To buy a pass or not

Hi there,

I think a 7 day Japan Rail Pass would be the best option for travel to Kyoto, Osaka and back to Tokyo. You can use the JR Pass to travel to all these cities and use the Shinkansen for each trip as well. This is the period in your itinerary where you travel the most.

The JR Pass is sold in 7,14 and 21 day versions.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Thanks for your response.
How do you suggest we travel from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko station, and from Kawaguchiko station to Kyoto station?
What bus line or train should we take? Which is more convenient and cost effective?

I know the JR train only takes us to Otsuki Station, then we need to take a local train to Kawaguchico. Are there other railways that will take us direct to Kawaguchiko from Tokyo?
If we take the bus, which bus company should we take?

Thank you.

Hi there,

It is not really practical (though possible) to travel from Kawaguchiko to Kyoto. In general, I advice visitors to visit Kawaguchiko as a day trip from Tokyo. Then travel on to Kyoto the following days.

You'll find details on how to visit Kawaguchiko here:
http://www.jrpass.com/blogs/itinerary-tip-mt-fuji

Kind regards,
Daniel

The original plan was to stay in Kawaguchiko for 2 nights to explore Mt. Fuji and the lakes, then continue to travel to Kyoto (where I will activate the 7-day pass) following the itinerary (above).
Do you suggest just to make Mt. Fuji a day trip, return to Tokyo and just spend more days in Kyoto and Osaka?

The purpose of my second question on this thread is to find out ways and means of travel to Mt. Fuji then to Kyoto without using the JR pass. I can only start using our 7-day JR pass when we get to Kyoto so it could cover taking us back to Tokyo and Narita when we depart.
Will it be better for us to purchase a separate one way train trip to Narita when we depart, so we can use the JR pass earlier?

I hope I’m not confusing you.
Thanks in advance.

The original plan was to stay in Kawaguchiko for 2 nights to explore Mt. Fuji and the lakes, then continue to travel to Kyoto (where I will activate the 7-day pass) following the itinerary (above).
Do you suggest just to make Mt. Fuji a day trip, return to Tokyo and just spend more days in Kyoto and Osaka?

The purpose of my second question on this thread is to find out ways and means of travel to Mt. Fuji then to Kyoto without using the JR pass. I can only start using our 7-day JR pass when we get to Kyoto so it could cover taking us back to Tokyo and Narita when we depart.
Will it be better for us to purchase a separate one way train trip to Narita when we depart, so we can use the JR pass earlier?

I hope I’m not confusing you.
Thanks in advance.

Hi again,

Sorry for the delayed reply!

I do think visiting Fuji as a day trip is a better idea, especially if you want to go to Kawaguchiko. Access to the Shinkansen is easier from the Hakone Area, you could travel on from there to Kyoto if you wish to stay near Fuji.

Travel to Kyoto is one of the most expensive routes in your itinerary, as such it would make sense to use the JR Pass for it. The other, slightly affordable option would be to use a highway bus. A one way Tokyo - Narita Airport can be as low as just 1.000yen, it would make more sense to buy a separate ticket for that :)

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Thank you for your response.
Just an FYI, ultimately, we decided to get a 14-day pass to cover our entire trip. Making Mt. Fuji a day trip gave us extra days for Kyoto and Osaka, so we are now going to Hiroshima as well and take the ferry to Miyajima. It makes purchasing the 14-day pass even worthwhile, especially when I found out the trip from Osaka back to Tokyo alone is 14,000 yen!
Thank you again for your advice. It helped us plan our itinerary better.