Travelling to Tokyo, Osaka, Day Trip to Kyoto & Nara

Hi there,

A 7 day JR Pass becomes cost effective if you do over ¥28,300 of JR travel in a trip. A 14 day pass becomes cost effective if you do over ¥45,100. Lets take a look at your travel costs over the busiest period of your travel:

1. Tokyo > Osaka: ¥13,950 (194mins, 556km)
2. Osaka > Universalcity: ¥170 (15mins, 6km)
3. Universalcity > Osaka: ¥170 (11mins, 6km)
4. Osaka > Kyoto: ¥540 (29mins, 42km)
5. Kyoto > Osaka: ¥540 (28mins, 42km)
6. Osaka > Nara: ¥780 (59mins, 48km)
7. Nara > Osaka: ¥780 (55mins, 48km)
8. Osaka > Kansai airport: ¥3,340 (57mins, 64km)

JR ticket cost: ¥20,270 for 8 legs

As you can see, the JR ticket cost for travel will not be more than the 7 day rail pass during your busiest period so in this case I do not recommend the 7 day rail pass unless you do further travel (such as a day trip to Hiroshima or Nikko).

For cheaper travel around Tokyo, I recommend you purchase either:

1. Single [N'EX (narita express) ticket into Tokyo + Suica metro prepaid card bundle] on arrival at Narita. This deal will basically give you ¥1500 worth of metro travel for free on a prepaid card. You may need to top this up while you're in Tokyo, but it should get you off to a good start.
2. Single Keisei Skyliner + 2 day metro pass on arrival at Narita. Similar to above, rather than ¥1500 of prepaid travel, this deal entitles you to 2 days unlimited travel so you don't have to worry about overspending. You can also purchase further 1 or 2 day metro passes individually if needed.

Please note that these above deals are only available at Narita Airport, so be sure to stock up before you head into town.

Hope this helps!

we were thinking to change the 10th to go to Fuji Mount. is it better and cheaper to go on our own or by tour. if by tour, any that you can recommend?

Hi there,

At this time of year I imagine you'll not be climbing Mt Fuji unless you are experience mountaineers with arctic climbing gear! This leave you with 2 choices:

1. Hakone - great views of Mt Fuji with onsen and lake surroundings. For this I recommend the Hakone Free Pass and spending a night at an onsen there.
2. Kawaguchiko - closer to Mt Fuji and on the other side of the mountain to Hakone. Also great lake views. For this I recommend either a tour, or the [JR-East Mt Fuji round trip ticket].

I'm not sure about tours - personally I recommend a good guidebook, but if you think a tour is a good idea you should check out local JTB tours to the area.

Hope this helps!

Hi Mari

Thank you for your advice.

We will be traveling to Osaka from Tokyo and will be staying at Hotel Monterey Grasmere Osaka. Can you advise me on the best route to go to the hotel from Shin-osaka station? Is it worth buying the Kaiyo Pass to travel around Osaka for my itinerary on 11 & 12 Dec?

Hi there,

To get to the Grassmere you should aim for Namba station in Osaka. here's a route map for you and itinerary:

View Larger Map

As far as a travel card for Osaka goes, I recommend you look into the PiTaPa prepaid card, or ICOCA cards.

Hope this helps!