7 or 14 day pass

Hi Luca,

You could consider a 14 day JR Pass if you want to use the Shinkansen to Nikko and Himeji and also return to Tokyo or Narita airport using the JR Pass. In this case you could make nice savings using the JR Pass.

I must mention that there are cheaper local train options available to Nikko and Himeji but these take a lot more time and are definitely more of a hassle.

Hope this helps making your decision :)
Daniel

Daniel,
thanks for your reply. I saw it just now. I must have missed it before (and in fact I just posted another question, slightly different from this one - many apologies for that).
To be honest, using the calculator provided in this site, it would seem that i would do no savings at all by buying the JRP. But perhaps I did some mistakes in checking the prices or the routes? (see my new post)

Hi,

To keep everything in one place here's your post:

Hello, I had tried to post already one question but it never appeared in the forum.I do not know why.
I was trying to calculate whether to take a 7-day JRP or a 14-day JRP, because (after in arrive in NRT and stay in Tokyo for circa 4days and half) I will do the following itinerary

First 7 days:
Tokyo-Nikko
Nikko-Odawara
Odawara-Kyoto
Kyoto-Nara
Nara-Osaka

Remaing 3 days:
Osaka- Himeji and return
Osaka- Narita airport

It seems to me that there is no point of buiyng a 14-day JRP since the difference between the 14-day JRP and the 7-day JRP (Y 24,070) is higher than the costs of the tickets in the extra days:
Osaka- Himeji-Osaka (Y1,490 x 2) + Osaka- Narita (Y 9,610)= Total: Y 12,590
[prices taken from hyperdia]

However, when I used the calculator in this website to see how much i gain by bying the JRP instead of buying the single tickets for the trips that I will do in my first 7 days (Tokyo to Nikko, .... until Nara to Osaka), the system says that I actually lose some money (around 20 eur). Is that possible?

Now for the reply What I mentioned in my first post is that it will depend on what trains you plan to use. For instance, going from Osaka to Himeji using a local train will cost ¥ 1,490 while using the Shinkansen bullet trains cost ¥ 3,950. Same for Tokyo - Nikko: ¥ 5,580 using the Shinkansen or ¥ 2,590 for local trains one way, double the price for return. As such it would be cheaper to buy normal tickets if you go to Himeji and Nikko using local trains but a JR Pass would be worth it if you want to use the faster and more comfortable bullet trains.

It comes down to budget vs time and comfort. I can't decide for you but hope this will help you make an informed decision.

Yes, Daniel. It does help. Thanks a lot