One way from Osaka-Kyoto-Tokyo

Hi,

This is our first time traveling to Japan and our route are as below :

Osaka-Kyoto-Tokyo (in between we plan to visit Hiroshima, Nara, Kobe, Hakone) - from 12 November to 25 November.

Can anyone advise if it is worth it to use the JR Pass ?

Many thanks in advance !

Chris

It usually depends on the full itinerary. Use Hyperdia (hyperdia.com/en) to check all your train fares and then calculate if a JR Pass will pay off.

Hmmm, within how many days is that? If it is within 7 days then it will be worth your dollar.

You do realise that Hiroshima is geographically not between Osaka and Tokyo? So you'll really do Osaka-Hiroshima-Tokyo, and that changes everything.

If you include trip to Hiroshima, your JR 7 days pass will worth it as long you are able to make all these long trip within the valid time.

Hiroshima-Kyoto round trip = ~ 22000 Yen
Kyoto- Tokyo one way = ~14000 Yen
JR 7 days pass = 29110 Yen

Without knowing more details on itinerary, no one would be able to give precise suggestion. Either post your likely itinerary, or check with hyperdia for the planning.

The general guideline is that a 7-day Japan Rail Pass is worth it if you make a Tokyo - Kyoto/Osaka round trip on JR Shinkansen, or Osaka/Kyoto - Hiroshima round trip plus a bit more on JR Shinkansen, within a 7-day period. And a 14-day Japan Rail Pass is worth if you make Tokyo - Kyoto/Osaka - Hiroshima round trip (fully both ways) within a 14-day period.

So in your case, if you make Kansai airport - Osaka - Hiroshima - Osaka/Kyoto, AND Nara or Kobe within a 7-day period, a 7-day pass would be worth it.

Hi all,

Here's the planned itinerary :

12 Nov - Malaysia to KIX
13 Nov - Osaka
14 Nov - Osaka/Hiroshima (1 day trip)
15 Nov - Osaka/Kobe (1 day trip)
16 Nov - Osaka/Kyoto
17 Nov - Kyoto
18 Nov - Kyoto/Nara (1 day trip)
19 Nov - Kyoto
20 Nov - Kyoto/Tokyo
21 Nov - Tokyo
22 Nov - Tokyo
23 Nov - Tokyo
24 Nov - Tokyo
25 Nov - Haneda to Malaysia

Thanks.

JR 7 days.
I suggest you to move Hiroshima to another day other than 14th November, mainly because, if you start on 14th then you have to activate JR pass on that day and you have to get Tokyo on 20th.

The problem is, apart from trip to Tokyo and Hiroshima, your JR pass will have not much use in Kyoto area, the fare related is relatively negligible.

I recommend to move Hiroshima to last few days of your Kansai section so you could maximize your JR pass (you can even use your JR pass to travel out of Tokyo, eg. Nikko)

you might also want to consider half day himeji + half day kobe also and do miyajima in addition to hiroshima. uji and yokohama etc. too. more worthwhile that way.