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How much is a 1-day rail pass?

Is a rail pass necessary for tourists traveling to Tokyo?

  • Hi there! I am going to Tokyo for 2 weeks, and I keep getting conflicting information on whether or not I should buy a rail pass. I plan to stay mostly in Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Roppongi...but I will be taking at least one day each to go to Asakusa and Kyoto. I will also be arriving & departing at Narita airport. I was told the rail pass doesn't work for the subways, which is what I'd be using mostly (apparently). Any advice? Is a 1 week pass for $300/2 week pass for $500 worth it? Or should I just pay daily? I've never been before and don't know the city AT ALL, so any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

  • Answer:

    The JR pass only makes sense if you are making medium to long distance trips outside of Tokyo. If you are just inside Tokyo then it is not really needed. But if you are going to Kyoto from Tokyo then YES a ONE WEEK (7 day JR Pass) is good because the roundtrip from Tokyo to Kyoto is about the same price as a JR Pass. Do not get the 14 day JR Pass for your schedule. During that 7 days you can use the JR pass from Narita Airport Narita Express train direct to Shinjuku, then within that 7 days go to Kyoto and back. After that just pay as you go. The JR pass is not valid on anything but "JR" trains. So: Subways, Monorails, Private Railways, anything that doesn't say "JR" on it, is not valid. Pay as you go or get a prepaid Suica/Pasmo card for Tokyo. Inside Kyoto you get around by bus better. (I recommend more then 1 day for Kyoto). The JR Pass is valid per calendar day, not 24 hour period. So if you start using a pass at 11:59pm it in theory expires at 12:00am.

Monika at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Unless you're going a lot of places on the Shinkansen (e.g. from Tokyo to Kyoto) the rail pass isn't worth it. It doesn't sound like you're leaving Tokyo at all (I really think you should though, you'll miss so much if you just stay in Tokyo) and you'll only be using the subways so the rail pass would be a huge waste of money for you. Since you're going to be using the subways, my biggest piece of advice would be to find a map of the subway system and really study it before you go. It's easy enough to navigate the system, but if you can study the map in the comfort of your home or hotel room instead of trying to figure it out when you're trying to go somewhere you will save yourself a lot of stress. Also, learn some basic Japanese. Yeah, there are English speakers in Tokyo, but in an emergency or in a situation where you want to be polite the last thing you want to do is rely on English alone to get you through. It looks like the easiest way to get from Shinjuku to Narita is to take the subway to Nippori and then from there take the Keisei Skyliner to Narita. You might also want to look into the Narita Express.

Aya

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