Japan Rail Pass - 14 or 7 days

Hi

I am about to order our JR pass. It is clear that the 7 day is worth it (activate on the 15th for day trip to Osaka)-but the question is-is the 14 day worth it? Or would we be best paying for the few train fairs separately. We will be taking the nohi bus through the Alps and into Kiso...but there will still be the train ride from Tokyo to Matsumoto and from Kiso to Kyoto...

Oct 4th-8th -Tokyo

Oct 8th-Shirahone Onsen (Yarimikan)

Oct 9th-10th-Takayama (Fall Festival)

Oct 11th -Takayama -hike -Kiso trail -and then to Kyoto

Oct 11th-15th -Kyoto (day trip Osaka, ,maybe Nara)

Oct 16th-Koya San (temple stay)

Oct 17th -Miyajima (arrive mid-late afternoon)

Oct 18th -either Miyajima again or overnight Hiroshima

Oct 19th -Travel to Tokyo and see Himeji and Okayama on the way

Oct 20th -MOTO GP Race (Motegi but day trip from Tokyo)

Oct 21st -pm flight home

Oct 11th -Takayama -hike -Kiso trail -and then to Kyoto

If you "hike" from Takayama to Kiso (maybe Tsumago or Magome), it is 100 km walk and will take more than 20 hours. If you use public transportation, it will take around 4 hours to get to Nakatsugawa or Nagiso.

Other than that your question should be: whether Tokyo to Matsumoto and Takayama to Kiso and then Kiso to Kyoto transportation is more than the difference of the 7 day and 14 day pass.

Difference of 7 and 14 day pass:46390-29110=17280 yen
Tokyo to Matsumoto: 6500 yen (via Shinjuku, Chuo line express).
Nakatsugawa to Kyoto (via Nagoya, express train plus Shinkansen) 7550 yen
From Takayama to Nakatsugawa, there are several ways but if you take JR lines, it will be 5500 yen.
6500+7550+5500=19550

Of course you can use the 14 day pass to travel from Kyoto to Nara and Kyoto to Osaka.

First you may better consider your Oct 11th.

Hello

Thank you for the reply. Yes that is exactly how we should look at it.

When you suggest looking at the 11th -what do you mean? There is a Nohi bus that leaves Takayama at 8:00 am and goes directly to Tsumgo -then we can hike and browse the towns and head to Kyoto at around 5;00 pm. Thats the plan anyway. Does it seem too rushed?

To access Motegi, you can use a shinkansen part of the way to access the Twin Ring. So more added value.

https://www.twinring.jp/english/access/narita.html#bypt

Sorry I have not noticed this new bus service. I think this service started this year. Yes you can get the Nohi bus and travel around Kiso. Of course this is not covered by the JRP. So your calculation is 6500+7550=14050 which is less than the difference of 14 day and 7 day pass (17280 yen).

You will not use the 14 day pass in the Matsumoto-Takayama-Kiso area where you will travel with non-JR buses. Then the question is:will you use 17280-14050=3230 yen in 4 days in Kyoto? Probably no, if you will do Nara and Osaka round trips. However I would buy 14 day pass since you will have more flexibility. From Tokyo to Matsumoto you can take Shinkansen to Nagano and then express train to Matsumoto and this route is generally faster than the Chuo line direct route (from Shinjuku). You can also take Shinkansen from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka.

One more comment.

Oct 11th-15th -Kyoto (day trip Osaka, ,maybe Nara)

I am a former Osakan though I must say Osaka is not so much interesting especially you will be already in Tokyo for several days. Nara is very nice place and you will enjoy it much more.

Take early morning train from Kyoto to Inari and see Fushimi Inari in the less crowded atmosphere. Take train (JR of course) to Nara and explore. Take early evening train from Nara to Tennoji which should not be so crowded since many commuters go in the opposite direction. Enter Abeno Harukas building (though it is somewhat expensive) for the twilight-night view of Osaka which is one of the best Osaka offers. Reserve Haruka express train to Kyoto which will bring you directly to Kyoto in comfortable reserved seats.

thank you everyone for your thoughtful answers. I will check out Nara thank you!

Another question-would you stay in Tsumgo one night or move on to Kyoto and spend the night there?

would you stay in Tsumgo one night or move on to Kyoto and spend the night there?

If you stay one night at Tsumago, you will enjoy the night atmosphere in Tsumago in the expense of early morning Kyoto. It will take about 3+ hours to get from Tsumago to Kyoto. Well I would choose morning Kyoto: If you depart Nagiso at 17:55, you will arrive Kyoto at 20:11.

Hi Jacqueline,

Traveling around Japan is one of the highest costs of a trip to this country. I see that you have decided to get a Japan Rail Pass and, honestly, I think that it's a smart choice. This pass can save you some money, but you have to know that this is only true if you have in mind making long-distance trips (for example, on Shinkansen trains).

As other users said, you can use the 14-day pass to travel from Kyoto to Nara and Kyoto to Osaka. At least, this is what I would do to make the maximum profit of this transportation pass. But if you're still wondering which pass is the more convenient for you, here you can check when the JR Pass is worth it or not: https://www.jrailpass.com/faq/when-is-the-japan-rail-pass-worth-it

About a night in Tsumago or Kyoto, Tsumango is such an enjoyable experience, as it feels like an open-air museum village. I have to say that last year when I was there, I saw a crew filming a movie. It was quite curious. So my recommendation is: give a chance to Tsumago!