Hi, Unfortunately, a rail pass would not pay off for you without significant additions of side trips or day trips. You can see regular fares, routes and schedules on Hyperdia. http://www.hyperdia.com Good luck.
I used the website and it seems that during a 14 day period if I do the following trips it would be about break even to reserve my seats on the green rail: Narita airport/Toyoko ($40) to Takayama ($140-$200) to Kansai ($120 -$180) to Kyoto ($30-$40) to Toyko ($130-$180) = $460-$640. JR pass is $285/$570. Seems like the 14 day pass would pay off. Please advise if my calculations are correct. Thank you!
Hi Michelle, OK, let's look a the breakdown. I am using the website Hyperdia.com to calculate the lowest possible regular fares (adult, ordinary unreserved seat) that you could buy vs the pass. The 14 day ordinary pass is ¥46,390.
N'Ex to Tokyo: ¥ 3020 Tokyo to Takayama ¥13930 Takayama to KIX ¥11770 KIX to Kyoto ¥ 2850 Kyoto to Tokyo ¥13080
Total: ¥44650 Deficit:¥ 1760
So with the above, you are almost breaking even. Anything above that would be what you can save. You could make some excellent day trips from Kyoto to Nara, which is a must-see sight, plus Himeji for Japan's finest castle, and if you really wanted to get some huge savings, you could do a day trip to Hiroshima/Miyajima. And if you wanted, instead of activating your pass at Narita, you could use a cheap 1000 bus http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/ and use that extra day to take a day trip from Tokyo - there are many good places like Nikko, Karuizawa, Izu, or Kusatsu.
Just to be clear - you mentioned the 'green rail' which you originally didn't. Perhaps you mean the Green Seats instead of ordinary. In that case, the 14 day pass is ¥62,950, and your itinerary would be ¥66,710, so that would in fact pay off.
Tenjin, Thank you so much for the advise. I did mean the green seats not the green rail. If I don't activate the pass upon arrival where do you recommend activate the pass. Are there convenient places to activate it in Tokyo? Do I need to decide when I order the passes when they will be activated exactly or could I change my mind?
When you buy the exchange order before leaving for Japan, you don't have to state where or when you will exchange it for the pass. Please remember also that the day you activate it for counts as Day One - which starts and ends at midnight. So if you activate it to use it at 6 PM, your first "day" is just 6 hours long.
You can also exchange your order for the pass and designate a future date to start on it - so for example to start using your pass from the earliest train possible (sometimes departing before the office even opens) or to leave from another station where you can't exchange your order for the pass, you can set the first day as tomorrow, or 3 days from today, or whenever. Please note that the exchange order must be turned in for the pass within three months of the date the order was issued. So if you want to start using the pass in mid-Sept, you should not buy the exchange order until after the middle of June.
Also be aware that to go from Tokyo to Takayama takes a minimum of 4 hours. Some people are saying that Takayama is getting too touristy. If that is a concern for you, you might go visit Hida-Furuyama which is just 15 minutes away - it has much the same atmosphere but fewer people. The real gem of the area though is Shirakawago and Gokayama. You'd have to pay for the 50 minute bus ride (not covered by the pass) to Shirakawago; tickets are ¥4420 round trip. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5950.html Bon Voyage.
Comments
Unfortunately, a rail pass would not pay off for you without significant additions of side trips or day trips.
You can see regular fares, routes and schedules on Hyperdia.
http://www.hyperdia.com
Good luck.
OK, let's look a the breakdown. I am using the website Hyperdia.com to calculate the lowest possible regular fares (adult, ordinary unreserved seat) that you could buy vs the pass. The 14 day ordinary pass is ¥46,390.
N'Ex to Tokyo: ¥ 3020
Tokyo to Takayama ¥13930
Takayama to KIX ¥11770
KIX to Kyoto ¥ 2850
Kyoto to Tokyo ¥13080
Total: ¥44650
Deficit:¥ 1760
So with the above, you are almost breaking even. Anything above that would be what you can save. You could make some excellent day trips from Kyoto to Nara, which is a must-see sight, plus Himeji for Japan's finest castle, and if you really wanted to get some huge savings, you could do a day trip to Hiroshima/Miyajima.
And if you wanted, instead of activating your pass at Narita, you could use a cheap 1000 bus
http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/
and use that extra day to take a day trip from Tokyo - there are many good places like Nikko, Karuizawa, Izu, or Kusatsu.
Just to be clear - you mentioned the 'green rail' which you originally didn't. Perhaps you mean the Green Seats instead of ordinary. In that case, the 14 day pass is ¥62,950, and your itinerary would be ¥66,710, so that would in fact pay off.
Thank you so much for the advise. I did mean the green seats not the green rail. If I don't activate the pass upon arrival where do you recommend activate the pass. Are there convenient places to activate it in Tokyo? Do I need to decide when I order the passes when they will be activated exactly or could I change my mind?
The complete list of offices is at:
http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/exchange.html
When you buy the exchange order before leaving for Japan, you don't have to state where or when you will exchange it for the pass. Please remember also that the day you activate it for counts as Day One - which starts and ends at midnight. So if you activate it to use it at 6 PM, your first "day" is just 6 hours long.
You can also exchange your order for the pass and designate a future date to start on it - so for example to start using your pass from the earliest train possible (sometimes departing before the office even opens) or to leave from another station where you can't exchange your order for the pass, you can set the first day as tomorrow, or 3 days from today, or whenever. Please note that the exchange order must be turned in for the pass within three months of the date the order was issued. So if you want to start using the pass in mid-Sept, you should not buy the exchange order until after the middle of June.
Also be aware that to go from Tokyo to Takayama takes a minimum of 4 hours. Some people are saying that Takayama is getting too touristy.
If that is a concern for you, you might go visit Hida-Furuyama which is just 15 minutes away - it has much the same atmosphere but fewer people. The real gem of the area though is Shirakawago and Gokayama. You'd have to pay for the 50 minute bus ride (not covered by the pass) to Shirakawago; tickets are ¥4420 round trip.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5950.html
Bon Voyage.