Rail Pass Question

Hi

Initially, I was thinking of purchasing a JR Pass. However, when I re-calculated the transporation costs in Hyperpedia. We might be short. Just wanted to see aside from a JR Pass which other pass would be beneficial to use on the places we will be going to.

April
3- Nagoya Airport to Takayama
4- Takayama
5- Takayama - Shirakawago half day
6- Takayama - Osaka (to Hotel in Shinsaibashi)
7- Osaka
8- Osaka
9- Day trip Uji/Kyoto
10- Day trip Kobe
11- Day trip Himeji
12-Osaka to KIX airport

Is it possible to do Himeji and Kobe in one day? Himeji first... visit Himeji Castle then go to Kobe?

Thank you.

There is no pass that is beneficial to you.

However, for within the city travel like Kyoto/Osaka City Bus Passes may be beneficial depending on individual plans.

It is indeed possible to do Himeji and Kobe in a day. Himeji for the early morning castle and temple visit(Gets crowded later in the day).

Kobe for the evening and night walks about Sannomiya/Roko/Western District.

You can probably get by on two passes and an IC card. It's possible, if you want to go to Kanazawa, which is a very beautiful city, to do this with only one Pass and an IC card. I'm going to suggest that you get two passes.

The first is the Takayama-Hokuriju Tourist Pass, which will take you from Nagoya to Takayama, and to Shirakawa-go by bus. After your half day at Shrakawa-go, I would advise you to go to Kanazawa, but you could backtrack to Takayama, if you wish.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_takayama_hokuriku.html

This pass will take you all the way to Osaka, if you want, but you could backtrack to Nagoya.

You will still need to get from Nahoya Airport to Nagoya station, and at the end of your trip, you will need to get to Kansai Airport. My sugestion is the Wide version of the Kintetsu Rail pass. It has two airport transfer tickets that will work at either Nagoya's airport or Kansai Airport, it also includes a five day pass around Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357_006.html

You are staying at Shinsaibashi, which is close to Namba Station. The Kintetsu pass should work out for you.

Going to Kobe and Himeji could be done with an IC card. There are private trains from one of the Namba stations to those locations. The Hanshin private line will take you from Osaka-Namba Station to KosokuKobe Station for 540 yen, and it will also take you to SanyoHimeji Station for 1370 yen.

Another option is to just pay for an airport shuttle to Nagoya, use the Takayama-Hokuriju Tourist pass from there, and add a JR West pass, a JR Kansai Wide area pass after that.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_03.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_08.html

I think these are better options over the seven day JR Pass.

Oh yeah, I didn't cover backtracking to Nagoya. If you want to go back to Nagoya, the Kintetsu pass will get you from KintetsuNagoya Station (right next to Nagoya Station) to Osaka-Namba Station by a direct train. This would involve starting the pass a little earlier, but the airport return ticket would still be valid after the 5 pass has expired.

Based on the suggestion:
I am thinking about purchasing the Takayama-Hokuriku Pass 5 days, JR Kansai Area Pass 4 days as well as an IC card.

Can the Takayama-Hokuriku pass or JR Kansai Area Pass be used to travel to Uji?

Thank you.

By travel to Uji, I am assuming the Uji river and the temples around it. Here is a Japan Guide link:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3923.html

The map shows you can get there by JR train or the Keihan Private train line. I looked up the fare from Kyoto to Obaku(JR) or Uji(JR) station, and it was 240 yen. This is an example of a good use of a IC card. In fact, you might want to use the JR line to go to Obaku(JR) station, walk around, and then return to Kyoto by getting on at Uji(JR) station.

If this is a day that includes Nara, You could continue from Uji(JR) station to Nara for 500 yen, and then return to Kyoto by Kintetsu train using your pass. One nice thing about the JR Kyoto-to-Nara train is that it goes by Uji Templess and the Inari shrines. Again, this is why I suggested that you suppliment any pass with a IC card.

does the bullet trains run on Jan 1

To back track to the Hokuriku pass.How will this take me to Osaka from Nagoya? In hyperpedia, it mentions hikari and nozomi trains but the pass mentions no shinkansen or sleeper trains.

Thank you.

what pass can i buy that will cover rail pass from narita int airport to tokyo

and bullet train from tokyo to nagano

If you are going to backtrack to Nagoya, you will use the Kintetsu pass to get to Osaka. You do not ride the Shinkansen Bullet train, but a Kintetsu Limited Express that goes directly to Osaka-Namba Station. You would activate the five day pass portion of you Kintetsu pass when you arrive in Nagoya, and take a Limited express train from there. You would not take a Shinkansen train to Shin-Osaka Station, then take a train to Tennoji Station, followed by a third train to JR-Namba Station.

If this is a little confusing, Hyperdia has four stations with Namba in their name. They are JR-Namba, Osaka-Namba, Namba(Subway), and Namba(Nankai). These are all train and subway platforms that are no more than 400 meters apart from each other. I believe that all of these stations are also connected to each other underground.

Anyway, I was giving you the direct route using the Kintetsu Limited Express, which takes a little over 2 hours (132-149 minutes). Even with the transfers, the bullet train would be 30-50 minutes faster, but it will involve switching trains. I was trying to give you options that use the two passes that I recommended.

Maybe I didn't make myself clear. To backtrack, use the Takayama-Hokuriju Tourist Pass to go from Takayama back to Nagoya. You will then exit Nagoya Station and walk the 50-100 meters over to the Kintetsu Station, activate you Kintetsu 5 day Pass, and take a Limited Express train to Osaka-Namba Station.

To DGS: It's better if you post your own question, than the place it within an existing question.

That said...

Trains run on Jan 1st... liners, Limited Express, and bullet trains. People will travel on New Years Day, and so the train will run.

As for a Pass to get from one of the Narita Airport Termonals to Nagano, you could purchase a 7, 14, or 21 day JR Pass, or, a JR East Pass. Here are links:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_02.html

For the way that I travel, the JR East Pass is an amaizing value. I usually like to go somewhere, and then stay a few days before going to the next place. For this type of travel, the Jr East pass works as well as a two week JR Pass, at less than half the price.