Japan Experience,
My husband and I are planning our Japan trip (April 2016) and I'm trying to determine whether a standard JR Pass will cover our itinerary and if it's the best option for us. Any help would be much appreciated! We're having a hard time figuring it out on our own.
Here is our basic itinerary:
April 7-9: Tokyo (Shibuya) - Side trip: Mitaka (Ghibli Museum)
April 9-11: Takayama - Side trip: "Gattan Go!!" in Kamioka
April 11-14: Kyoto - Side trips: Still planning
April 14-16: Tokyo (Edogawa): Side trip: DisneySea
So we basically need to get from Tokyo --> Takayama --> Kyoto --> Tokyo, but it'd also be nice if we could use our passes to accomplish our side trips.
Thank you in advance for your thoughts.
Comments
The best pass for your itinerary would be the national Japan Rail Pass for 7 days. The best thing would be to activate it for your first day of travel between cities on the 9th April. This way the pass would still be valid for your journey back to Tokyo.
For travel within Tokyo the best thing to use is the Pasmo card, this is a pre-paid top-up card. This card can also be used in other major cities such as Kyoto. This will also cover your travel to the stations for Ghibli Museum and Disney Sea.
Hope this helps.
Best regards
Japan Experience