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Should I get the JR Pass and which is the best day to activate it

briancheww
briancheww
over 8 years ago
1 response

Hi all,

My sister and I will be visiting Japan for 2 weeks in September 2015 and this is our itinerary in a nutshell. We are on a tight budget and would like to know if the JR pass is the best choice to travel cheaply (versus buying single trip tickets). If it is, which day shall we activate it to get the best bang for our bucks? :P

By the way, we have already booked the accommodation so the sequence of the itinerary can't be changed.

Day 1 - Arrive in Tokyo in the evening
Day 2 - Tokyo
Day 3 - Tokyo
Day 4 - Leave for Kyoto just before midnight by Willer Express bus
Day 5 - Arrive in Kyoto at dawn
Day 6 - Kyoto
Day 7 - Day trip to Nara (is an entire day too much? shall we visit Osaka too?)
Day 8 - Kyoto
Day 9 - Leave for Gifu in the afternoon
Day 10 - Day trip to Takayama and Shirakawago
Day 11 - Day trip to Kanazawa
Day 12 - Leave for Tokyo before noon
Day 13 - Day trip to Kamakura/Nikko/Hakone (we haven't decided which one yet)
Day 14 - Tokyo
Day 15 - Fly home in the morning

Regards
Brian

avatar
Daniel-san
18832 posts
over 8 years ago
Expert

Hello Brian,

Travel from Kyoto - Tokyo using the JR is alway pretty pricey but I see that you already have a bus booked for this part. From there the other expancive routes are Kyoto - Takayama (¥ 9,660) and travel to Tokyo (¥ 15,430). Now this does bring you close to the price of a 7 day JR Pass (¥ 29,100). So a bit more and you can make savings using the JR Pass. Making a day trip (especially Nikko) can make good on this, additionally you could use the JR Pass for either travel to the airport or a day trip to Nara.

Hope this helps,
Daniel


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