A friend and I are travelling to Japan at the end of March and are trying to find out our best options regarding a train pass. We are planning the following:
Day 1: arrive at Narita Airport
Days 2/3 - Tokyo
Day 4 - train to Hiroshima
Day 5 - train to Kyoto
Days 6/7/8 - Kyoto, incl day trip to Nara
Day 9 - train to Hakone
Day 10 - Hakone
Day 11 - Train to Tokyo
Day 12 - fly out of Narita airport
We aren't sure whether we are better off with a 14 day pass and then all of our travel is covered, or whether to get a 7 day pass and activate it when we leave Tokyo, and then get a Hakone Free Pass and Tokyo travel card for the remaining days. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Comments
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html
To get from Hakone back to Tokyo, you can just buy the regular fare bullet train ticket (¥3280) that takes 35 minutes, or if you want to save money, there is a regular train that's ¥1520 and takes 85 minutes.
There are cheap ways to/from Narita as well, like the Access Narita bus from Tokyo Stn or Ginza.
http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/
Plus there are good 48 & 72-hour Tokyo subway passes.
https://is.gd/WoFeIw
You can see regular fares, routes and schedules on Hyperdia.
http://www.hyperdia.com
Under "More Options", be sure to uncheck the Nozomi box since you can't ride that train using the pass.
Also, you can look at some previews of some of the best places to see in Japan on:
https://www.youtube.com/user/thejapanfaq/videos
There are also loads of other tips on
http://www.thejapanfaq.com/the-best-japan-travel-tips/
Best regards.
This is so useful, thank you. I hadn't realised that you can't use the JR Pass in Hakone. Thanks so much!