Tobu Tourist Information Center Asakusa - 台東区 Taito City

A lady missed informed today about bus passes. I already have arrived to Nikko and all the passes are more expensive than the one they sell. She told me that with JR pass it didn’t make sense to buy the all pass, but it does. Another 2000 en spend because of the limited English of people who work for tourism industry.

Here is the ultimate explanation for Nikko All Area Pass (4600 Yen per person, valid for four days), which is great value if you are planning to spend more than one evening around Nikko area, and aim to explore the surroundings. The pass includes local trains (more information below), unlimited use of buses in the area, and some other activities, such as cruise at Chuzenji lake. 1-) Center: opens at 07:20, once you buy your pass, you can start using it on the same day, or you can buy it for use in the future. There were already a few people in front of us when we arrived at 07:15 on a week day, can get very busy during the peak times. It took us two minutes to buy the pass, and although passports are required, we were not asked to show them. 2-) Trains: The pass includes the use of local trains, although it may be a bit difficult to find the local train information online, the center has timetables, which you can ask. They run relatively frequently. You may need to change trains twice, for example once at Hikifune, and then at Minami-Kurihashi for Tobu-Nikko (the other way around for return). Trains are always on time, and changing trains is very easy (in general it is the other track on the same platform). In average, it takes around 2h40min to reach Tobu-Nikko. You also have the option to take the Limited Express trains, these take 2 hours to reach Nikko, you either don't need to change trains, or only once. HOWEVER, these trains are not included in the Pass, you need to pay an extra fee of around 1200 yen per person per route, and you can buy them at the Center. In my opinion, it is quite a lot of money for just 40 minutes of difference. 3-) Buses in Nikko: they are very efficient and are always on time to go around Nikko area, the main bus stop is in front of the Tobu-Nikko train station. You can get a time table at the Center in Asakusa, or at the information center at Tobu-Nikko train station. Be careful, the last bus runs at around 7pm in the evening. All the bus routes and times are also available on Google Maps. There are mutliple bus stops, not all are indicated on the timetable, you can use Google Maps to locate the bus stops closest to your destination. I hope this helps, have a nice trip around beautiful Nikko.

We were there to enquire passes to Nikko on 15/Dec evening & was served by an unfriendly English-speaking Japanese staff (short hair). Everything we asked is an "up to you" reply. When we asked what can we do if we are early at the train station, she replied "Nothing! It's a country-side." Nikko has so much to offer & if one is there for 1-day, there is no need to get the Nikko Pass. More can be done to support the tourist to make a better discerned decision. Perhaps she didn't have a great day but being competent to help is a basic expectation. That said, Nikko is great!

Friendly staff with good English skills. Picked up my Nikko pass here. Unfortunately the express trains were all booked out so had to take 3 different local trains to get to Nikko. Then got lost on the way back..still not sure how, as I was looking for the station to change at.

It was hard to find much information about the Nikko day passes online as we wanted to use the cheaper local trains which took longer than the faster Limited Express, but everything in all their promotional material only talks about these Limited Express trains. The staff were helpful when we arrived at about 8am to pick up our tickets booked online and explained what local trains we needed to get using the attached images. It said online you needed to book the travel passes at least two days in advance, but the chap in front of us in the queue seemed to have no problem booking one for today. Using the local trains was a bit more complicated and took 50 minutes longer each journey, but we saved a good chunk of money by not getting the Limited Express. It was a shame that it was hard to find out about the local trains online, as we ended up having to wait a bit for the train, but travelling in Japan hasn't been too easy so far! We arrived in Nikko at 1149 and left at 1628, with each journey taking about three hours. That was enough time to see the main sights in the heritage area, but we could have done with an extra hour or two as it was a little bit rushed. This information centre is located just inside the main entrance of the station on ground level. Staff spoke English, Japanese and Chinese and there were plenty of maps of Nikko and other areas to take.

Good support from the staffs in English. It's recommended to read a little bit about what Tobu Passes could cover to avoid confusion while purchasing them. If you plan for a round-trip using limited-express trains to Nikko (Spacia/Revaty), you can choose the point of departure/arrival and the staff will recalculate the price for you.

there are not much information about Nikko in the website. We decided to drop by Tobu Nikko Tourist Information counter to check out the best deal. We purchased 1-2 day Nikko Pass- world heritage area for JPY4400 (round trip train ticket & unlimited bus ride for heritage area and unlimited train ride), recommended by the staff and we thought that's the best deal. However, we soon realised that purchased a bundle pass is much more expensive than buying separate ticket. If purchased round trip train ticket from the counter, the price would be JPY2020; if purchased unlimited bus ride for world heritage area at Tobu-Nikko station would be JPY500. Local train ride for one way is less than JPY500. Most of the tourist spots within world heritage area are walkable distance. We are literally overpaid Jpy1000, which you could spend on good food. Also, the staff are not friendly to Asian. NOTE TO ALL TOURISTS. Nikko Pass might not be a good choice if you are here for One Day Tour.

Excellent English speaking services making for a very smooth and comfortable transaction- much appreciated! The staff found the pass most suitable for my trip plans and then provided details on exact train time and transfer station. Great experience!