Miss Hughes

Hi Tracey,

The JR Pass would include rail travel to all these places.

This includes Hakuba, although the most convenient route with the JR Pass would be to use the Shinkansen to Iiyama station (via Tokyo) and then use a bus (not included) from Iiyama to Hakuba. You would not need any regional pass for this, the JR Pass covers the Shinkansen.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Thanks Daniel, that's great, very helpful and reassuring :)

Does that Shinkansen to Iiayama go through Nagano?

Sorry for so many questions, it seems like with the option of the shinkansen to Iiyama and then the bus from Iiyama, it is about the same length of time. Would you say it is more convenient because there are less transfers and it is more direct?

Yes, the Shinkansen going to Iiyama is the same that goes to Nagano and the next big stop after Nagano.

I've never found transfers in Japan to be hard to make on the Shinkansen. Any time you spend making the transfer is made up with the speed and comfort of the trains themselves.