7 or 14 day pass?

Hello there!

From reading the above itinerary I also am inclined to lean to the 14 day JR Pass. This for two reasons, the first being that you would have to shorten your stay in Kyoto/Osaka in order to return to Tokyo for the 7 day JR Pass to be really efficient. The 2nd reason why I would advise a 14 day JR Pass is because it just gives you a lot more flexibility. You can take any train for 14 days and it would be easy to make a day trip from Tokyo or visit an other nice place. Either a 7 day or 14 day JR Pass would help you make good savings, which is always nice to know.

If you do go for the 14 day JR Pass, then I would suggest making a day trip from Tokyo - Nikko as well. This way you really make the most of your JRPass.

Also good to know may be that the JR Pass does also cover the Narita Express (NEX).

Enjoy Japan!
Daniel

thanks for that daniel - would you recommend activating the pass on the day i arrive, or wait until i go to osaka?

Hi Again!

The difference will be small, so either at the beginning or later on is fine. I think that you would make the best savings if you activate it when you travel to Kyoto, so you can include Hakone and Kamakura as well.

Also, Narita Airport can be busy and it can take some time to activate your JR Pass, doing so later on would be faster.