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What's my best choice for transportation?

emmysan514
emmysan514
over 8 years ago
3 responses

Hi,

I will be spending 12 days in Japan with my wife and was wondering what is the best choice for transportation.

Nov. 22 - arrive at Narita airport by 9:30pm, need to get to Shinjuku
Nov. 29 - leaving shibuya to go Hakone
Nov. 30 - leaving Hakone to go to Kyoto
Dec. 3 - leaving Kyoto for Osaka airport (KIX)

Should I get a 14-day JR pass? Or should I pay for a one-way ticket on the Narita Express to Shinjuku and then activate a 7-day JR Pass on Nov. 29? Or do I just purchase a one-way ticket for each leg?

Thank you very much!

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
over 8 years ago
Expert

Hi there,

For this itinerary the best choice is to buy normal rail tickets as you travel. A JR Pass is best used for longer distances, think about a return Tokyo - Kyoto for instance.

For Hakone, have a look at the Hakone Free Pass.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

emmysan514
emmysan514
3 posts
over 8 years ago

Thank you Daniel.

When you say buy normal rail tickets, do you mean just purchase one-way tickets for each leg of the trip?

If so, is there anything I have to purchase while here in the USA before leaving for Japan or can everything be purchased while in Japan at the train stations?

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
over 8 years ago
Expert

Hi again!

Yep - that's what I meant.

You can just buy the tickets once you are in Japan, it's really hard to do so outside of Japan.

emmysan514
emmysan514
3 posts
over 8 years ago

Thank you again Daniel.

My last concern:
when we are in Tokyo, do the subways that run between the cities (for instance, getting between Shinjuku to Shibuya or Asakusa) does that require tickets for the JR train? Or does it use a different subway system?

If it uses a different subway system, is there a multi-day unlimited usage pass we can purchase for the subway system or is it only pay per ride?

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
over 8 years ago
Expert

Hi again!

The subway/Metro system is different from JR and requires separate tickets. You can however use the JR Pass to cover most of Tokyo, using overground JR lines.

You can buy day passes for the metro, if you plan to travel around a lot.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/value/index.html


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