Tokyo wide pass

Hi all,
Heading to Japan for my sixth trip next month. Can't wait.
I want to take my daughter to some.places she hasn't seen and so this pass seems good for our plans.
I wanna go to Nikko, Hakone yamote (via odawara castle) and Kamakura (via ofuna for kannon Sama and probably enoshima late afternoon) over the three days.

Im a bit lost with which trains we can and can't use the pass on when checking hyperdia though....

Nikko - is it just the ltd express (earliest around 730 latest return 1630)? Or will it cover the shinkansen route? Any suggestions to make the most of the day/pass time wise?

Hakone - I know this just covers up to odawara, are there any particular trains to avoid?

Thanks. Starting point will be ikebukuro.

Hi Emdee,

The 3 Day Tokyo Wide Pass will cover:

The shinkansen between Tokyo and Utsunomiya, if you had the time you can take the shinlansen as far as Nasu-Shiobara Station.

It will cover taking the regular Tokaido line towards to get to Odawara as well as the Odoriko Limited Express, but it will not cover using any of the Tokaido shinkansen (Nozomi, Hikari or Kodama) to Odawara.


Good luck!

Thank you very much!

If those are the three days you plan to use the Tokyo Wide pass, I don't think it's a good value for you.

For Nikko, if you book on the Tobu line it is as low as 2000 yen round trip.
For Hakone, the Tokyo Wide pass will only get you to Odawara, not into Hakone. You will still need a Hakone pass (or pay individual fares in Hakone). The trip out to Odawara using the Tokyo Pass only saves you about 1000 yen vs buying a Hakone pass that includes that round trip already.
Kamakura is cheap to travel to from Tokyo. You can just pay fares and it is under 1000y each way or there are combo passes available (see Kamakura page on this site).

Point is that I think the Tokyo Wide pass is only going to get you about 5000y worth of trips and it costs at least double that. You'll still need passes to get around Nikko, Kamakura and Hakone which add to the cost. If I were you, I would buy a Tobu Nikko pass for Nikko and a Hakone Kamakura combo pass from Odakyu. Those will cover your trips to, as well as transportation within, all the areas you want to visit. And you don't have to cram them into the same 3 days like with the Tokyo Wide pass.

The free pass is worth more than the 5000 calculation that @TW posted, even if you take the cheapest options (I think they added their number up wrong). Nikko by itself on Tobu is around 5,000 yen round trip and the Tobu pass is good value http://www.tobu.co.jp/foreign/en/pass/all.html If you want to use JR, because of other trips, and experience the shinkansen, then the Tokyo Wide pass covers the 11,000 yen round trip on that single day by itself. Also take into account where you are starting from.
If you take the slowest trains, then yes, you can do things cheaper, but don't waste limited time when for a few yen extra the express trains provide a nicer journey and less time - say to Odawara (round trip 3000 yen from Tokyo)
And, it only applies to JR trains, so around Kamakura things like the Enoden trains or monorail are not covered. Tokyo -Kamakura round tirp 2,000 yen.

Actually that's why I didn't mention the Tobu Pass. It's possible OP just really wants to take a shinkansen. There are a few people who have posted here in the past where taking the shinkansen itself is part of the experience. If it were me, I probably would't get the Tokyo Wide Pass, because I would prefer to have more than the allotted 3 days. I seriously miss the old JR East 3 day Flex Pass from a decade ago. It makes sense why they got rid of it, but it was such a fabulous deal.

Hi All,
Thanks for the comments.

I am not fussed about the Bullet train I have used it before when I had a JR pass back in 2013 and my daughter doesn't seem bothered what transport she uses as long as she gets where she is going :) .

I thought though the LTD Express from Ikebukuro to Nikko was 3870 each way, Ikebukuro to Odawara was 1660 each way and then the usual Kamakura train is 920 each way...
so 3870 + 3870 + 1660 + 1660 + 920 + 920 = 12,900 Yen, so a saving of 2,900 yen by using the pass

Am I missing something with the pricing or a better way to do this?

Otherwise, Ive done Nikko and we have both done Kamakura, however my daughter would love to see Nikko and There are a lot of places in Kamakura she hasn't seen so wants to go back. Im open to suggestions though if people think there is a better way to utilise a pass or make journeys on a similar budget... ?

I am looking for the 3 days in a row either way as we have plans afterwards with a friend who lives in Tokyo and these days its just the two of us...

Many thanks...

Hi!

I'm getting 3030 yen from Ikebukuro to Tobu Nikko using mostly Tobu.
http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi/en/search.html?dep_node=IKEBUKURO&arv_node...

I believe the basic fare from Kita Senju is covered by the Pass and you get a discount on the limited express fee.

http://www.tobu.co.jp/foreign/en/pass/all.html

The pass is good for 4 days and it covers the buses around Nikko as well. Even without the pass, the total would be 6060 and you're not going to be spending ~4000 to go to Kamakura.

For Kamakura since you wanted to go to Hakone as well, you might be interested in this pass: https://www.odakyu.jp/english/passes/hakone_kamakura/
While it appears at first glance more expensive, it covers all transport within Hakone as well as the Enoden line in Kamakura.

I hope this helps!

Ultimately the choice is yours if and which pass you get.
Personally, I consider the Tokyo Wide Pass pretty good as it covers the bulk of the travel to the places you want to go. Things like Nikko using Tobu from one of their stations you actually have to get there first and that might be on the subway or via JR (although there is the direct Ltd Exp Nikko at 7:30 am). If you are in Shinjuku or Ueno, then via JR can be good options and my considerations tilt more for efficiency and travel times rather than just cost - they say you cannot buy time, but you can actually) and people don't factor in the value of their time when on a limited timetable.
You have three days for three locations, I wouldn't waste it on a cheap train, or a route with lots of transfers. I have some day trips coming up where I'm spending an extra 1,000 yen to save 20-30 minutes, but in the context of the day, it is worth it.

I'm getting 3030 yen from Ikebukuro to Tobu Nikko using mostly Tobu.

OP is presumably talking about the direct from Shinjuku, which stops at Ikebukuro on the way.

http://www.hyperdia.com/en/cgi/en/search.html?dep_node=IKEBUKURO&arv_n...

I used Tokyo Wide Pass (Kanto pass) in 2013; 2018 i used JR East Nagano-Niigata pass.

IMHO Tokyo Wide Pass is quite useful, depending the location of your hotel in Tokyo.
Some suggestions:
Tokyo-Nikko-Tokyo - i did it with shinkansen via Utsunomiya. It is wise to check from Google or Hyperdia to find the right connection so you do not waste time, when waiting the local train from Utsunomiya.
Tokyo-Awa Kamogawa-Tokyo. To visit aquarium. I did it with the Wakashio limited express train.
Tokyo - Izukyu Shimoda - Tokyo. Did it twice (2013 and 2018). The only downfall is that the last limited express train from Shimoda departed quite early (before 18:00)
Tokyo-Izumi-Tokyo. To visit Fukushima aquamarine. NB! All seats are reserved and it is wise to reserve them one day before travel. You have to pay little bit extra, because the pass coverage is 3 stations too short. Price was about 500 yen one way.

Hi,

I�fm planing to use Tokyo wide pass around middle of April too. My hotel is in Ueno area.
Day 1: walk around tokyo
Day 2 :Saitama-Ashikaga
Day 3: Atami-Ito

I�fm not sure wheater i can use this pass or not. Since hyperdia tells me only Tokaido line to Atami that�fs not included in this pass. Or i should change plan to go somewhere else in stead of Atami & Ito.

Thanks,
Suri

Tokaido line to Atami that�fs not included in this pass.

Yes, it is. It's the Tokaido Shinkansen that's not included.

Thank you everyone for all the useful tips. I think looking at all your comments, despite having to get from Ikebukuro to the departure points early in the morning, it will make more sense to go for the Nikko Pass & The Hakone Kamkura Pass as overall it seems the savings will be more than worth while.

Ill use the Nikko pass from Asakusa to Tobu Nikko and pay the express supplement for one day.
The following day Ill use the Hakone Kamakura pass plus the romance car supplement to explore Hakone.
Finally going to Kamakura on the same pass on day three.
There will then be another day left on that HakoneKamakura pass I can use to take my daughter to Gotokuji or something like that....

Seems to make more sense despite having to run around to get the separate tickets the day we arrive and I think it will bring the total cost to around something like 10500 Y each which, when factoring in costs in Hakone make a lot of savings.

MAny thanks again

Might jump on this. I was planning on getting this pass as well. I think it works out but thought it might be worth double checking. I have a JR pass but I won't be activating it until a couple days after this leg of the trip (21 day be spent at a better part of the trip. Anyway plan is:

Day 1. Tokyo Station to Mito - ~ \7640 return
Day 2. Tokyo Station to Nikko - ~ \11160 return (SHINKANSEN for part way)
Day 3. Tokyo Station to SAKU-DAIRA - ~ \6,540 one way - This is far out as the pass would get us. We will have a ticket to continue onto Nagano.

I am getting these prices off Hyperdia and I understand they sometimes include seat reservations. But overall it looks like it would save us heaps if it is \10,000 yen for a 3 day pass.

Am I missing something here or read the prices completely wrong?

Day 1. Tokyo Station to Mito - ~ \7640 return

My comment:
I would recommend to buy Hitachi limited express ticket on the previous day, because at least last spring all seats were reserved (no non-reserved seats at all) and i was not able to buy ticket in the morning for the 9:30 departure.

Day 2. Tokyo Station to Nikko - ~ \11160 return (SHINKANSEN for part way)

My comment:
IMHO the TCO is better than the Tobu ticket (when you add the limited express fees).
Please check the train times to and from JR Nikko station so you do not waste time while waiting the local train.

Day 3. Tokyo Station to SAKU-DAIRA - ~ \6,540 one way - This is far out as the pass would get us. We will have a ticket to continue onto Nagano.

My comment:
If you want to use the Kagayaki train between 8:00-9:00, then i recommend to also buy the ticket on the previous day.

I am getting these prices off Hyperdia and I understand they sometimes include seat reservations. But overall it looks like it would save us heaps if it is \10,000 yen for a 3 day pass.

My comment:
Yes, IMHO the bunch of local passes provide sometimes better value than the generic Japan Rail Pass. The Tokyo Wide pass costs about 3300 yen per day and the radius is quite large.