JR East Pass

Will the JR East Pass be able to cover trips to and from Tokyo to the following places? Nikko, Hakone and Nagano? I plan to be in Japan for 10 days.

Hi!

The JR East Niigata-Nagano pass will cover Tokyo to Nagano and Tokyo to Nikko. It will not cover the trip to Hakone though. You can just use the private Odakyu line from Shinjuku to Hakone.

I hope this helps!

Odawara Station which is the access point into Hakone area is covered. You just need to use a rapid or express service, and not the shinkansen.

If u are going to Nikko, I would sugguest to get a day pass (all area pass or temple pass). The bus rides around nikko can be costly and i dont think JR pass covers buses in nikko.
The Nikko passes can be purchased online or through the tobu tourism office at Asakusa station. If u planned to visit Nikko in the morning, advisable to buy the pass a day ahead with seat reserved as the office only opens from 720am to 7pm daily.

Hi everyone, thank you for your responses! All are very helpful!

If I may kindly ask also if the following trains can be covered by the JR East Nagano-Niigata Area Pass:

1) Narita Airport to Asakusa: Keisei Main Line Ltd. Exp. for KEISEI-UENO until Aoto station then KEISEI OSHIAGE LINE RAPID-EXP. for HANEDA AIRPORT DOMESTIC TERMINAL or Keisei Oshiage Line Local for HANEDA AIRPORT DOMESTIC TERMINAL to Asakusa station

2) Asakusa to Kamakura: Toei Subway Asakusa Line for NISHI-MAGOME until Shimbashi station then transfer to JR Yokosuka Line for ZUSHI to Kamakura station - my assumption is that the pass will only cover the JR Yokosuka ride but not the Toei Subway, for the subway I may use my ICOCA, is this correct?

3) Showa Kinen to Ueno Park: from Nishi-Tachikawa Stn take JR Chuo/Ome Special Rapid Service for TOKYO > get off at Kanda Stn > transfer to JR Yamanote Line(Inner loop) for OSAKI or JR Keihin-Tohoku/Negishi Line Rapid for OMIYA > get off at Ueno - the entire train ride is covered by the pass right?

It is fairly easy to figure out what is covered. It starts with JR. Keisei and Toei are not JR.

I don't think a JR east pass would be ideal for your itinerary, except for Nagano unless you have other places to visit, and it might be a waste of money just to use the JR east pass only for Nagano. Better check Hyperdia for transport prices info and compare both prices.
Like the others here, for Nikko there is a specific pass and you also have one just for Hakone. So JR east pass might not be necessary for your trip.
I hope everything goes well and enjoy your trip!!!

Thanks again to you all!! My 8-day itinerary pretty much looks like:
Nov 24-25 Tokyo
Nov 26-27 Nagano
Nov 28 Nikko
Nov 29 Toyama
Nov 30 Kamakura
Dec 1 Tokyo
Dec 2 flight back home

I�fll complete first all the transportation costs using Hyperdia. Will consider your recommendations and see which among all the passes can give me the greatest benefit.

Kind regards to you all!

Nov 24-25 Tokyo
Nov 26-27 Nagano
Nov 28 Nikko
Nov 29 Toyama
Nov 30 Kamakura
Dec 1 Tokyo
Dec 2 flight back home

Do you mean Toyama in Toyama prefecture? It's far away from all your other destinations and not a terribly interesting place.

I would maybe lump in all your Tokyo days and the Kamakura day into one spot of your trip, so you dont need to change hotel so much. Kamakura is an easy day trip from Tokyo and no need to change hotels (unless you dont mind, in which case staying a night in Kamakura must definitely be nice).

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

You could change Toyama with Karuizawa or Chichibu (I believe there is a festival in Chichibu in December, maybe December 1st? It could be a nice oportunity to go). There is also the Railway Museum and Bonsai Museum not that far from Tokyo that could be a nice day trip (both museums on the same day). Toyama is quite far from Tokyo and doesn't belong to the JR East Pass, I think it's the JR Central one or Hokuriku pass. If you have a thing for cities, Yokohama or Chiba could be a nice addition.

Enjoy your trip!!!

Thanks again to you all!! My 8-day itinerary pretty much looks like:
Nov 24-25 Tokyo
Nov 26-27 Nagano
Nov 28 Nikko
Nov 29 Toyama
Nov 30 Kamakura
Dec 1 Tokyo
Dec 2 flight back home

Going from Nagano to Nikko and back to Toyama is very inefficient. Toyama is only 1 hour from Nagano, but 4 hours from Nikko. So you will be adding many additional travel hours to visit them in the order you have listed. I would definitely change the order and put Toyama directly after Nagano.

The other issue is that the JR East Nagano/Niigata only takes you as far as Joetsu. You will have to cover the cost from there to Toyama, which is about 4000-5000yen each way.

Honestly with only 8 days, and the extra cost, maybe just leave Toyama out and spend another day in Tokyo? Toyama is a nice medium sized city, but it isn't typically a top tourist spot.