Hiroshima to Tokyo via Kanazawa and takayama

We have two nites to visit Kanazawa and takayama before going to Tokyo should we buy Japan railways pass or pay for tickets ?what is seat fee they charge on hyper dia? Suggest best itinerary to cover both.thanks

Hyperdia is free and easy to use - why don't you try it yourself to look up the ticket prices? It's a very useful thing to know how to do.

HyperDia is not designed for you to judge whether a rail pass could save your cost.
Logically there may be plural ways to arrange rail tickets, but practically at ticket counters, combinations which sound not best suitable for your trips can be ignored or discarded.
So, adding up ticket prices shown by a route-finding system (such as HyperDia) does not always lead to your actual cost in total.


what is seat fee they charge on hyper dia?


"Seat Feeh in HyperDia results is a very misleading term.

To use some train services (especially fast services), such as Shinkansen and Limited Express of JR, you pay the service surcharge in addition to the basic fare.

The amount of a JR Shinkansen or Limited Express surcharge differs by several hundred yen depending on whether your seat is reserved or not; in some trains, a reservation is necessary as to any seat.

HyperDia calls this kind of surcharge as Seat Fee even though a passenger may need to pay it for a ride when he/she is not guaranteed a seat.


Suggest best itinerary to cover both


For a better itinerary for you, please share basic information.
: Which airport(s) will you fly into and fly out from?
: When will you travel? (How is your timeline?)
: Which sites in Takayama do you plan to visit? (Takayama City is wide.)

When using Hyperdia, to check whether a JR Pass will pay off do the following
1. uncheck gNozomi...h etc box, as you cannot use Nozomi on a JR Pass, and uncheck gprivate railwayh as you only want the JR costs
2. A 7 day JR Pass is 29100 Yen, so add up all the individual trip costs, and if they come to more than 29100Yen then it will be worth it.
You need to gthink in Yenh so to speak.
3. The gfareh column is the base fare for a seat in one of the unreserved carriages. So you take your chance that you can get a seat: you may have to stand.
In both Shinkansens and Limited Express trains there is a supplement to pay over and above the actual cost of the seat. So the gfareh you see in the gfareh column is the minimum you would have to pay without reserving a seat.
4. The gseat feeh is the fee you pay to Reserve a seat in one of the gReserved Seath carriages.
This fee is free with a JR Pass: in other words, you can book a Reserved seat for no extra cost when you have a JR Pass.
5. Good luck!

@AusTF

Presumably you posted your reply before seeing mine.
Please read carefully the first paragraph of my previous message.

Your explanation seems to be based on a common misunderstanding to think as if it were always possible to know the rail cost in total by adding up fees by legs.
Actually there may be a lower-cost combination of tickets, so this does not always work as a way to check whether a rail pass would pay off.

@omotenashi
Thank you for your post.
In general, the method described is a good guide for foreigners as to the worth of a Pass prior to arriving in Japan, as special combinations may or may not be available when in Japan, and it is too late to actually purchase a Pass once arrived.
And as a rule of thumb, the gTokyo-Osaka returnh for a 7 day pass paying off on this Forum is based on the method described.
Generally those asking questions similar to the OP are needing to decide well in advance of arriving in Japan, and have received the described advice over many posts.

Thank you for prompt reply It is very helpful .we are starting trip from Hiroshima and ending in Tokyo.my only concern with JR was not valid for some of the bullet train which are more frequent but JR not valid in this

You want to visit Kanazawa and Takayama on your way from Hiroshima to Tokyo. i think two practical routes should be:

1. Hiroshima - Kanazawa - Takayama -Tokyo and
2. Hiroshima - Takayama -Kanazawa - Tokyo.

In any case you must travel between Takayama and Kanazawa, and it can be train or bus. If you take the bus route, you can visit Shirakawago on the way, so I think you will take bus.

my only concern with JR was not valid for some of the bullet train which are more frequent but JR not valid in this

If you use Japan rail pass, you can not use Nozomi or Mizuho. in general, from Hisroshima to Shin-Osaka there are many Sakura Shinkansen which is not so slow as compared to Nozomi or Mizuho. Of course, it depends on the actual time, so you will need to check the difference by yourself.

Again it depends on the actual time of the day you will travel, Hiroshima - Takayama -Kanazawa - Tokyo route will take less time. I picked some example.

Hiroshima - Kanazawa 269 min 15970 yen.
Hiroshima - Takayama 310 min 16880 yen.
Kanazawa - Tokyo 152 min 14120 yen.
Takayama - Tokyo 310 min 14130 yen.
(including both gfareh and gexpress feeh)

Total:

Hiroshima - Kanazawa - Takayama - Tokyo 579 min 30100 yen.
Hiroshima - Takayama - Kanazawa - Tokyo 462 min 31000 yen.

I would recommend you to take gTakayama first and then Kanazawah route. The good thing for this route is from Kanazawa to Tokyo you can use fastest Kagayaki shinkansen even if you use JR pass.

Japan Rail pass is 29100 yen. If you use Nozomi (Mizuho does not go beyond Shin-Osaka, so not practical for Takayama-Kanazawa route) you will save 20-60 min depending on the actual starting time. If you stay in Tokyo after the Hiroshima - Kanazawa - Takayama - Tokyo travel, you can use the pass for your days in Tokyo.