Should I buy JR Pass before traveling to Japan?

Question

I wonder if my 12 days trip to Japan (October 2014) make it worth buying a JR Pass?

Arrive to Narita Airport ->
5 Nights in Tokyo ->
1 Night in Hakone ->
1 Night in Kanazawa ->
4 Nights in Kyoto ->
1 Night in Osaka ->
Departure from Osaka Airport

In your present form you're asking for an opinion, which is against the rules in the [help]. — Mark Mayo, Sep 08 '14 at 07:13
Note that you MUST buy your JR pass outside of Japan, before you arrive — Mark Mayo, Sep 08 '14 at 07:14
But from my 3 weeks there earlier this year, Kanazawa is several hours from Tokyo, as is Osaka from Kanazawa, if you're doing the bullet trains it'll start to add up fast. Of course, you don't HAVE to ride the bullet trains... — Mark Mayo, Sep 08 '14 at 07:15

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 08 '14 at 08:32

Getting a 7 day JR pass covering the long-distance trips between Tokyo and Kyoto may well be worth it (look up the prices for the individual tickets on Hyperdia and compare), especially if you use the opportunity to do things like a day trip from Kyoto to Hiroshima.

But the higher price of a 14 day JR pass will not be justifiable for you unless you plan to do lots of medium-distance day trips; local fares don't add up that much and often aren't covered by the JR pass anyway.

Should I buy JR Pass before traveling to Japan?

1 Answers1