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Train Passes and Itinerary 2018/11/15 23:04
Hello!

I will be traveling to Japan for the first time at the end of March 2019 for 2 weeks.
I have being doing a lot of research on the different train passes that are available. At first I read that you definitely need to buy the JR Pass for the whole of your stay! I then read that no, this is not good advice because it may end up being more expensive based on your itinerary. Then I learned about Suica and Pasmo passes which I believe, get you wherever you need to be in Tokyo? This left me a bit confused!

After doing my research I learned its best to come up with an itinerary before you start buying train passes. I wanted to get an opinion on my itinerary and train pass schedule to make sure that I understand what I need to have.

We will be flying in from Narita Airport and staying in Tokyo for the first week as there is a lot I wish to do! For Tokyo, I should be fine with just a Suica/Pasmo pass, correct? And by using either of those passes, I should be able to get to and from Narita airport as well? We may plan a day trip to Hakone one of these days and I believe for Hakone I will need to buy a JR ticket, which I do not mind buying one ticket apart from the JR pass.

On Thursday, April 4, we will be traveling to Sagasawakan Ryokan in Shizuoka. This is the day I will activate my 7 day JR Pass. We will take the Hokkaido Shinkansen to Shizuoka that Thursday. The next morning on Friday we plan to hop back on the Hokkaido Shinkansen to go to Kyoto. We want to spend a few days in Kyoto and Osaka. I read that Osaka is only a 15 min bullet train ride from Kyoto so I believe we will have living accommodations in Kyoto for 3 -4 days and go between the two. After Kyoto, we plan to go to Nara for a day and then back to Tokyo for the remainder of our stay.

Does this sound like a solid plan? Will I be ok and able to travel comfortably with these passes? I apologize for such a long post but I appreciate any feedback I can get! I have been trying to research a lot and I am feeling overwhelmed at times!

Thank you!!
by gigichuu  

Re: Train Passes and Itinerary 2018/11/16 11:02
Tokaido shinkansen.

If you depart Tokyo and then return within 7 days. The a seven day pass will just pay off.

There are cheaper but more complex options available. Bit sensing your confusion. It is probably better to stick with the JR pass.
by hakata14 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Train Passes and Itinerary 2018/11/16 11:28
Hi Gigichuu,

How useful a JR pass is depends on how much you plan to take JR trains and how much they will cover for your trip. Once you start taking multiple long distance shinkansen round trips between destinations, a pass tends to become a better value. Have you run all your trips through Hyperdia to get an estimate?

Suica/Pasmo are not passes they are IC cards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_e-card

You pay up front for the card (I believe 500 yen which is refundable when you return your card) and then just put money on the card for trips. It's really useful for when you don't want to buy tickets in advance and look up exact fares for the subway or train or bus. If you visit Japan more than once you can keep reusing your card. I have a card from an earlier trip as my does my child. So for example, I can put 1000 yen on the card and just keep taking trips with it until the 1000 yen is gone, in which case I need to put on more. Suica/Pasmo will work in Kyoto and Osaka for their public transit.

For Hakone, you do not have to take JR. In fact from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto train station you can't take JR. That line of track is run by the Odakyu line. You can take a direct Odakyu line train from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto. It's slower than taking a shinkansen to Odawara, but you don't need to transfer. I've taken the Limited Express Romance Car from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto. Hakone is likely to be crowded when you are there as I believe the last 2 weeks of March are a school break.

Going by Hyperdia, it should cost you 3740 yen to get from Hakone-Yumoto to Shuzenji including a reserved seat on a Kodama shinkansen from Odawara to Mishima. I am not sure that makes a pass that day worth it. BTW make sure you know how to get from Shuzenji to your ryokan because it's about 10 kms away.

I think you mean the Tokaido shinkansen. Hokkaido is the large northern island, which going by your current itinerary you are not visiting.

How useful JR is in Kyoto is up for debate depending on where you are staying and where in Osaka you are trying to get. If you catch a Hikari or Kodama shinkansen, it's 15 or so minutes from Kyoto Station to Shin-Osaka Station. (You can't take the much more frequent Nozomi with a pass.) However, most people going to Osaka are trying to get to somewhere other than Shin-Osaka station because there isn't much to do there. You can take the slower Hankyuu or Keihan line which depending on your Kyoto and Osaka destinations might not be as much slower as you would think or just take the frequent JR Special Rapid from Kyoto Station directly to Osaka Station for 560 yen. It might be crowded but only takes about 28 minutes. For visiting Nara, many people prefer the private Kintetsu line, since Kintetsu Nara Station is closer to all the sights in Nara than JR Nara Station.

I hope this helps!

by rkold rate this post as useful

Re: Train Passes and Itinerary 2018/11/16 11:51
Thank you! And I meant the Hikari Shinkansen not Hokkaido, my mistake.

I appreciate the help, and I just learned about hyperdia today so I will definitely check that out.
Just to clarify, the JR pass is best for trips around Japan while the Suica card may be a better option to get around Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, right?

Thank you
by gigichuu rate this post as useful

Re: Train Passes and Itinerary 2018/11/16 15:53
A Suica/Pasmo card is simply a convenient way of paying your tickets. Instead of needing to buy a paper ticket every time you take a train, subway, bus ... you hold your card to a reader and it takes the appropriate amount from it. Additionally if you take some express trains (eg NEX) you need to pay the express surcharge or seat reservation separately at a machine or window.

JR pass is valid ONLY on JR trains. Which is the biggest train company in Japan but by far not the only. Specially in Kyoto & Osaka there is also Kintetsu and Hankyu which operate a lot of trains. So as a PP said depending on where you stay in Kyoto and where you want to go in Osaka JR or Hankyu might be more convenient. Or if you go to Hakone Odakyu line might be better (and is the only option from Odawara onwards).

Apart from the JR pass there are many other regional passes, eg a Hakone Pass from Odakyu but you need to check for each single one if it will pay off for your itinerary or not.

Regarding Nara, while it is true that Kintetsu station is a bit closer to the touristic highlights the JR station isnft terribly far away either. So if you decide to buy the JR Pass you should take the JR train.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!
by LikeBike (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Train Passes and Itinerary 2018/11/16 16:12
I learned its best to come up with an itinerary before you start buying train passes.
That is absolutely correct. You are going to Japan in order to see a lot of nice places, not to make a rail pass pay off. You could save some good money with a pass if you travel enough, but if not, you could lose money on a pass too.
If you are not going to be using a JR Pass from Narita, the 1000 yen bus is a good cheap way into Tokyo.
http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/
As for the IC cards, there is next to no savings in them - their benefit is convenience. If you are going all over Tokyo and want to actually save some money, you should consider getting a 48 or 72 hour subway pass.
https://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/travel/index.html
I suggest you take your 3-4 days and see Kyoto - after a day of sightseeing, you can go to Osaka in the evening. That is when the city really comes alive anyways. Dotonbori is great, and there are some killer views from atop the Abeno Harukas Bldg, Umeda Sky Bldg, and Cosmo Tower.
https://goo.gl/XE5R94
Nara is also very much worth it - you could get by with half a day though if you just visit Nara Park.
http://bit.ly/1Rhxg0E
And if you have at least half a day free, go to Himeji and see Himeji Castle and the gorgeous Kokoen Garden. Get the combo ticket and one is virtually free.
https://goo.gl/65ZtRi
It would also add some good value to getting a JR Pass and guarantee you at least break even.
by Ken (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Train Passes and Itinerary 2018/11/16 17:39
Most time yes, come up with an itinerary first. But...

Be aware of passes that are available to you. Say no good planning part of your itinerary to be 8 days away from Tokyo, when it could be seven days and use a JR seven day pass for example.
by hakata14 (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Train Passes and Itinerary 2018/11/16 23:07
Thank you for all of the feedback, it is very helpful.
I will start looking up specific routes and prices to see which methods will be the best and cheapest.
I really like the convenience of the Suica card, it sounds just like the Oyster card in London which I found to be pretty convenient. I guess it just comes down to frequency of travel and where I plan on going.

One last question, it is possible to use a Suica or Pasmo card to get to and from Narita airport, correct?

Thank you!
by gigichuu rate this post as useful

Re: Train Passes and Itinerary 2018/11/16 23:13
Hi Giggichu,

In terms of Hikari vs. Kodama on the Tokaido line, Mishima is only about 20 minutes away from Odawara via shinkansen. So I think some Hikari do Odawara and then another Station and some do Mishima and then another station, very few do Odawara and Mishima so you are likely to use a Kodama shinkansen. Even if you do not have a rail pass and are paying out of pocket you probably want to use the Kodama, simply because you're not going all that far. It's like Kyoto to Shin-Osaka. With a pass you can take a Hikari shinkansen, but it has to be running when you want to go, because once you are waiting 10+ minutes for one, you probably could have taken the JR Special Rapid and gotten to Osaka at the same time.

And yes, the walk from JR Nara to all the tourist sights in Nara is easy but it is further. Since I usually have a JR Pass when visiting Nara I do tend to walk from JR Nara, but on the off case it is not worth it to get a JR pass for you, you do have the option to use Kintetsu which will be a closer station.

I agree with PPs. It's best to know where you want to go first and then see if a pass makes sense, but if you can squeeze all your travel within a pass' time period then a pass may be worthwhile. Passes can be absolutely invaluable. But they need to make sense for what you want to do. Sometimes they just don't.

I've personally never been ever to make a metro pass be worth it. You really need to travel by subway only for 3 days in a row. I find the price for a 1 or 2 day pass tends to be more than I would spend on transport without a pass at all. Again, it sort of depends on what you want to do in Tokyo. It's really about what you want to do.

I do think Koko-en is absolutely fabulous and not to be missed if you go to Himeji.

If you go in/out of Narita within a 2 week period JR East offers a discounted roundtrip. It's not as cheap as the bus, but depending on where you are going it might make more sense for you.
by rkold rate this post as useful

Re: Train Passes and Itinerary 2018/11/16 23:20
One last question, it is possible to use a Suica or Pasmo card to get to and from Narita airport, correct?

Yes, but not with the Narita Express or the Skyliner (those trains require separate tickets).
by ... (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Train Passes and Itinerary 2018/11/16 23:21
Reading over everything again, I just saw the info about the 1,000 yen bus from Narita. This may be a great option, thank you!
by gigichuu rate this post as useful

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