Tokyo - Osaka - Hakone - Tokyo

Hi hi

I plan to arrive in Tokyo Haneda in Mar 17 and go to Osaka directly. In Osaka I also plan to go Nara , Castle Park (day 2) and Kyoto (day 3) before going to Hakone on day 5, stay a night tour Lake Aishi, ropeway, Gotemba and go back to Tokyo on day 6. Total 10 days. If I buy 7-day JR pass and activate first day from Tokyo - Haneda, it will end 23rd Mar night.

Can I check if JR pass also covers Osaka to Kyoto, Nara and Hakone? On day 8 in Tokyo, what type of pass can I get at to go to Disneysea and other parts of Tokyo like shinjuku area , Don Quiote and Tsujiki market ?

I am not sure if my itinerary is feasible and whether I should activate my JR pass later on day 3 to Kyoto, and take a one way trip to Osaka by plane first day. Would appreciate your advice a lot.

Thank you very much
Janice

A (7-day) Japan Rail Pass does not sound a good deal for this itinerary.

How are your international flights scheduled?
Have you decided which areas you will stay in?
Do you feel okay to take a bus for a few hours?

Dear Omotenashi san

I am arriving 17 Mar in the early afternoon at Haneda airport. From there, my plan is to take the shinkansen to Osaka staying at either Shin Osaka station or Namba station.

Over two days, plan to go Nara Park, Castle Park Shinsaibashi and Dontonburi and Kyoto (bamboo park) from Osaka. On 4th day, am going to Mount View Hakone at Gora/Sengokuhara and plan to tour Hakone Lake Aishi, Ropeway and Gotemba (if got time).

5th day going back to Tokyo Oshiage Station. Next few days plan to go Disneysea, Tsujiki Market and Shinjuku/Harajuku.

Would prefer to take JR and subway/metro but not bus (maybe in Kyoto like city bus).

If 7-day JR pass is not good, any other plans?

Thanks very much.
Janice

You will be using a lot of JR trains, but the question is if the 7-Day Japan Rail Pass saves you any money. The long-distance travel you are doing are only Haneda/Tokyo - Osaka/Shin-osaka, Kyoto - Odawara (entrance to Hakone), then Odawara to Tokyo.

You might as well buy individual JR Shinkansen tickets for the above long-distance legs of your travel, and for other relatively short-distance trips (Osaka - Nara, Shinsaibashi, Kyoto, and within/around Tokyo) you could use local transport that are not very expensive. For Hakone, you can buy Hakone Free Pass at Odawara (for travel inside Hakone area).

Haneda to Osaka = 14500 \
Osaka to Nara = 700
Osaka to Kyoto = 600 (not on Shinkansen)
Osaka to Odawara = 12700
Hakone travel is not covered by JR pass
Osawara to Oshiage = 1700 (not on Shinkansen)
Total = ~30,000 (rounded)

So basically the JR pass saves you nothing, but it would be convenient and let you use the bullet train from Odawara (Hakone) and to Kyoto if you stayed at Shin-Osaka (although that only saves 15 minutes).

If there is any way to book your flight to land in Osaka (KIX) and leave from Tokyo (HND or NRT) instead, you can save 13000 Yen and 2+ hours of train on your arrival day.

So 7 Days Rail Pass will equal about the same cost as regular tickets.
Bonus would be:
-Seat Selection on Reserved Section of Shinkansen and some limited express trains.
-It would be faster than buying tickets at machine.
-You have more flexible time to change things around. Who knows, maybe you will change plans half way and visit like Hiroshima, Himeji, etc.

Hakone Free pass https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html

For the rest, you can use Pasmo or Sucia IC cards for the rest of the trains. If you plan on moving from one place to another more then three times, in Tokyo for example, then maybe a Day Pass is better. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2375.html

Hope this helps!

Hi Hi

Thank you for your help.

Is the fare below for single trip? If round trip will be 1400 per person from Osaka to Nara to Osaka?

Osaka to Nara = 700
Osaka to Kyoto = 600 (not on Shinkansen)

Is it easier if I go from Haneda to Hakone when I arrive on 17 Mar, stay one night, travel to Osaka next day and then back to Tokyo on 22 March?

And if I buy JR pass, I activate on 17 Mar from Haneda to Hakone then to Osaka and back to Tokyo? The JR pass will end on 23 Mar to Disneysea and the other 3 days in Tokyo, I buy single trip tickets and buy one return journey ticket to Haneda on the last day?

Does it make more sense and more worth it?

Thank you once again.
Janice

While you can go from Osaka to Kyoto and Nara for 600 yen using JR lines. I raise two concerns.

1. Going by private lines is cheaper.
2. Going by private lines allows you to get closer to more sightseeing areas.

So other than Arashiyama and Fushimi Inari, sights are better served by private lines, ie Keihan.

Also Odawara to Shinjuku using Odakyu railway is only 600-700 yen, versus the 1400 yen JR option. Both take around 90 minutes.

So unless you are really desperate to use JR lines, I wouldn't use them to calculate whether you need a JR pass or not. Cos you'll be using a lot non JR lines in most of the areas you'll visit.