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Traveling with children and itinerary check

Pearline
Pearline
about 8 years ago
1 response

Hi,

we are travelling to Japan for 11 days and want to buy the 7-day JR Pass.

Day 1 - Early morning arrival from Narita to Shinjuku
Day 2 - Shinjuku gyoen and other nearby tours
Day 3 - Disneyland
Day 4 - Mt Fuji
Day 5 - Travel to Kyoto
Day 6 - Kyoto
Day 7 - Kyoto to Nara (Tour Nara)
Day 8 - Nara to Osaka
Day 9 - Osaka
Day 10 - Osaka
Day 11 - Depart for Osaka Airport

1) Should we start our JR Pass on Day 3 so it lasts to 7 days?
2) I can use JR Pass to get to Mt Fuji (Reserved seats)
3) I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old. I understand they do not need to have a JR Pass.
This means I have to show their passports to the station masters each time I travel?
This also means they do not have seats on the train if I make reserved train seats booking? We have 2 adults travelling in our group with 2 children.
4) Is the JR Pass office open on Sundays for us to collect our pass?

avatar
Daniel-san
18816 posts
about 8 years ago
Expert

Hi there,

1.) While I recommend the JR Pass where possible, for your itinerary I must say that it would be better to purchase normal tickets while traveling. As normal tickets are below the cost of a a JR Pass for this route. Let me explain a bit further, the JR Pass is best used for longer distances in Japan. For instance a return Tokyo - Osaka is enough to break even using a JR Pass. You basically travel one way from Tokyo to Osaka with different stops on the way, this however does not add up enough to a point where savings can be made using a JR Pass.

2.) It totally depends on where around Fuji you wish to travel. We have a detailed post here:
http://www.jrpass.com/blogs/itinerary-tip-mt-fuji

3.) Children below the age of six can travel for free. However they are not entitled to a seat and you are expected to take them on your lap if trains are full. This does not happen often and JR Staff will try to seat you together when making reservations, this however can't always be guaranteed. Generally you can just ask the staff member if trains are busy and if they really are, buy a child ticket (50% of the fare).

4.) Yes.

Hope this helps,
Daniel


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