Here is my itinerary:
Day 1 - arrive at Narita airport, Limousine Bus into Tokyo (bought voucher on japan-rail-pass.com)
Day 2, 3, 4 - explore around Tokyo using Tokyo Metro 3-day unlimited pass (will purchase at Narita airport)
Day 5 - day trip to nearby Kamakura (will pay out of pocket for transportation)
Day 6 - activate JR national 7-day pass (bought voucher on japan-rail-pass.com), travel to Kyoto
Day 7,8 - explore Kyoto (I will have an activated JR Pass, should this cover most of my Kyoto travel? Or is a unlimited pass available similar to the Tokyo Metro unlimited pass?)
Day 9 - travel to Hiroshima, ferry to Miyajima
Day 10 - travel back to Tokyo
Day 11 - explore Tokyo using Tokyo Metro 1-day unlimited pass (will purchase at Narita airport)
Day 12 - take the Narita Express to airport (with last active day of JR Pass)
Does this look like the most cost effective way to travel?
Any areas where I could save a few dollars? Or has my planning pretty much covered the cheapest way to make this trip?
Thanks for any comments!
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Comments
Yes this looks like the best and cheapest way to use the JR Pass for your journeys. For the travel in Kyoto it is like Tokyo so you would need to pay separately for this. There is a pre-paid top-up card that you can use for this called a Pasmo card. You can use this on the Tokyo Metro, and other local transport in both Tokyo and Kyoto. This may work out cheaper that the unlimited 3 day passes. You can find more information on the Pasmo card here: https://www.japan-rail-pass.com/services/pasmocard.
You can get an idea of the cost of the fares using a Pasmo card on the Tokyo Metro website: http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/search/index.php
Hope that helps.
Best regards
Japan Experience