Order Your JRPass
Back to General Japan Travel

Complete JR Pass Noob, Please Help!!

DonnaMarie87
DonnaMarie87
over 9 years ago
2 responses

Hi Everyone :)

Myself and my partner are travelling to Japan in February 2015 and will be staying for 2 weeks. We will be landing in Narita and have a hotel booked to stay in Akihabara. My question is:

I have been told my different people many different things, some people have told me to just get a Suica card and then top it up whilst I am there, and that I don't have to book any train tickets (I can just hop on and go). Others have told me to get a JR Rail Pass as this would be more beneficial and means I can travel on any JR line as many times as I like within our 2 week stay.

Whilst we are in Akihabara, we are planning to Visit Osaka for one of the weekends we are there, we know we need to get the Shinkansen to do this (as it's faster) we would also be looking to visit Ueno park, Shinjuku, Tokyo and possibly Tokyo Disney Land. I assume to make the best of the JR Rail Pass, we would have to plan to travel quite a few times on the train.

SO! Can someone please tell me, in their own opinion, which would would benefit us more?
The Suica card (which we can top up, as and when)
The JR Rail Pass - Providing that we use the train enough times.

Thanks Everyone!
Donna

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
over 9 years ago
Expert

Hi Donne,

Welcome to the forum! I can certainly help you with here.

The JR Pass is best used when travelling between different regions in Japan. In the above itinerary this would be travel between Tokyo - Osaka and I would advise the 7 day JR Pass here. The 7 day pass is about the same price as a normal return ticket Tokyo - Osaka on the Shinkansen, with the JR Pass you can 7 days of unlimited travel for the same price. You can for instance also use the JR Pass for local travel on the JR in Tokyo and Osaka but is also great for making day trips.

With the JR Pass you would have covered your travel for one week in Japan. You could get a Suica card for the other week. The Suica card is basically a prepaid travel card, which takes the need for buying tickets away.

Hope this helps!
Daniel

DonnaMarie87
DonnaMarie87
2 posts
over 9 years ago

Hi Daniel-san,

Great, this information has been really helpful, so thank you very much :)

I will speak with my partner and then make a decision on which week we want
to get a JR pass for and which week we should get the Suica card for.

Thanks very much!
Donna

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
over 9 years ago
Expert

Hi Donna!

Great! Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with in the meantime!
Daniel


Looking for more information? Search the forum

Select Category

Instant Quote

Starting from £269.00 for 7 days of unlimited Japan Rail travel

Can’t find the answer?

Learn from over 17329 questions about the Japan Rail Pass, or ask our Japan Rail travel experts

Ask Question

Get pocket Wifi in Japan

Get pocket Wifi in Japan

Visit us on Facebook

Get inspired for your visit to Japan by following us on Instagram and don't forget your own shots once you are there.


Find out where to buy the japan rail pass online.

Order your JRPass Now!

We have special prices for children and great first class options. See all tickets or see our range of Regional Passes