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Wich Japan rail pass to use please and its validity ?

gerald
gerald
about 10 years ago
5 responses

We will arrived, me and my wife in Narita on April 5th 2014 and stay in Tokyo for a four nights stay .
We will take a bus ride to go to Tokyo
Then leave for Hiroshima by train for a three nights stay ( we also plan going to Miyajima for a day by train and get back for the night to Hiroshima ).
Afterward we will move to Kyoto for a six nights stay where we wish to go about the city and Nara , Kobe, Osaka and around . We eventually go for one night stay in Osaka before leaving Japan .
Does this itinary makes sense or would you suggest differently . We are a senior couple may I add wishing to see as much as possible but traveling as little as possible .
Wich Rail Pass would be best to use may I ask ?

Furthermore could we used such a Pass to go to Miho Museum or just a local one . This great museum is really a must -see for us .
Also would a simple one way ticket be ok to go to Osaka for our last day?

Thank you so much in advance for your answers . We will by our passes according to your informations .
Gerald

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
about 10 years ago
Expert

Hi Gerald,

I think your itinerary looks fine - the longest trip is from Tokyo - Hiroshima but after that you will have most of your travel behind you. I would suggest a 7 day JR Pass for your travels and use it for your travel Tokyo - Hiroshima - Kyoto and try to use it for as much as you can later on.

It is possible to reach the Miho Museum but using a combination of train and bus. The train part is covered by the JR Pass, so you'd just have to pay the bus driver the bus fare.

Here is more information on how to access the museum:
http://www.miho.or.jp/english/inform/tpaccess.htm

Lastly a single ticket for your travel to Osaka is perfectly fine!

Hope this helps!
Daniel

gerald
gerald
5 posts
about 10 years ago

Dear Daniel -san : Thank you so much for your kind reply . Indeed it made us confident that we came up with a fairly good sketch of a trip .
Your infos on Miho are also much welcome may we add . We see trough your answers on so many questions that you are very much knowledgable regarding Japan and how to travel about it .
May we ask you more ?
Wich train station from Tokyo all the way to Hiroshima ?

Is it possible with a JR pass to go all the way from Tokyo to Hiroshima with only one ride ? Or otherwise How many different trains and where do we take them ? Furthermore : Would buying a book , sold over here in Canada , about traveling by train , that helpful for us ?
Thanks in advance for your answers Daniel - san or to anyone else who might may we say .
Gerald

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
about 10 years ago
Expert

Hi Gerald,

Travel from Tokyo - Hiroshima with the JR Pass involved one transfer. First take the train from Tokyo station to Shin-Osaka from there you can take a Shinkansen directly to Hiroshima.

You could buy a book about train travel in Japan if you interested in the details and want to before a little familair with it before comming to Japan. However it is not something that would be required.

Let me know if I can help with anything,
Daniel

gerald
gerald
5 posts
about 10 years ago

Dear Daniel - san ; Thanks so much again for your answers .

Indeed you could help me some more . Am about to order two seven days JR passes within the next few days ,
Once we have the passes our understanding is that no réservations can be made whatsoever . You just need to show up at the railways station and have train tickets issued as to where you wish to go . Is that correct ? If so , does it happens that there is no more places available ? That seems worry some to us . Does it means you must show up alot earlier than your planned time to make sure you will have a place ?

With the time tables given to us with the buying of those passes does it specified quite clearly wich train you have to take as to where we wish to go ?
Help is being offered with a small charge , quite meaningless money wise , but using long distances calls might be expensive since the answering service are in Tokyo . Wich leads me to ask you if the used of English language is sufficient at the ticket counters . We will be mainly in the Kyoto - Kobe - Osaka triangle .

We could plan itinaries before we arrived in Japan using Hyperdia ; is there any risk not having seats available somehow ?

Well its alot of questions and maybe its too much ? Still you already gave us the itinary from Tokyo to Hiroshima and we are happy to have it as well as the other questions you already answered to us .
Thank you so much again for your time . We appreciate it greatly .
Have a nice day . Gerald

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
about 10 years ago
Expert

Hi Gerald,

Seat reservations can be made once you are in Japan and have activated your JR Pass. During normal times there's no need to worry about ticket reservations, trains depart very frequently and have a lot of seats. Only during busy periods such as the New Year is it smart to reserve tickets before departure.

Your train tickets will exactly tell you what trains to take and at what times, making for easy travel. When you make seat reservations just tell the JR Staff where you wish to go and they will find the best route for you.

Also see our blog post for more information about seat reservations:
http://www.jrpass.com/blogs/reserving-seats-boarding-the-bullet-train

Best regards!
Daniel

gerald
gerald
5 posts
about 10 years ago

Dear Daniel -san ; Once more all our thanks for your latest infos regarding the JR passes .

This time you sure gave us the right website to just about all answers on them . I think once we 've been through it ; we should be doing okay and feel much more comfortable as to how to travel by trains in The Land of the Rising Sun . You have been kind and generous helping us .

Our best regards to you .
Gerald and Suzanne .


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