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Which JR Pass to use covering 12 days Osaka-Kyoto-Takayama-Aplhone Route-Matsumoto-Osaka

mariawch
mariawch
over 8 years ago
3 responses

Hi, we (couple) are traveling mid Oct to the following area, please advise which JR Pass to purchase that can give us the most economic option:

Day 1 - Kansai Internationa Airport to Kyoto
Day 2 - Kyoto area
Day 3 - Kyoto area
Day 4 - Kyoto to Takayama
Day 5 - Day trip Takayama to Shirakawa-go
Day 6 - Day trip Takayama to Kamikochi
Day 7 - Travel to Toyama
Day 8 - Toyama to Tateyama-Kurobe Alphine Route (overnight at Hotel Tateyama, Japan Alps)
Day 9 - Alphine route to Matsumoto
Day 10 - Matsumoto to Osaka
Day 11 - Osaka
Day 12- Osaka to Kobe
Day 13 - Osaka to Kansai International Airport

We saw there is a "Takayama tourist pass" that we can purchase but it's for 5 days only. Some area may not be covered under the pass. Please comment.

How about traveling within Kyoto and Osaka, do we also use the JR pass to move around?

Please comment if the above itinerary is alright? We love to see the Autumn Colors during that period!

Thanks a million!

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
over 8 years ago
Expert

Hello there,

I checked your itinerary for the best option(s) but I think just buying normal tickets as you travel is the best way to go. The price of normal tickets in your itinerary is below the price of a JR Pass and the Hokuriku area pass does not cover the area you plan to travel in.

The itinerary itself does look good and I see that you'll be traveling a lot in the Japanese Alps, this is not the easiest area to travel in. So be sure to research every route in advance.

There will indeed be Autumn leaves during this time and especially Takayama and surrounding forest area is beautiful. There are also areas around Kyoto where you can enjoy the autumn foliage, especially around Kurama.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

mariawch
mariawch
3 posts
over 8 years ago

Thanks Daniel-san.

My concern is if I buy normal ticket for each route, I will have to line up to get the ticket. This will be very time consuming and would I know if I can get a seat or not?

Is there anyway that I can reserve the train and seat first so that I don't waste time on getting the ticket on the day of traveling?

Can I use Credit Card to purchase the train tickets at the counter? Does the 7-days JR pass cover the latter part of my travel? So will a combination of Hokuriku Pass and 7-days pass make sense at all?

Thanks,
Maria

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
over 8 years ago
Expert

Hi Maria,

If your goal is to save money using the JR Pass then I would not recommend one. However if you are looking for convenience then you could consider one. As you can just use it, hop on the train and take a non reserved seat at any time.

You can also reserve all your tickets in one go at a ticket window on any station. Major creditcards are accepted. I don't think using a Hokuriku Pass makes sense unless you would change your itinerary and travel the route Kyoto - Kanazawa - Shirakawago - Takayama.

Hope this helps :)
Daniel

mariawch
mariawch
3 posts
over 8 years ago

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for clarification.

I was thinking of 7-days JR Pass, activate on day 4 - 10 covering Kyoto to Osaka routes. These are more long distance traveling.

Is the JR pass useful while traveling within Kyoto and Osaka areas? I thought in the city area, JR pass is not that useful.

Hope to hear your comment on this.

Thank you,
Maria

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
over 8 years ago
Expert

Hi Maria,

Kyoto - Osaka are only 30min away by train and a one way tickets only costs 560yen. Within the cities travel costs even less and therefor a pass does not really help. So I recommend sticking to normal tickets in Kyoto/Osaka and travel between these two cities.

Does that help?
Daniel


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