Best option for 22 days

Hi there,

I must say, this is a nice itinerary but hard to match a JR Pass to. I would use a 2-day Kansai Area Pass for travel from Kansai Airport to Himeji and from Himeji to Kyoto. This regional Japan Rail Pass does not include the Shinkansen but you can use the Haruka Express and Shinkaisoku trains from Kansai Airport to Shin-Osaka and onwards to Himeji. The amount of savings here is too good to pass up.

After that, I looked at possible options but there's no pass that both matches your plan and helps you make savings at the same time. I think onwards from Kyoto, it would be best to just buy normal rail tickets.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Thank you for your feedback. Does the Kansai Area Pass need to be purchased in advance as well?

Hi again :)

It is slightly cheaper if you buy it in advance but can also be purchased upon arrival.

Hello, If we changed our itinerary to go directly to Tokyo from Takayama and then considered the train fairs for day trips from tokyo (Nikko, Five Lakes) and sightseeing within Tokyo would a JR pass make more sence then?

Thanks

Hi again,

It would depend on the day trips but doing Kyoto - Kanazawa - Takayama - Tokyo - Nikko - Tokyo is a good start to get good value for the rail pass.

You can check here: www.jrpass.com/compare

Hope this helps,
Daniel