JR pass for itinerary including kumano kodo?

Hello,
I'll be in Japan for 3 weeks, but only traveling for about 2 weeks. Itinerary includes:
- 7 days tokyo
- 1 night shibu onsen
- 4 night kyoto
- 3 night osaka ?
- 3/4 night kumano kodo hiking
- 1/2 night somewhere between nachi taisha & tokyo

It seems many connections involve private rails with additional costs. Does it still make sense to go with JR pass?
Thank you.

The JR Pass can pay off when you do a lot long distance travel. You seem to have three days where you will be doing long distances:

Tokyo to Nagano
Nagano to Kyoto
Osaka/Kyoto Back to Tokyo.

These are spread apart far enough that a one week pass will not work. Since you have three big travel days, you might look into a 3 day Japan bus pass from Willer.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2369.html

There is a JR Kansai Wide area pass that might help you. It will take you into the Kumano region and back on the limited express train. The fare for an unreserved seat from Shin-Osaka Station to KiiKatsurra Station (near Nachi Taishia) is 6370 yen, and this pass is only 8500 yen, so it should pay off.

By the way, if you end up wanting to take a bus from Kii-Katsurra back to Tokyo, there is a bus to Ikebukuro. While you are in Tokyo, you might go to Ikebukuro Station and find out about it.

Also, here are the bus routes for the Kumano Region:

http://www.tb-kumano.jp/en/transport/bus/#localtimetables

This should help in your planning. I hope this helps.

Hi there. Can you advise if the JR Pass - WIDE covers the buses for Kumano? Thanks in advance for your help.

Thanks ebaychucky311.

I'll be doing some side trips, so will follow the advice and calculate how much the trips will cost and compare with JR Pass.

to Grace N: The JR Kansai Wide are pass is a JR Pass, and does not cover other privately owned bus companies.

There was a an all-inclusive bus pass for the Komano Area, called the Wakayama Area Pass (W-Pass), which worked on many different bus lines, but it is no longer offered. It was agreat pass, and I purchased it twice for my trips to this area.

Here is a link to the Pass:

http://www.wakayama-kanko.or.jp/world/english/transportation/w-pass.ht...

Why post a link to a now extinct pass? There is a tremendous wealth of information about the Kumano Region here. Click on the "Download Maps & Brochures" link, and you will find lot of information.

Click on the Links, and you will see possible the best set of links for this area.

The bus route link that I gave is also very useful. It also has lots and lots of links at the bottom of the page. Near the bottom, you will find a link for highway buses from Kyoto and Osaka, but it does not include the highway bus from Tokyo (Ikebukuro) to Kii-Katsuura that I mentioned on the earlier post.