Nagoya Travel Forum

My family and I are arriving at CENTRAIR and will be staying two nights in Nagoya. We also plan on visiting Kyoto where we will spend one night before returning to Nagoya. We will then continue on to Tokyo later that same day where we'll spend 4 nights before flying out of NRT. Does it make economical sense to purchase the JR Railpass to travel to these cities or would we better off to simply purchase our tickets at the station when we need them? I know the cost of the JR Railpass, but I don't know the fares of the tickets to get to the cities we want to visit if we travelled without the pass. These are the only rail trips I envision us taking, although we will use the subway system within the cities (and I understand day passes for that are available). It's my understanding that the subway system is not included in the JR Railpass. Is that true? Any recommendations? Thank you.

Let me sort it out...
1)CENTRAIR to Nagoya by Meitetsu trains/bus (not covered by JR pass)
2)Subways in Nagoya (not covered by JR pass)
3)Nagoya to Kyoto (5440 yen by Hikari Shinkansen, 5640 yen by Nozomi Shinkansen)
4)Kyoto to Tokyo (13220 yen by Hikari Shinkansen, 13520 yen by Nozomi Shinkansen)
5)Transportation in Tokyo (as long as you use JR trains, it will be covered by JR pass. Subways/non-JR trains are not covered)
6)Tokyo to Narita Airport by Narita Express (about 3000 yen depending on where you start)

Thank you, LLgirl! It appears to me, if I've added everything correctly, it may not be the best thing to do since the JR Railpass costs 28,300Y for an ordinary one and 37,800Y for a green one. Is that logical to you?

The JR Railpass is worth if as u plan to go on the Shinkansen from Nagoya to Kyoto and Kyoto to Tokyo. Moreover you can also hop to Osaka from Kyoto as it's only abt 1 hr away on Shinkansen. The JR Railpass also allows you to travel within Tokyo on the JR rail-subway (not the other metro tho'). Best is to figure out how many days you'll be travelling to each place as once you exchange your first use of the JR railpass, the date will be stamped. http://www.japanrail.com/
An ordinary pass will do as all japan trains are very nice, it already feel
like first class. Note, no nozomi train rides, but the difference is really
about 10 or 15 mins. Shinkansen is already so fast so no need to take nozomi types of shinkansen. They do check regularly on the Shinkansen.
Why in/out of Nagoya? You can do Nagoya->Kyoto->Osaka->Tokyo. (Osaka/Kyoto are interchangeable as it's really so near by Shinkansen).Subway within Osaka under JR Rail is included in the pass as well. Kyoto has its own metro and bus system. Mostly, people take the bus or walk in Kyoto.

If I were you, I would not buy JR pass. Main transportation in Kyoto is bus (and subway) which you can buy a day pass. As for Tokyo, I suggest you to buy SUICA card. This is a rechargeble card which can be used to JR, non-JR and buses in Tokyo and its vicinity. Though there's no discount in price, it is very convenient as you don't have to buy a ticket everytime you change lines. You can even use this card to buy a soft drink at vending machines within stations or for any purchases at designated shops.
Suica : http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_002.html

Thank you Meg_nanako but Nagoya is a must - our son has just moved to Japan and lives in Nagoya. I know our time there is short, so I've limited the cities we'll visit and we're in and out of Nagoya on the way to Kyoto because we'll want to leave our luggage at his apartment since he'll be going with us to Kyoto and we certainly won't need to take much along for one night. We will, however, need to stop and pick it all up again before we go to Tokyo.

I think I'll follow your recommendation, LLgirl. Thank you so very much. I like the idea of buying a SUICA card for travel within the cities and I think the flexibility of not having a JR Railpass (and allowing us to travel by any means) is a major consideration...especially if it's not considerably cheaper. Thank you for sorting this all out for me.

you can only use suica in Greater Tokyo (JR and subway lines) and on JR lines in Osaka and kyoto only.
not for travel in between the cities.

ok to summarize...

Nagoya --(2nights)--> Kyoto --(1night)--> Nagoya --(within the day)--> Tokyo
am i right?

Shinkansen from Nagoya to Tokyo is about 10070yen for non-reserved seats and 10600yen for reserved seats on hikari and kodama, and 10800yen for Nozomi.
I don't think you should get a railpass like what everyone else said.
in nagoya and kyoto just pay as you go.
but in kyoto you might want to get the one-day city bus pass.

In tokyo, you should get the suica for ease of mine. just tap and go, don't have to think about how much fare to pay.
you can buy it from "midori mado guchi" (green window) offices in JR stations.
You can refund the excess amount in the card before you leave the country.
Initial payment is 2000yen, which is 500yen deposit and 1500yen value. you can top up the value at the ticket machines that should be near (outside) the office.

As for Tokyo to Narita airport, just pay for the fare before your board the train or you can consider taking the hotel limousine bus services.
i think you can get the limousine bus webpage link from narita's airport website.

Thank you, Nexusangel. You've been very kind to look at each leg of our trip and make your recommendation. I've decided I'll follow yours and LLgirl's advice. I will handle our transportation requirements as we go. Again, thank you.