Questions about JR for trip

Hi there,

A 7 day JR Pass can be a great match with a bit of planning. Use it for travel to Kyoto, some travel there and then back to Tokyo before it expires. Local travel around Tokyo itself does not cost a lot, so buying local tickets there works out :)

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Thank you much for your help Daniel-san! And also for helping out other users on this website :)

I don't plan to use the train to get back from Kyoto to Tokyo, I plan to fly back to Seul. In a nutshell, this is my trip:

9/21 - Rio de Janeiro/Brasil -> Seul (Flight)
9/25- Seul -> Tokyo (Flight)
9/26 - Tokyo (not sure itinerary yet)
9/27 - Tokyo (not sure itinerary yet)
9/28 - Tokyo (not sure itinerary yet)
9/29 - Tokyo (not sure itinerary yet)
9/30 - Tokyo -> Kyoto (Shinkansen)
10/1 - Kyoto ( not sure itinerary yet)
10/2 - Kyoto ( not sure itinerary yet)
10/3 - Kyoto ( not sure itinerary yet)
10/4 - Kyoto ( not sure itinerary yet)
10/5 - Kyoto -> Seul (Flight)

Considering I won't use the ticket to get back from Kyoto to Tokyo, does it make sense to have it?

I plan to visit some close spots like Mount Koya and Nara from Kyoto. I might also go around close cities in Tokyo, but not sure yet.

Thank you!

Hi there!

That's a lot of unknown days :) It will depend what else you'd do in these days whether a JR Pass would be worth it.

E.g. if you stay around the Kansai Area (Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, even Koya-san), then you will only be using local trains, which do not cost a lot. However, if you go a bit further and make say a day trip using the Shinkansen to Himeji and/or Hiroshima, then a 7 day JR Pass would be a good choice.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Thanks Daniel!

I think that based on the fact that local trains do not cost a lot, and that I don't really have a full itinerary established yet, I'll not use the 7 day pass. I don't plan to visit other main/far cities for the time being but the ones you mentioned as the Kansai area

I'll try to close the itinerary soon and come back if I have some more questions

Thanks again for the great aid my friend :)

Regards
Guilherme

Hi Guilherme,

Makes sense right!

That said, you may want to take a look at the Kansai Area Pass. This pass covers travel between all cities in Kansai as well as to Kansai Airport. You can use the Haruka Express with it, if you fly out of KIX. It gives pretty good value if you do.

Hope you find this useful!
Daniel

Hi Daniel-san!

How much would you say a Tokyo -> Kyoto Shinkansen costs? Also, is there a website I could use to buy it? I'll travel from Tokyo - > Kyoto on 9/30 morning.

I've tried researching this online but it's unclear to me if there's a website to buy the tickets like with air companies

Cheers!

Hi there,

A one way is about 14.000yen - 15.000 (depending on season and if you have a reserved seat), the official website for JR is called Eki-Net and JR Odekake. These are both in Japanese only. For most English speaking visitors, I recommend just buying the tickets when you arrive and do so at any JR station. There are many seats to go around and trains rarely sell out. If you travel in busier periods, you'll still have no problem if you reserve 2-3 days in advance.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Thanks Daniel! :)

It does help a lot.

I've finalized my trip and this isit (according to Google maps haha):
9/21 - Rio de Janeiro/Brasil -> Seul (Flight)
9/25- Seul -> Tokyo (Flight) staying at Taito -> Narita (around 1200 yen)
9/26 - Tokyo (local sightsseeing - around 1200 yen)
9/27 - Tokyo (local sightseeing - around 400 yen)
9/28 - Tokyo (Nikko - Nikko World Heritage pass, 2000 yen)
9/29 - Tokyo (local sightseeing - around 1030 yen)
9/30 - Tokyo -> Kyoto staying at Higashiyama Ward (Shinkansen around 14k yen on Shinkansen + 200 local train)
10/1 - Kyoto (local sightseeing - around 2000 yen)
10/2 - Kyoto (Koya - Koya World Heritage Ticket 2860 yen)
10/3 - Kyoto (Koya - Same as above)
10/4 - Kyoto (Nara - around 2400 including local sightseeing in Nara - the Kintetsu Rail Pass 1 day looks good but doesn't seem to cover local transport in Kyoto to the Kintetsu line from where I stay)
10/5 - Kyoto -> Seul (Flight) - KIX around 1500 yen using ICOCA & HARUKA

Based on this updated info, do you have any other inputs you may give?

Thank you Daniel!

Hi again!

I looked it over but do not see any improvements - it looks well planned!

Have a good trip!
Daniel

Thank you very much for all the help Daniel, it definitely made a very positive impact on my outcome :)

All the best my friend!