Tokyo, Hakuba, Toyama, Hakone & Mt Fuji

Dear Kareline,

It's a very inviting itinerary - visiting Japan in April is one of the best times of the year for sightseeing. What may prove to be a little difficult is going from the Kurobe Alpine route directly to either Fuji or Hakone, this because the Japanese Alps are right in the way. I would suggest traveling to Hakone first as it would be making the best use of the JR Pass (if you have one) and make a day trip / one nights stay from Tokyo later on. This would make the most sense budget wise.

I made a small list of ticket prices below to see if a JR Pass would be of help.
(usage period 17th of April - 23rd of April) Tokyo - Hakuba ¥ 7,870
Hakuba - Toyama ¥ 3,670
Toyama - Hakone (Odawara station) ¥ 14,340
Odawara - Tokyo ¥ 3,440

For a total of ¥ 29,320 the 7 day JR Pass is 28,300. A JR Pass could thus be an option and help you make slight savings. You can also use the JR Pass in Tokyo and from Toyama to get closer to the Alpine route, adding a little more to your savings.

Note: that I assumed that you are traveling from Toyama to Hakone, this would be different if you complete the full Alpine route and travel from Shinano-Omachi. This would take about the same amount of travel time but the fare would be slightly lower depending on what trains you travel on.

Lastly, no mater how you travel the trip from the Kurobe Alpine route to Hakone will take about 4-5hours by rail, so be sure to bring a good book to read or some good company to keep you occupied :)

I hope this helps!
Daniel

Thank you VM Daniel for your wonderful advice

whats the difference btw JR pass and JR East pass?

will stopping at Matsumoto be better plan than Toyama?

u mean Itinerary change from Narita to Hakone, Mt Fuji then back to Tokyo
for 1 nite.
next morning from Tokyo to Hakuba and Alpine route lastly.

odawara - Tokyo ( is this cover by JR pass?)

kind regards
K

Hi Again,

The JR East pass is a pass used for travel around Tokyo and Tohoku (the region north of Tokyo). The main difference basically is that the JR East pass is limited to a region while the JR Pass is nationwide.

What I mean would visit Tokyo - Hakuba - Kurobe Alpine route (either Toyama or Matsumoto) - Hakone (Odawara) - Tokyo and then make a day trip to Tokyo from Fuji. This way you can make most of your JR Pass and also save on your visit to Fuji-san.

Odawara - Tokyo is covered by the JR Pass and you can use the Shinkansen :)

I hope this clears things up!
Daniel

Hi Daniel

thanks Very much, it definitely helped to see the travelling route clearer

Have a good christmas and new year ahead

Dear Daniel

After going thru your suggestions, will it be cheaper to buy a 5 day flexi JR East pass than 7 JR rail pass?

E.G. 5 days flexi pass I can start using from 1. Narita to Tokyo,
2. Tokyo - Nagano - Hakuba
Hakuba - Toyama - Yen3670 3. Toyama - Tokyo
4. Tokyo - Narita
JR East pass Yen22,000 plus 3670, As the alpine route , Hakone and Mt fuji route is not cover by JR pass will
purchase them seperately.

from Nagano - Hakuba does JR East pass cover this part?

Let me know is this a better savings?

kind regards
K

Hi Kareline,

The difference is price won't be much either way. The JR Pass is valid for 7 consecutive days while the JR East pass is valid for 5 days within a 14 day period. I would suggest looking at which one suits your plan best, The JR East pass and JR Pass can both be used to travel to Hakuba. You can also use the JR Pass to travel to Hakone (although an addition fee in required for local travel within the Hakone area).

The JR Pass would probably be the better option if you can use it to travel to Hakone, if this would not fit then a JR East Pass would be better.

Take care!
Daniel