Itinerary Advise - 17 day Japan trip

Hi there,

While I do some sums, will you be returning to Narita at the end of your trip or leaving from somewhere near Kobe?

Thanks!

Mari

Thanks for the reply.

We are leaving from Osaka on January 13 - I should have added January 12, 2012 - Kobe to Osaka...

Thanks

Duncan

Ah excellent, thanks Duncan.

Here is the cost breakdown of your trip:

1. Narita airport terminal 1 > Tokyo: ¥2940, (62mins, 79km)
2. Tokyo > Odawara: ¥3640, (35mins, 83km)
3. Odawara > Tokyo: ¥1450, (36mins, 83km)
4. Tokyo > Nagano: ¥7970, (108mins, 222km)
5. Nagano > Yudanaka: ¥7970, (108mins, 222km)
6. Yudanaka > Kyoto: ¥7970, (108mins, 222km)
7. Kyoto > Hiroshima: ¥10790, (109mins, 380km)
8. Hiroshima > Osaka: ¥10520, (109mins, 345km)
9. Osaka > Kobe: ¥1530, (109mins, 345km)
10. Kobe > Kansai airport: ¥2080

TOTAL: ¥56,960 for 10 legs

The first thing is that at ¥57,700, a 21 day rail pass is going to be more expensive than single tickets.

It looks like you'll be doing 16 days, not 17 (please correct me if I'm mistaken!), so the question is if there's a way for you to save with a 14 day rail pass.

How about starting a 14 day JR Pass with your trip to Mt Fuji on the 30th? This way, on arrival at Narita you can buy a [Narita Express ticket and combined Tokyo Metro card] from the JR office, which will cover the trip into Tokyo (normally ¥2940) plus a Suica Tokyo metro travel card precharged with ¥1500 of metro travel (normally ¥2000) for ¥3500. This should cover you for your first few days in Tokyo, and from then on you are able to travel with the simplicity of the Rail Pass till the end of your trip.

The total cost of this combo would be ¥48,600, which would brings your total savings over separate tickets to ¥8360. Plus you have the option to vary your trip while you are travelling too.

Hope this helps!

P.S. Odarawa is the closest station to Mt Fuji on the JR system, you'll need to get some further private trains from here - you could consider the 2 day Hakone free pass from Odawara at ¥3900.