Narita - Hakuba using JR Pass?

Hi There,

Good question! There are a couple of ways to get to Hakuba from Narita Airport.

The one you mention is one of them where you can use the JR Pass to travel all the way to Nagano withing having to pay anything extra (including the way back if you return within the validity period of the JR Pass). From Nagano you can than take the bus and travel to Hakuba for about 1,800 Yen.

However you can also use the JR Pass to travel all the way to Hakuba and saving the bus fare.
This route is somewhat different than to Nagano, instead you travel from Tokyo to Matsumoto (worth a visit by itself) and from there on by local or limited express train to Hakuba. This route will take about 4-5 hours which is about 1 hour longer than the route via Nagano but you do save the bus fare.

Here is the full route in Hyperdia by limited express train.

I hope this helps,
Daniel

Ok thats great, thanks for the info ill have a look into that.

Just out of interest though, how much would the train fare be from Narita to Nagano so that I can work out if it would be cheaper to get single fares or a JR Pass?

Thanks again.

Hi Again,

The Fare from Narita Airport is ¥ 10,980 for one way if you travel via Matsumoto and can be a little more if you travel via Tokyo.

or ¥ 10,280 + ¥ 1,800 if you travel via Nagano and take the bus from there.