Hello! First time going to Japan in a month and really stressing out about transportation as we’ll be traveling with a 5 month old baby, so would really appreciate the advice of this community 🙏
We’re there for 28 days from 17.04 – 14.05, in a nutshell iterinary is Tokyo (3d) ➡️ Kanazawa (3d) ➡️ Kyoto (4d) ➡️ Osaka (3d) ➡️ Naoshima/Teshima (4d) ➡️ Izu peninsula (4d) (here we’ll rent a car) ➡️ Tokyo (5d)
According to online calculators a JR pass is not worth it, especially as some of the train legs will fall outside the 21day pass option plus we plan to rent a car when exploring Izu peninsula.
However what’s stressing us out is how to manage reservations ahead of time if we don’t have the flexibility a JR pass offers. You will notice from our dates that we will be there for Golden Week (aware how packed everything will be, including trains) so having reserved seats on trains sounds like it’s the only option? But with a baby and lack of general Japan know-how, we’re going to inevitably miss some trains due to delays or struggling to navigate busy stations with a pram and luggage.
Would really appreciate your help on how to best tackle this, e.g. would you get the JR pass just for the flexibility even if more expensive; if we don’t get the pass would it be advisable to reserve every single train in advance? If so, how far in advance and what website? And is there a more expensive ticket option that offers some flexibility in case we miss a train? Or protection / insurance?
As you can tell I haven’t researched this as much as I’d like as planning a trip with a newborn seems to be impossible so any advice is welcome! Thank you!!! 🚅🙏
by Zealousideal_Roll201
