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Best rail option for 12-day trip to Japan in January 2025

monikasutherland
monikasutherland
4 days ago
2 answers

Hello Daniel-san,

We are looking forward to our family trip to Japan in January 2025 and would like advice on the best rail purchase option. There are 7 adults in our travel group. Please let me know if you recommend that we purchase a JR-pass or if we should purchase separate tickets.

Here is our itinerary:

Mon Jan 12 - Arrive Tokyo
Tue Jan 13 – Tokyo to Hakone
Wed Jan 14 – Hakone to Kyoto
Sat Jan 17 - day trip from Kyoto to Nara
Sun Jan 18 - Kyoto to Osaka
Tue Jan 20 - Osaka to Tokyo
Fri Jan 23 - Depart Tokyo

Thank you.

Best regards,
Monika

avatar
mariko
311 posts
1 day ago
Expert

Hello Monika,

I would recommend using a 7-day JR Pass from 14–20 January. I suggest activating your passes at the airport upon arrival, as exchange offices are only available at major JR stations.

Please find a full list of JR Pass exchange offices here.

Kind Regards,

Mariko

Useful!1
monikasutherland
monikasutherland
2 posts
1 day ago

Dear Mariko,

Thank you for your recommendation. I would like to confirm that you recommend that we should purchase individual train tickets for the trip from Tokyo to Hakone on Jan 13 and then use the 7-day pass for the remainder of our itinerary. Is this correct?

Also, when you say "activating your passes" is this the same as "purchasing our passes" or is there something we should purchase before we arrive in Japan.

Thank you so much!
Monika

Useful!0
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