Help with planned itinerary and JR pass... 7 day or 14 day?

Hi there,

I agree using a 14 day JR Pass, there's no regional pass that includes Tokyo - Kyoto using the Tokaido Shinkansen and this is by far the easier option and will not only save you money but also a considerable amount of time (compared to using a regional pass).

Your plan itself looks good. I would however to these cities in the following Kyoto - Kobe - Hiroshima - Osaka - Tokyo. This because the route Hiroshima - Tokyo is a long one and Osaka is a natural stop-over. You'll save a bit of travel time this way and don't have to be sitting in the train for half a day going from Hiroshima - Tokyo in one go.

For luggage, I recommend packing light but you can take your suitcase with you on the Shinkansen without problem :) It's just a matter whether you want to be carrying it around all day. Japan has plenty of luggage forwarding options too, so you can use that too but these will cost 900-1500 yen per luggage item.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Thanks for this information - all very helpful.

Regarding your suggested route, do you mean when I first fly into Tokyo, I should go straight to Kyoto and then spend my last 3 to 4 days in Tokyo?

Or do you mean that I should still spend my first few days in Tokyo, then go to Kyoto and follow your suggested route (Kobe-Hiroshima, etc.)?

Thanks again.

Also, do you think I will also need to buy local transportation tickets for the cities I will be visiting? Or will having the JR Pass be enough? Would I still need a Suica or Pasmo?

For Tokyo, you could either do at the start or end of your trip. I think it would make sense to put it near the end as you can do your shopping then and would not have to carry it all with you across Japan.

For Suica, it is always a good idea to carry one. You can use it to pay nearly everywhere not just for your train tickets but also in the convenience store, vending machine etc.

Thanks so much, Daniel-san!

Daniel-san, from looking at my itinerary, which places/what areas/day trips can you foresee that I won't be able to use the JR pass? Ie. ferries, boats, buses, etc.? Will those be covered by the JR pass?

I am assuming I will need to purchase a 48-hr or 72-hr Tokyo Metro Pass for my few days in Tokyo and that would be separate since the JR Pass doesn't work on the local trains?

Also, same for Hiroshima since I read that they use mainly the tram system which is local. So I will need to use an IC card there. Can you confirm?

How about for Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe? Do you see that I will need to do something similar for those cities?

Thanks again.

Hi again,

Sorry for the delay in response, it's been super busy here. As far as I can see, all travel is included between the cities you plan to visit. It may only be that locally that you'd need a bit of extra travel, like a local bus.

The JR Pass does work on the local JR Network in Tokyo as well, the Tokyo Metro however is not included. The same applies in other cities, local JR lines are covered but you may still need local transport. It depends of course what you visit in each city.

Just get a Suica card, that will get you to other places.

Hi Daniel,

If I wanted to include Takayama as a stop in my itinerary and given your suggested itinerary/route above, where would be the best time/place for me to fit it in? What would be your suggestion?

Thanks!

Hi again,

The best option would be to do it between Tokyo - Kyoto but it would add a big amount of travel. time.