JR Pass - Need Advice

[Ait]

Hi guys, if I've only got 4-5 days to travel around the Honshu island, and I do want to ride the Shinkansen. Is it still worth it to buy the JR Pass?

Thanks for the tips! Cheers, and see ya all at TAS

[Poida]

Depends where you wanna go really.. but i think theyre worth it personally =)

[InspectorGadget]

Hi guys, if I've only got  4-5 days to travel around the Honshu island, and I do want to ride the Shinkansen. Is it still worth it to buy the JR Pass?

Thanks for the tips! Cheers, and see ya all at TAS

YES! Definately worth it. The cheapest Railpass is a 7 day deal that costs either 28,000 or 37,000yen, depending on whether you get a non-reserved or reserved ticket. Either one of these gives you unlimited use of the JR system.

A ONE WAY ticket between Tokyo and Kyoto on the shink costs 13,220. Go to Kyoto and back to Tokyo, and you'll have burned up 26,440 (almost the same price as the non-reserved 7 day pass)

Japanese residents would KILL to get a JR Railpass.

IG

http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en02.html

http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/charge/

[omg]

If you've only got 4 days and travelling close to tokyo the cheaper 5 day jr east pass is also well worth considering. On my last trip we had a return trip up to utsunomiya (on the way to motegi but also applies for places like nikko) and another down to odawara (Hakone/mt fuji, not valid for shinkansen, only the expresses etc) and between those and the return trip to the airport it was definately cheaper getting the pass, especially if youre under 25 y/o.

As mentioned if you're getting down to kyoto/osaka get the 7 day pass, you'll get your money back just on that trip and the airport transfers.

[Poida]

actually just on this.. Im on a working holiday visa.. If my friend comes to visit me and has a JR pass, say she only stays for a few days, but buys a week long pass, could i get away with using it? do they check names and stuff when you use it?

[Ait]

Yup I'll be heading around to Kyoto/Osaka. HMmm looks like I'll waste two days but I guess it'll be worth it.

Btw, if my hotel is near the Yamanote line but it's about 20-30min to Shibuya, is it worth staying there still? Or should I just look for one closer to Shibuya albeit more expensive? Or better to stay near Ueno? Or Akihabara?

Sorry for the ignorant questions I better go google this up. Welcome for advice of course

[omg]

Poida - they say they can/will but I'm yet to see them ever check a passport. So basically, yeah, I'd be sweet talking visitors to get them to leave the pass. I'd say that sweet talking would include their ticket on the NEX as well

Ait - a trip down to Kyoto/osaka is definately not a waste of 2 days! It only takes about 2 3/4 hours to get to Kyoto (osaka is another 15 mins) so if you leave early in the morning and come back later at night you lose sod all time travelling. For classic touristy sort of stuff Kyoto is fantastic, quite a bit more interesting for this sort of stuff than Tokyo IMO (though Tokyo has it's own appeal)

As for the hotel, I think ibuya is a better area to stay but it does depend on how close you actually are, do you have an address for the hotel? Ueno IMO is a bit of a hole (it's sorta like a rundown "downtown" area say like around central in sydney) and I don't think akihabara lives up to the hype. In terms of having fun places close to the hotel where you can go at night shibuya and shinjuku are my pick

[Ait]

Plans changed again. We'll be spending about 4 days in Tokyo and we have 3 days on the outskirts, so we're roaming around Kyoto/Osaka, and if we have time, maybe head up further. Does that still justify buying that $370 JR pass? If so, is it better to buy the Green first class pass?

[omg]

Definately get the JR pass, I wouldn't bother with the green pass though. The standard seats are too comfortable and the trips too short to justify the extra expense

[Ait]

Thanks Greg

Anywhere else out of Tokyo worth visiting (besides Kyoto/Osaka)? How about Hiroshima? I wonder if I could rent an MX5, go driving around that sorta stuff.

[omg]

Lots of places really, Hiroshima, Himeji, Nara down around the kansai, nikko just north of tokyo, hakone/fuji just south etc It all depends on what sort of stuff you want to see. What I would say is don't try to see too many places/areas, pick a few that you're really interested in and see them well (if you get what I mean)

[akeenan]

if your going to kyoto go to nara its only about 50 minutes on the train and in my opinion better than kyoto... although recently in nara there was a terrible crime there its still worth a look.