Hi!
My friend and I are travelling in the Chubu region of Japan from 5-18 April and we are getting a little confused with the barrage of information online regarding the transportation - hoping to seek some help from here please :)
Here's our rough itinerary:
5 Apr: half day Tokyo, travel to Lake Kawaguchiko via bus (we believe this is not covered in JR pass)
6 Apr: Explore Lake Kawaguchiko (buses not covered in JR pass either?)
7 Apr: Explore Lake Kawaguchiko and travel to Matsumoto
8 Apr: Explore Matsumoto (JR city buses covered by JR pass, but not tourist Town Sneakers?)
9 Apr: Travel to Azumino and explore before travelling to Kiso Valley
10 Apr: Explore Kiso Valley (JR Chuo line covered by JR pass)
11 Apr: Explore Kiso Valley and travel to Kanazawa
12 - 14 April: Explore Kanazawa
15 April: Travel to Tokyo
16 - 18 April: Explore Tokyo (possibly a day trip on 16th to Yamanouchi to see the monkeys)
I guess our questions would be - would it be more cost-efficient to use a 7-day or 14-day pass, or other kinds of JR passes to (a) travel from one place to another and (b) explore each place (Lake Kawaguchiko, Matsumoto, Azumino, Kiso Valley, Kanazawa, Tokyo) with the local transport?
Particularly, Tokyo where there are so many other subway lines - would it be more cost-efficient to use the JR pass or just the ordinary ICOCA or SUICA cards?
Apologies in advance for so many questions! Really hoping to get some advice as we are getting very fuzzy about this! :S
Thanks a mil :)