JR Rail Pass 7 days - is it a smart choice

Hi everyone,

We are a family of 4. Arrive Tokyo Narita on 21 May, leaving Tokyo Narita on 28 May. Staying at Airbnb at Shimokitazawa, using this as our base through out our stay in Japan.

We are buying JR Rail Pass 7 days

On 23 may, going for day trip to Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route (Tokyo - Nagano - Alpine route- Tayoma - Tokyo)

On 25 may, going for day trip to Fuji 5 lakes

On 26 may, going for day trip to Kawagoe.

In between, we are exporing tokyo.

Do you think it makes sense for us to buy the JR Rail Pass 7 days?

Thanks!!!

A JR Rail Pass will not be worthwhile for your trip. Invest in a Tokyo Wide Pass for 3 consecutive days and make sure your day trips are within those days.

Tokyo wide pass will not cover to Nagano or Toyama, nor will it be a good value for fuji 5 lakes or Kawagoe. Fuji 5 lakes can be visited by bus from Shinjuku for 1800 yen each way and kawagoe is about 600 yen each way on the local train.

Your expensive trip is going to be Kurobe route. That needs its own pass, as it is not covered by JR pass and then you need to cover Toyama to Tokyo and Tokyo to Nagano. Those are going to be about 20000 yen for individual fare.

You will not make much use out of the JR pass around tokyo. Subway is only around 200 yen per trip.

Regular JR pass does not cover all the way to Mt Fuji, so might as well take the bus.

I don't think it adds up to a JR pass being worth it. Even if you also used it to cover N'EX from the airport, you still aren't likely to break even.

Thank you everyone for your kind and valuable inputs.