21 day pass

Hi there,

How you'll go to Sapporo is the main question to answer here. Both Air and Rail have their own good and bad points. Flight ticket prices also change by the day, so given a 1-on-1 comparison is hard.

For the Shinkansen, you get on the train in the middle of Tokyo, sit back and enjoy the journey and arrive in the middle of Sapporo. The downside is that the full routes take about 7 hours. Also, you can use the JR Pass, which makes the route very cost efficient. There are also no extra fees for luggage etc.

Air travel is marginally faster but you need to go to the airport, go through all procedures. Then the same as you arrive and use transport into Sapporo.

Personally, I'm a bit of a train buff and would like the train any day but know others who would prefer flying. The best advice I can give you is writing both options out and decide which you prefer.

When it comes to the JR Pass, a normal return ticket Tokyo - Sapporo is about 48.000yen this alone is already more than the price of a 14 day JR Pass, so you'd get very good value for money. Add all your other travel and it is a no-brainer for me :)

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Train it is!!! Seeing how the pass is 21 days and I’m there 28 what do you advise.

I would look at using a 7 day Japan Rail Pass and start using it on the 2nd of April, when you travel to Kyoto. The pass is then valid up to and including the 22nd of April. This would allow you to do all your intercity travel and also a day trip from Tokyo. Local travel within Tokyo does not cost as much and you could just buy day tickets there.