Types of JR Pass to purchase

Hello there,

The best option for your itinerary is a 14 day JR pass. You can best start using it when traveling from Kyoto - Hiroshima. From there the JR Pass covers travel between all of the places you want to visit using the Shinkansen and can also be used for travel within cities on the JR Network such as Tokyo and Osaka.

I would also suggest making a day trip or even two from Tokyo, since you have 8 days there. Which is plenty of time to just get that extra bit of both the JR Pass and your visit to Japan!

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Thanks very much for your response Daniel-san

So I understand from your response that JR Pass would be cost effective when I am gonna start using it from Kyoto - Hiroshima. Therefore, I would need to buy seperate regional tickets for my 4 stays in Kyoto.

How about in Tokyo? Will the JR Pass cover most of the lines? or I would need another type of ticket to buy?

Also, you suggested to make a one/two day trip from Tokyo. What do you mean by a "day trip" and what other places would you recommend to visit outside Tokyo ?

Last question. Would I need to reserve my seats in this time of the year or it would be fine if I did not.

p.s, In addition to HyperDia. I found also google map to be really helpful in planning my train travel routes and locating nearest station to my hotel.

Thanks again.

Hi again!

The JR Pass does cover all JR lines in Tokyo. These are enough to see most major sights. Sometimes you may still need other transport such as the metro though.

With a day trip I do indeed mean a trip outside of Tokyo. My number one recommendation to visit outside of Tokyo is Nikko it is perfect for a day trip and I am sure that ytou'll be impressed by it.

You don't need to reserve days in advance but it is just nice to have seat reservations and know where you'll be seated. You can make seat reservations just before departure.

I am aware of Google Maps, unfortunately you can't specify "JR Pass only" trains, which can make planning a bit harder.

Hope this helps too :)
Daniel