travellingcaptain1

Hi All - I will be arriving in Japan on April 5th and departing on April 15th, I need some help on how to get around.

April 5th 5PM - Landing in Narita and going to Hyatt Regency in Tokyo (10mins from Shinjuku station)
April 6th - 9th - Stay in Tokyo, only local trains
April 9th Go to Kyoto from Tokyo (Base for rest of the trip)
April 10th - Nara day trip
April 11th - Osaka day trip
April 12th - 15th - Kyoto
April 15th - Depart in the AM back to Tokyo and catch a flight back from Haneda airport.

So the total trip is 11 days, and I'm wondering what is the best strategy for getting around. Should I buy a JR rail pass? They only come in a 7 day and 14-day option. Or should I travel by paying for individual trips, if so are there any other passes?

Thanks!

shuigao

5th-9th: Suica/Pasmo ... you could save a little by buying the multi-day metro passes, but that requires specifically avoiding JR lines so I never bother.
9th-15th: 7-day JR Pass.

jib71

A 14 day JR pass will not be worth it. It's more expensive than individual fares for your travel. Forget about that.

For the trip from the airport to Shinjuku, you could take a Limousine Bus - door to door service from the airport to the hotel:
Park Hyatt Tokyo?Routes,Timetables,Fares?Airport Limousine Bus

If you dislike buses you could take the Narita Express train non-stop service to Shinjuku Station and catch a cab from there. (And if you want to get there sooner, you could take the Keisei Skyliner to Nippori, then change to the commuter train (Yamanote Line) as far as Shinjuku. But you might prefer not to deal with a change of trains and a ride on a commuter train with luggage after a long flight ...).

To get around Tokyo, I recommend that you get a PASMO card - a stored value contactless card that works on buses and trains (and some taxis). You can get the balance on a PASMO card refunded at Haneda airport at the end of your trip. (The alternative to PASMO is SUICA, but I don't think you can get a refund on that at Haneda).

If you wish, you could use a 7-day pass from the 9th to the 15th. That's exactly 7 days. You could use it for the Tokyo-Kyoto round-trip (27K yen), the Kyoto-Osaka round-trip (2K yen), the Kyoto-Nara round-trip (3K yen), and the monorail journey from Hamamatsucho to HND (500 yen)**. The pass costs around 29,000, so you're looking at savings of around $35. You might also appreciate the freedom to take other trips. Personally, I would rather have the freedom to ride the more frequent Nozomi trains, so I would do without a JR pass for this trip.

** JR pass is valid on the monorail, but to be honest, I would prefer to take the Keikyu line from Shinagawa to HND, rather than dealing with the connections (take Shinkansen to Shinagawa, followed by Yamanote line to Hamamatsucho, followed by Monorail to HND). JR pass is not valid on Keikyu line, so it's better to pay the fare (with your PASMO card) IMHO.

When you are in Kyoto, you may wish to use the one-day bus pass - 500 yen - to get around town.
https://www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kotsu/..._card_bus.html

In Nara, if the weather is nice, bicycle rental is a good way to get around (in Kyoto too, actually)
http://nara-rent-a-cycle.com/en/

abmj-jr

I would suggest the 7-day Rail Pass for the Tokyo-Kyoto-Tokyo part of the trip as jib71 mentioned. It will cover that round-trip and other rail travel during the 7 days. I would also recommend adding another day trip from Kyoto to Himeji (for the spectacular feudal castle) or even Hiroshima. Both can be done as day trips from Kyoto. If you add at least one of those trips the Rail Pass will definitely be worth the expense.

ksandness

While it's true that you can't take the Nozomi trains with the JR Pass, it doesn't sound like the OP has to meet any deadlines, so the two Hikari trains per hour between Tokyo and Kyoto should be sufficient, especially since they take only about 30 minutes longer than the Nozomi. Business travelers who need to be places for specific meetings or who want to go beyond Osaka may find the Nozomi to be more convenient.

ambyr

From my perspective, as an easily distracted/lost person, the biggest advantage of the JR pass was that when I forgot to get off the train at the correct stop I was not suddenly stuck explaining to a conductor in a language I don't speak why I was riding a train I wasn't ticketed for, and I could just get off at the next stop and take the first train going the other way. You may be a more competent (or less jet lagged) traveler than I am, but the flexibility is a nice bonus even if the if-everything-goes-according-to-plan savings are small.

CrazyInteg

There are so many train options in Japan. This situation isn't a problem for many of the train options. It is a problem for trains with reserved seats.


From my 11 day trip planning, I planned where I was going to go, then looked at what trains I would need, and for my Kansai trip it was obvious that a JR Pass was not worth it. But you have to do your own planning, see where you're going, see what passes exist (japan-guide was extremely helpful) and make a decision on what train features are important to you. Is it worth paying a lot more for high speed trains that might save you an hour or two? Is it worth it to have more comfortable seating? Is it worth it to have reserved seats. Will you make enough trips to make a pass worthwhile?

Up to you.

abmj-jr

Generally, one round-trip Tokyo-Kyoto-Tokyo PLUS another trip such as the Narita Express to NRT, the Haruka express to KIX or a round-trip to/from Kyoto-Himeji will more than pencil out savings on the 7-day ordinary JR Rail Pass. Additional rail trips during the 7 days is just gravy. Longer trips make it even more worthwhile. The round trip from Kyoto to Hiroshima is also doable and makes the Pass extra valuable.

I always plan ahead by looking at my proposed rail trips on HyperDia to see what the cost would be without the Rail Pass before deciding to buy.

HyperDia | Timetable and Route Search in Japan.