Confused about JR Pass, Suica, or?

I will be in Japan for 14 days and will be going from
Osaka => Nara => Kyoto (4 days)=> Tokyo (Shibuya, Odiba, Akihabara, Ueno) (5 days) then Nagano (Shiga Kogen) (4 days) => Back to Tokyo (Narita)

I used a JR pass and it says it would be worth a 7-day pass, but my trip is 14 days long and varies in places. Does anyone have a different pass combo?

I've also watched a few youtube videos and guides about it, but I got a bit confused about where I can use them.


I would use the pass for the shinkansen, but can I also use it to get around Tokyo, or would I need to get a SUICA or other pass?

Do I use the SUICA or JR pass for trains/Subway system? Are Busses included?

Thanks all for the help!

First, I want to tell you that when I have been handed my JR Pass, a bright beam of light did not shoot from the heavens, and I did not hear a choir of angels. You may will find yourself using both a JR pass and a Suica on the same day.

I would first suggest that you go from Kyoto to Nagano, and then go to Tokyo. This will give you the long excursions within 7 days, and allow you to get just a 7 day pass.

In general, the Rail Pass helps you with long distance travel, but you will find that local travel usually is covered by Private Operations, which the JR pass does not cover.

For instance, if you plan to visit Mount Koya from Osaka. The Nankai Railway basically owns the only train and cablecar access to this area. There is an Mount Koya World Heritage pass, that not only includes the Nankai Railroad, but also bus services at Mount Koya.

When you are getting around Kyoto is usually best done by bus or subway, which are not in the JR pass. Going to several attractions, like the Golden Temple, can be easily covered by a day bus pass.

I usually travel with both a JR Pass, and a Suica Card. I try to map out my long distance travel to fit within a 7,14,or 21 day interval. The JR pass usually works out to about 4000 yen/day, where I can usually get by with less than 1000 yen for a day of local travel.

Hi!

Just throwing this out there, if you don't want to go from Kyoto to Nagano (which I would think the fastest method is Kyoto to Nagoya by shinkansen to a limited Express from Nagoya to Nagano) you could also pay out of pocket for the Kyoto to Tokyo train ticket and then use a 5 day JR East Nagano Niigata Pass. It will cost more than fitting everything within the 7 day pass, 29100 yen for a 7 day vs ~33,000 for a separate ticket plus the 5 day pass, but assuming you are still within the 5 days you can use it for the NEX to Narita, making the 3900 yen price difference only about 900 yen different. Sometimes you just can't move everything around.

BTW the best way to get to Shiga Kogen from Nagano is bus and there are limo buses with lots of room for luggage and which are super comfy. I used one when I went to Shiga Kogen and it was quite comfy. It's not covered by a pass but I'm not sure there is any method of getting to Shiga Kogen which is.

Good luck!

JR nation wide passes won't work. No enough travel to make them viable.

Just use IC card or regional passes for Osaka and Tokyo. And pass normal for long distance.

Might save money to go Osaka / Nagano / Tokyo.

Even the cost of the 7-day pass would be barely worth it if you changed the order Osaka-Kyoto-Nagoya-Nagano-Tokyo as it is a simple one-way trip and individual tickets would be better. JR passes (and passes in general) do not automatically save lots of money and can actually cost more.
You need to travel around 1,000km for a 7-day pass to break even (like a Tokyo-Kyoto round trip), and ~1,800km for the 14-day pass (like Tokyo-Hiroshima round trip), but that is without any savings and you get fewer options - personally, I wouldn't get a pass for either of those two cases. My current trip I have two weeks where I have passes for my clients for the first two weeks, and then no passes for the second two weeks of their tour because the travel is weighted to the front end (around 3,000km vs 1,000km). We also make good use of SUICA for non-JR trains/transport - if you do get a JRP, you still would use a pre-paid card.