Hello, I am travelling soon to Japan to Tokyo but I will be going to Kyoto and Nara. What is the rail pass that I should get to be able to travel from one city to the next then back to Tokyo and within Tokyo.
You don't say how long you plan to be in Kyoto & Nara. If more than 7 days, no JR Pass would pay off for you unless you added more travel. If 7 days or less, you could get a 7 day pass but you'd still end up slightly short of breaking even. If you took the Narita Express just once though, for example, or a day trip to Himeji (with Japan's grandest castle) you'd be over the top. You could also use the full JR Pass on JR lines like the Yamanote line within Tokyo as well as the Osaka Loop line in Osaka. They go to some but perhaps not all the places in the city you'd like to see. Being short distance though, they wouldn't add much savings. Alternatively, there is the japanican discount ticket. http://www.japanican.com/en/tour/detail/VJOPENTK1/ http://www.japanican.com/en/tour/detail/VJOPENTO1/ With this ticket, it's much cheaper and you can take the fastest Nozomi train, saving you 30 minutes each way. Plus you get 1 free day of local transport. But you can't go beyond Osaka or Kyoto with it, nor stop off in between. But even paying the regular to Nara etc it still comes up cheaper. So, up to you.
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Alternatively, there is the japanican discount ticket.
http://www.japanican.com/en/tour/detail/VJOPENTK1/
http://www.japanican.com/en/tour/detail/VJOPENTO1/
With this ticket, it's much cheaper and you can take the fastest Nozomi train, saving you 30 minutes each way. Plus you get 1 free day of local transport. But you can't go beyond Osaka or Kyoto with it, nor stop off in between. But even paying the regular to Nara etc it still comes up cheaper. So, up to you.