Please help on itinerary from 18 Dec 2012 to 3 Jan 2013

Hi Cherrie,

The main thing to bear in mind when you're planning your trip is that a 14 day JR Pass costs ¥45,100 and a 7 day pass costs ¥28,300.

If you think you will spend more than that within 7 or 14 days, or would like the flexibility and peace of mind to put a cap on your travel costs, then a JR Pass is a good idea. In general for example, a return Osaka to Tokyo covers the cost of a 7 day JR Pass, making all further JR travel for the 7 day period effectively free.

The JR Pass will cover travel to and from the Osaka Kansai and Tokyo Narita Tokyo airports, and covers all JR trains except for Nozomi and Mizuho class bullet trains (you can ride all the other types of bullet train/shinkansen, and can reach all parts of Japan).

There is a good JR overground rail service in both Tokyo and Osaka - here's a map of JR lines in Tokyo and a map of rail lines in Osaka, including JR. It's important to remember that the metro services in both these cities are not operated by JR so you'll need to purchase tickets for this separately if you want to use it.

You can look up precise train timetables and costs at the Hyperdia travel planning website and learn how to use Hyperdia for JR Pass holders through our video blog to help you cost things out while you plan.

Hope this helps!

Oops! nearly forgot! As a suggested itinerary for you to draw some inspiration from, you could aim to pass by some of these locations on your trip:

1. Kansai airport > Osaka: ¥2600, (53mins, 57km)
2. Osaka > Hiroshima: ¥10150, (108mins, 345km)
3. Hiroshima > Kinosakionsen: ¥10050, (287mins, 354km)
4. Kinosakionsen > Kyoto: ¥4910, (156mins, 158km)
5. Kyoto > Nara: ¥690, (45mins, 41km)
6. Nara > Kanazawa: ¥8410, (208mins, 286km)
7. Kanazawa > Takayama: ¥4380, (161mins, 148km)
8. Takayama > Tokyo: ¥14600, (273mins, 532km)
9. Tokyo > Nikko: ¥5630, (121mins, 150km)
10. Nikko > Tokyo: ¥5630, (117mins, 150km)

TOTAL: ¥67050 for 10 legs - 14 day rail pass (¥45,100) saving: ¥21950

Hope this helps!

Hi there,
Thanks for the info. However, if we are only going travelling from Osaka to Kyoto, then Nagoya and lastly Tokyo, is it worth buying the JRPass? I am not sure if we can cover all the recommended places as suggested..
Please help..
Thanks!

Hi there, Possibly if you are only travelling Osaka > Kyoto > Nagoya > Tokyo it may not be worthwhile.

You can look up precise train timetables and costs at the Hyperdia travel planning website and learn how to use Hyperdia through our video blog.

Hope this helps!

Hi there,

We will stay in Osaka and Tokyo and explore a few cities nearby. Our tentative plan from 18 Dec to 3 Jan (17 days) are as follows:

Osaka airport > Osaka
Osaka > Hiroshima
Hiroshima > Osaka
Osaka > Kobe
Kobe > Osaka
Osaka > Kyoto
Kyoto > Osaka
Osaka > Nagoya
Nagoya > Osaka
Osaka > Tokyo
Tokyo > Yokohama
Tokyo > Narita airport (14 days JR Pass will not be able to cover this)

I understand that JR Pass cannot travel Shinkansen Nozomi train. However, there are many destinations stated above have to travel by Nozomi. What should we do? And also it can be very confusing if we have to change too many platform/train. Please help!

Thanks,
Cherrie

Hi there,

All of these destinations are accessible by non-Nozomi class bullets that you can use with the JR Pass :). Using Hyperdia you must make sure you deselect the "NOZOMI / MIZUHO / HAYABUSA (SHINKANSEN)"

Here are some valid itineraries for your travel for use with the JR Pass:

1. Kansai airport > Osaka: ¥2600, (53mins, 57km)
2. Osaka > Hiroshima: ¥10150, (104mins, 345km)
3. Hiroshima > Osaka: ¥10820, (109mins, 345km)
4. Osaka > Kobe(hyogo): ¥390, (27mins, 33km)
5. Kobe(hyogo) > Osaka: ¥390, (25mins, 33km)
6. Osaka > Kyoto: ¥540, (29mins, 42km)
7. Kyoto > Osaka: ¥540, (28mins, 42km)
8. Osaka > Nagoya: ¥6380, (67mins, 190km)
9. Nagoya > Osaka: ¥6380, (67mins, 190km)
10. Osaka > Tokyo: ¥13950, (194mins, 556km)
11. Tokyo > Yokohama: ¥1660, (23mins, 28km)
12. Yokohama > Narita airport terminal 1: ¥4380, (89mins, 110km)

TOTAL: ¥58180 for 12 legs

• 14 day rail pass (¥45,100) saving: ¥13080

You can learn how to use Hyperdia for JR Pass holders (correct settings to filter Nozomi and so on) through our video blog.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for your reply. There will be a few days in Tokyo or Osaka that not covered by JR Pass (if we are buying 7 days pass). Is there any visitor pass or one day pass that covers all trains ride include subways?
Please advise.

Thanks,
Cherrie