JR Rail Pass VS Regional Pass VS IC Card VS Paper Tickets

Hi there,

I believe your best option would be to purchase a Kansai-Hiroshima Pass for use between day 10-14 of your trip. This will make you significant savings especially on that Shinkansen stretch to Hiroshima. It also means that you can activate the pass as soon as you reach Kyoto and set the activation date for whenever it is needed, enabling you to start making reservations with the pass a few days in advance.

For the earlier parts of the trip, your most cost-effective option is likely to just purchase your tickets individually. Since your itinerary is 14 days long, if you’d prefer to simplify your trip a bit purchasing a 14-day JR Pass will come out more expensive but will mean that all of your itinerary can be organised and reserved using a singular pass. No point worrying about IC cards for inter-city travel, so don’t worry.

Hope this helps!

Alexis