Which JR pass to get?

Hi, I will be travelling to Japan for 14 days, to and fro Narita Airport. I will be going to the following places and need recommendation in getting the suitable pass. Should I get the 14 days JR pass or a combination of different area passes?
- to & fro Tokyo - Osaka
- Himeji
- Kobe
- Kyoto
- Nara
- Toyama
- Yokohama

Thank you

Depending on your arrival at NRT, there are flights from there to Osaka Itami Airport that you may take advantage of.

Should you do train travel from Kanto to Kansai, you will be arriving from NRT to at least Tokyo Station. From there, either you take shinkansen or overnight bus to Osaka or Kyoto.

From Osaka or Kyoto, you can take either thunderbird/shinkansen combination or overnight bus to Toyama. With your given destinations, your travel can fit for Kansai-Hokuriku Area Pass good for 7 days.

You can fly from Toyama to HND or travel by land thru shinkansen/overnight bus all the way to Tokyo. You may take train ride from Tokyo to Yokohama. I believe these will do unless you have different itinerary in Toyama.

Most importantly, compare your train travels against the 14-day nationwide JR Pass for you to justify its purchase. Check Japan Guide for more details regarding your destinations.

A 14 day itinerary need to be provided to answer your question.

My intended itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: land at Narita Airport at 9am. Get to Osaka via JR train and stay for 6 nights
Day 2: Universal Studio Japan
Day 3: day trip to Kyoto
Day 4: day trip to Himeji
Day 5: day trip to Nara, Kobe
Day 6: Osaka
Day 7: Osaka to Toyama via JR. 2 nights at Toyama
Day 8: Toyama
Day 9: Toyama to Tokyo via JR. 5 nights at Tokyo
Day 10: Tokyo
Day 11: day trip to Yokohama
Day 12: day trip to Ashikaga
Day 13 & 14: Tokyo

Kindly advise which JR pass is best suited for my itinerary and I welcome any suggestion or alteration to it too. Thanks!

I think Stikiting has a good idea, about flying to Osaka. You are getting in around 9:00 AM, so you should be able to get an inexpensive flight to Osaka. Jetstar, for instance, has a 9:45 flight to KIX that is 4,290 yen on some days.

You would then need a bus or train into Osaka, and you could use an IC card to get back and forth to Universal Studios on you second day.

If you then activated a 7-day JR Pass on day 3, it would handle all of your day trips around Osaka, your travel to Toyama, and your travel to Tokyo. If you were planning to do the Alpine route as a day trip from Toyama, the return from Shinano Omachi to Toyama would also be covered. The pass would expire on day 9, which is when you plan to be back in Tokyo. I believe there is a pass that covers all of the different transportation methods along the Alpine route.

The reduced cost of a 7 day pass over a 14 day pass, will cover the cost of the flight to Osaka and transportation to Osaka. It's something to think about.

This also means that you will need to go to Ashikaga on Day 9. Are you going to the Flower Park? Wisteria has a very short blooming time. Are you going close to Golden week?

Have you also considered going to Nabata no Sato in Nagoya? Possibly for the Illumination?

You could use the IC card again, to handle travel around Tokyo.

The other thing I noticed was on your day trips. Nara and Kobe are in opposite directions. I would put Kobe on the same day as Himeji. I would also go to Nara by first going to Kyoto. The JR train from Kyoto to Nara has a stop at the Inari shrine, and I would throw that into that day. As for your day trip to Kyoto, the JR trains do not go to many of the attractions in Kyoto, You can use the JR Pass to get to Kyoto, but you will probably want a day bus pass too get around Kyoto. By putting the Inari Shrine on the day with Nara, you can concentrate on the attractions to the North and East of Kyoto Station.

Besides the Inari Shrine, the Bamboo Forest is the other accessible place by JR trains in Kyoto. I have gone in the early morning, before many of the attractions are open. There were few people around, so I was able to do a lot of photography without people in the frame.

Good luck, in planning your trip.

Hi ebaychucky, thanks for the detailed reply.

Yes first week of my trip will be clashed with the Golden Week. I understand that Nara and Kobe are at different directions. But I haven't planned out how much time I will need at each day trip locations. My friends are visiting Japan the first time and I was thinking it is hard to put Kyoto and Nara in the same day as I myself went Kyoto before and had spent the whole day there visiting the attractions.

Given your suggestion, I shall put Himeji and Kobe on the same day.

For Toyama, you are saying to return back to Osaka then fly back to Tokyo or take the Jr from Toyama to Tokyo?

Yes, I intend to go to the flower park at Ashikaga. I have considered Nagoya's illumination theme park too but it is out of the way for this trip. Will visit it during my next trip when I cover Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Nagoya.

Seems like stikiting's suggestion in getting the Kansai hukuriku pass and your plan will make the most out of the 7 days pass.

From Toyama, I would take the shinkensan back to Tokyo. I only meant for you to purchase a single one way ticket from NRT to KIX. The rest of your long distance travel would be with the JR pass.

The savings was from dropping the 14 day pass to a 7 day pass. That was done by removing only one leg (NRT to Osaka) from your trip.

There are three flight/pass combinations that you can pick from. I have also included the 14 day pass as an option.

(A) Round trip Tokyo-Osaka + Kansai Hokuriku Pass.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_kansai_hokuriku.html

This lacks coverage of the return train after completing the Alpine route. It also lacks reserved seating, and covers the base fare on Limited Express Trains. This also covers some extra private trains near Toyama.

(B) One way Tokyo-Osaka + Hokuriku Arch Pass.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_arch.html

This covers base fare and reserved seating costs. This does not include Himeji, and you would have to pay a little bit for this. It also might lack coverage of the return route on the Apline route. It also covers a few private lines near Toyama.

(C) One way Tokyo-Osaka + 7 day JR Pass.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html

Covers the base and reserved cost from any JR train. It covers Himeji and the return of the Alpine route. Those extra private trains near Toyama would not be covered.

(D) 14 day JR pass.

It is possible, that you decide to just go to Nagoya, and see Nabana oo Sato on your first night. NRT to Osaka is about a three hours using the NEX and Shinkansen, and you would arrive in Nagoya around 1-2PM. This is plenty of time for some exploring in Nagoya, perhaps even getting Nagoya Castle or Nagashima Spaland before heading to Nabana no Sato.

You would then have about an hour Shinkansen ride in the morning to get to Osaka. It think you could take your bags to your hotel in Osaka and still be at Universal Studios when it opens. The 14 day pass could still be the best option.

I'm just trying to give you as many options to choose from.

Once again, Good Luck, in planning your vacation.

All the necessary information was in the original post. A 14 day national pass will save you money.

Thank you ebaychucky311. Your reply is very informative.

I just checked the flight tickets and I think flying to Osaka from Narita is out of the option as the flight timing isn't optimal. I could get the air ticket at about 80-100$ however the timing is at 950am which I couldn't make it.

The next timing is at 4ish pm and is priced at 300$ which is too ex and too late. It now leaves me to the 14 days pass which I have briefly calculated using the Jr calculator and my itinerary can fully utilize the 14 days.

Thanks again ebaychucky311 for the research and listing the options. It helps alot. Appreciate much!