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Whether to get the Green Car pass with or without Nozomi upgrade...

Sandyhsu
Sandyhsu
26 days ago
1 answer

Hi there,

We are a couple planning to travel after Golden Week in 2025. Here is our planned itinerary:
May 7-10: flying from HND to New Chitose Airport and staying in Sapporo
May 10-13: train from Sapporo to Hakodate and staying in Hakodate
May 13-17: train from Hakodate to Kanazawa and staying in Kanazawa
May 17-19: train from Kanazawa to Hiroshima with trip to Miyajima
May 19-23: train from Hiroshima to Tokyo, with stop at Kyoto station for a few hours perhaps, staying in Tokyo with day trips to Kawagoe and Kamakura

Planning on getting the 14-day Green Car pass. We would start using the pass on May 10th. Is the Green Car pass worthwhile to provide more comfort and luggage space for the longer trips? Also, wondering whether worthwhile to reserve seats on the Nozomi for Hiroshima-Kyoto-Tokyo since there are way more Nozomi trains than Hikari...can't find an easy to read timetable for Hikari for these stops.

Thanks for any advise.

Alexis
Alexis
851 posts
22 days ago
Expert

Hi there,

The Green Class JR Pass is more expensive than the regular one, so if you prioritise comfort for longer routes it is likely to be the better option for you, and also with large luggage it will help you a lot.

My recommendation would be to stick to Hikari Shinkansen services as purchasing a Nozomi upgrade with a JR Pass means you’ll have to additional fares, although it would reduce journey times so the choice is yours. If you’re struggling with reading the timetables, you can try inputting an itinerary into the Navitime website or Google Maps with the rough time you want to be travelling, and then seeing what time the trains depart from there. Shinkansen timetables can be found here.

Hope this helps!

Alexis

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