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Help, Tokyo-Nikko-Hakone-Kyoto-Hiroshima-Tokyo-Home 14/21 or Kippu?

stacy
stacy
over 8 years ago
2 responses

Traveling with daughter so paying for 2

This is my planned trip. The 14 day pass doesn't cover all of it because it is 20 days 18 days, so I can either buy a 21 day pass or use the 14 day pass on the expensive stuff and buy a Narita to Tokyo + unlimited local Tokyo ? Keisei because I am staying in Shinagawa.

Can you please tell me what is the best option and if this trip will work, or if it should be changed. Somehow I counted the days wrong. I arrived at 1:30 in the afternoon on August 8 and depart at 4:30 in the afternoon on August 26.

Arrive Narita
Narita - Tokyo (Shinagawa)
Tokyo - 3 nights
Nikko - overnight
Hakone - overnight
Kyoto - 6 nights with day trip to Nara and day trip to Osaka
Hiroshima - overnight with day trip to Miyajima
Tokyo - 3 nights
Fly home from Narita

Thank you, Stacy

Toraneko
Toraneko
1303 posts
over 8 years ago

Hi,

A 14 day pass would pay off, buy you would probably get better value by getting a 7 day rail pass and leaving Tokyo to Kansai/Hiroshima and back within 7 days. For Nikko you could use a Tobu Nikko Free Pass and for Hakone you can get a Hakone Free Pass.
Within Tokyo you could also use a 3 day subway pass.
The itinerary looks pretty good though. You could also visit Himeji with Japan's finest castle if you wish, and if you have time, just a bit past Miyajima is Iwakuni with its iconic historical bridge and mountaintop castle. For Miyajima, please note that there are 2 ferry companies there - make sure you go to the JR one if you want to use your pass.

Best of luck.

stacy
stacy
2 posts
over 8 years ago

Thank you

We are planning 6 days in Kyoto during Obon so unless we travel back to Tokyo from Kyoto in order to travel to Hiroshima I don't see how we could do Tokyo/Hiroshima round trip within 7 days.

And I am expecting that with Tokyo/Kyoto extra leg lots of value is lost?

So if I buy a 14 day pass,

I can NOT use it when I arrive and get a Keisei pass + 3 day tokyo for 3,500 and then start the 14 day JR Pass when I travel to Nikko or when I travel to Kyoto

If I use it for Nikko I will have to buy my return to Narita separate

If I use it for Kyoto then the Narita trip is included but I need to pay for Nikko but I thnk your advice is to do the Tobu Nikko Fee Pass? so maybe this is better option?

THanks for your help!

Toraneko
Toraneko
1303 posts
over 8 years ago

Hi Stacy,
OK, so if you want to do 7D/6N in Kyoto and 2D/1N for Hiroshima, then you'll need to get the 14 day pass. With the 14 day pass, you can skip the Tobu Nikko Free Pass since you can also take JR to Nikko. Also as you said, using the pass would be for 14 consecutive days, not any 14 days of chosen travel.
So with your plans, you could, if you go to Nikko on JR as well as use the N'Ex round trip with the pass, barely break even for a 21 day pass. You could use it also for some travel within Tokyo on the JR Yamanote Line, which goes to many popular places but not everywhere, naturally. But it seems to me that a 14 day will give you better value - you might rearrange your trip to Nikko to be just before going to Kyoto and Hiroshima, and use the pass for the last 3 days in Tokyo as well. You could in fact expand your itinerary and go to someplace like Karuizawa to escape the miserable muggy summer weather for a good day trip if you wish.
The Tokyo subway pass or Keisei could be used at the start of your trip. And your last day of the pass would be your last day in Japan, using the N'Ex to go to the airport.


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