Which pass should I get?

Katherine

Hi there, this is my first time to Japan and I would like to ask which pass should I get for my trip?

Day 1 to 4 Tokyo
Day 5 I would like to take Nozomi to Kyoto
Day 7 Nara 1 Day trip from Kyoto
Day 8 From Kyoto to Osaka
Day 10 Back to Tokyo from Osaka

Thanks & hope to hear from you soon.

Regards,
Katherine

japanexperience

Hi Katherine

The 7 day JR Pass would be best for your trip. You can activate the pass for the first day when you travel to Kyoto. Unfortunately you cannot take the Nozomi shinkansen with this pass, but you can use the Hikari shinkansen to Kyoto and back to Tokyo.

You can use this website, www.hyperdia.com, to see the train fares and schedules. To be sure you can use the JR Pass on the journeys you need to un-tick the box for Nozomi and private railways. This should give you the routes you can use your JR Pass on.

Hope that helps

Best regards

Japan Experience

Katherine

Thanks for the reply!!

nzbraughton

Not sure if this is the right place to enter into a discussion, but I couldn't figure out how to add a discussion. Here are my questions: We are traveling in Japan for 17 days and trying to decide whether we should get the 14 day JRP or the 21 day. Here is our itinerary: Tokyo (5) days; Ibaraki (2) days, Kanazawa (3) days; Shirikawago (1) day; Takayama (1) day; Osaka (2) days; Kyoto (3) days. We will be using local transportation within the cities. Second question. Is it better to get a SIM card or a pocket wifi? Thank you!

japanexperience

Dear NZBRAUGHTON

If you are flying out of Kyoto it maybe best to get the 14 day pass as the JR Pass cannot be use on the Tokyo Metro, so it would be best to activate it on your first long journey to Obaraki. You can use a pre-paid top-up card called a Pasmo card for the journeys within the cities. This card can be used on the Tokyo Metro and local transport within other large cities.

Hyperdia is very convenient to calculate if a Japan Rail Pass is worth buying in your case and to know which length is most cost-effective for your travel.

Please visit hyperdia.com:

- In search conditions, write the departure and arrival location (day and time does not really matter)
- The search will provide you the fare for this travel (check "total price" under "take time")
- Do the same for all your trips by train.
- Just compare with the price of a Japan Rail Pass 7, 14 or 21 days by checking the price here : http://www.japan-rail-pass.com/jr-pass

You want to be sure you can access to the trains for free with a Japan Rail Pass :
- In “search details”, unclick “Nozomi, Mizuho, Hayabusa Shinkansen” and “private railway”.
- The search result will show you all the trains you can access with a Japan Rail Pass.


Hope that helps.

Best regards

Japan Experience.