I'm going to Japan in about a month's time and had initially planned
to buy a "JR pass" ticket for one week.
(I'm travelling around the world, currently just arrived in
Queenstown, New Zealand, and planned to buy it has to be used no more
than 3 months from when you buy it).
Anyway, I was looking through travel books in the bookstores in
Sydney, and in "Let's go Japan" there was some mention of the JR pass
usually not being worth it, and that buying some special ticket
vouchers would be a better deal unless you travel every single day
during the time you're using the JR pass. I didn't get time to read
the details properly (too bad I didn't buy the book when I saw it
-hopefully I'll find it here in NZ as well, not costing any more), but
I think it was made for schoolkids or others travelling during the
school holidays.
I'll be arriving in Japan on the 2nd of April, and will probably
travel the most when I arrive in Kobe around the 15th, while staying
there for approx 2 weeks. I haven't decided all the places I want to
go yet, but I believe Kobe will be a "base" for me as I've worked out
cheap accomodations there, taking daytrips to other places not too far
away. This is what I have so far:
-Arrive at Osaka Kansai airport, travel directly to Kyoto
-Stay 1 week in Kyoto
-Fly from Osaka Kansai to Sapporo
-Stay in Sapporo for approx 4 days
-Fly from Sapporo to Tokyo
-Stay in Tokyo for 2-3 days
-Go (bus? train?) to Kobe
-Stay in Kobe for approx. 2 weeks
-Go (bus? train?) to Tokyo
-Stay in Tokyo approx 1 week
I really want to go to Mt. Fuji, even though I understand you can't go
to the top that time of year, but at least I'll be able to venture
around at the bottom parts of the mountain, right?
It would be great to take daytrips to many of the cities and towns
within a day's trip distance of Kobe -I'm open for suggestions.
So, taken all this into account, what kind of ticketing solution would
be best? I've also heard that taking buses is cheaper, but they
usually run during the night, so not daytrips. Maybe I need to
reconsider, taking some stay-over trips as well?
Travelling constantly for one week sounds like a lot of stress to me,
but if I do buy a JR pass and relax for a day or two in between it
probably isn't worth it.
Any thoughts/ideas about all of this?
Hallvard |