Japon
Have a question ?
Use our forum

Using Sanyo San'in Area pass for this itinerary

HI!
My husband and I will be starting a 6-day train trip from Kyoto on Sept. 22. Here is our plan:

22: Kyoto to Miyazu on Ltd. Exp. Hashidate 3

23: Miyazu to Tottori on
(1) Ltd. Exp Hashidate and Kyoto Tango Railway to Toyooka then (2) the San-in Line from Toyooka to Tottori

24: Tottori to Yasugi on Ltd. Exp. Super Oki 5

26: Yasugi to Hiroshima on
(1) Ltd. Exp Yakumo 15 then (2) Shinkansen Nozomi 29

27: Hisroshima to Osaka on Shinkansen Sakwa 552
and the bus to the airport.

I used the HyperDia website to find these trains. How accurate is this site for times and tracks?

Is the Sanyo San'in Area pass the best for our trip? I understand that it will NOT cover the leg from Miyazu to Tottori on the Kyoto Tango Railway. Are their any other legs that will not be covered by this pass?

When and where do we make our train and seat reservations?
Thanks for your attention.

Comments

  • Hi,
    The only other alternatives I can think of are using a Kansai Wide Pass
    https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_sanin.html
    and the Sanin Okayama Area Pass.
    https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_sanin.html
    You'd then need to pay for the leg between Hiroshima & Okayama (5500 yen, adult unreserved seat). In total it comes to 19,000 yen, the same cost as the Sanyo Sanin Area Pass.

    Alternatively, you can use the Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass with the Sanin Okayama Area Pass.
    https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_kansai_hiroshima.html
    Same cost, and again, everything is covered. And you don't waste time buying tickets like above. The only caveat is that you would have to stop in Tottori to activate your Sanin Okayama Area Pass.
    I'm not sure why you mention taking a bus to KIX - you can simply go from Hiroshima to Shin-Osaka, then catch the Haruka Ltd Express going to KIX.

    Hyperdia is very accurate and reliable. You can make seat reservations at any JR office with the Sanyo Sanin Area Pass. But reserved seats are not available with the other passes I mentioned above, and prohibitively expensive if you want to try to pay for them.

    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.
  • Thanks very much for your helpful suggestions, especially about the Haruka Ltd to KIX.
    We have decided to get 2 area passes, the Kansai Wide Area pass for 5 days, which will cover our route for 9/22 and 9/23, and the Sanyo San'in Area pass for 7 days, which will cover our route from 9/24 to our departure on 9/27. It seems that all of our destinations are actually covered by these two passes.

    We will go without seat reservations on 9/22 and 9/23 but will be able to reserve seats at the JR West Station for the rest of our journey.

    I assume that we can activate both passes in Kyoto on the 22nd since both include that city and we are only traveling for 6 days. Am I right?

    Thanks again. We are really looking forward to this trip!
    Sarah Brewster
  • Oh! I just read a footnote here that says we "cannot purchase the PASS whose dates of use are the same as those of the one you have already purchased." Does that mean I cannot buy both the passes I need --the dates will overlap.
  • Hi,
    Yes, you can buy the 2 passes as you mentioned, since they are not the same type of pass. The only place I could find the sentence you quoted is on japanrailpass.net, but they are talking about the full nationwide JR Pass. If you want the official JR West pages on the passes you want, they are at:
    https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/kansai_wide/
    https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/sanyo_sanin/

    But if you use the Sanyo San'in Area pass then the Kansai Wide Area pass is redundant and unnecessary, except for the missing JR leg & Kyoto Tango Railway portion. I mistook the Wide Area Pass link in my previous post; it should be:
    https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_08.html

    The fare for the gap is about ¥4400-6000 (depending on type of train) vs the ¥9000 for the Kansai Wide Pass, making it much cheaper. But if you just want to get the pass for its convenience and simplicity, that is up to you.
Sign In or Register to comment.