1 Week JR Pass Itinerary (Low Budget)

Hi there,

I think it is a good idea to avoid travel during Golden Week to avoid the crowd - Tokyo will have enough to see in the meantime and will be busy enough :)

Your travel looks pretty straight forward and I don't expect many problems. I would recommend familiarizing yourself with the Shinkansen lines. At least the Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto and on to Hiroshima. It will give you an understanding of distances involved and timings. For trains that you will be using:

Tokyo - Kyoto, use the Hikari Shinkansen.
Kyoto - Hiroshima, Hikari to Shin-Osaka and Sakura Shinkansen to Hiroshima (be sure to reserve this train 1-2 days in advance).
Hiroshima - Kanazawa, Sakura Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka and Thunderbird express to Kanazawa. Also reserve at least 1 day in advance.
Kanazawa - Kyoto, use any Shinkansen on the Hokuriku line directly to Tokyo. Reservations are recommended, also 1 day in advance. You can use the fastest train, the Kagayaki.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Thank you Daniel! :)

Daniel, I have a follow-up question for you:

Once we activate our JR Pass, how far in advance can we reserve our trains? Is it possible to book all of our train rides for the 7-day period in one sitting? Or do we have to reserve our trains individually every time we change cities?

Again, many thanks for your support and clarification!

You can make all the reservations you make once you exchange the JR Pass :)

In 1 go or on the day of travel, the choice is yours.

OK! Arigato :)