We are visiting Japan for the first time in November, to spend some time with my son who lives and works in Tokyo but also at the same time to experience a small part of the country. While in Tokyo we will consider a couple one day trips eg My Fuji, Nikko or Hakone. Looking at our schedule please advise on the best form of rail card during this period.
11th - 16th Nov Tokyo (Nirata) (limousine bus from airport to hotel)
16th - 18th Nov Kanazawa
18th – 19th Nov Osaka
19th – 21st Nov Koyoto
21st – 23rd Nov Hiroshima
23rd – 25th Nov Tokyo (Narita)
Many thanks for any help. Paul S
0
Comments
It looks like a 14-day JR Pass would be in order, activated from the 12th. Although, I'll have to say the savings are not that good - a few thousand yen.
Personally, I know I could save more money by just buying the 7 day JR Pass (16th-22nd) and then taking the bus to Hiroshima Airport and flying to Haneda with ANA or JAL discount fares.
http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/wws_common/promotions/share/experience_jp/
https://www.jal.co.jp/en/
I wholeheartedly recommend looking into it.
If you want to save the most money, the sensible thing to do would be to cut a day off of your trip plans to leave and return to Tokyo within a week. Then you only need to pay for a 7 day pass. Since you are already seeing Tokyo, you can largely skip Osaka anyways which is just a clone. Keep a day to see the Osaka sights, and for the sights that are best in the evening, like Dotonbori, the Umeda Sky Bldg and Abeno Harukas Bldg, go after from 5 PM after seeing the sights of Kyoto.
If you want to see the Mt Fuji area, then Hakone is a good choice. A Hakone Free Pass can save you some money.
http://www.odakyu.jp/english/deels/freepass/hakone/
For Nikko, there is the Tobu Nikko Free Pass:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_002.html
For getting around Tokyo, a subway day pass is a great way to save money - it's pretty easy to get your money's worth and you can ride to your heart's content:
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/value/travel/index.html#anc03
And the cheapest way to and from Narita is the 1000 yen bus:
http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/