Hi! Just wondering the best way to get to Himeji & Miyajima from Kyoto? We do have a JR pass and we will NOT have time for Hiroshima. Thanks

you can take shinkansen to both. the train goes directly to himeji. for miyajima, your best bet is to take the shinkansen to hiroshima and switch to a jr train to Miyajimaguchi. from there you can catch the ferry which runs about 4 times an hour. the ferry is about a 10 minute ride.

more info on miyajima here.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3454.html

Not sure whether JR Pass covers shinkansen. Or another route that may take longer time to Himeji:
JR from Kyoto to Osaka (around 30 min), change rapid- or special rapid-trains to Himeji (1 hour).

Check out the map at http://www.jtbusa.com/enhome/jrpassw.asp

The JR pass DOES cover Shinkansen. It doesn't cover the Shinkansen Nozomi (the fastest bullet train) but it does cover Hikari and the other Shinkansen. I'm going to Japan Wednesday with a 14-day rail pass which I'm going to use on Shinkansen.

rshum, you are referring to the JR West regional passes (Sanyo Area Pass, Kansai Area Pass).

spike74 is referring to the Japan Rail Pass and is assuming (safely, I think) that eurosurfergirl is using one of those.

The different passes are explained here:
http://www.japanrail.com/railpasses.html

Thanks spike74 for reminding me. If shinkansen is covered, definitely it's more convenient.

The website I suggested above simply want to share the map of Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe-Nara-Himeji Area, not the JR West Pass.

Thanks spike74 for reminding me. If shinkansen is covered, definitely it's more convenient.

The website I suggested above simply want to share the map of Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe-Nara-Himeji Area, not the JR West Pass. Sorry for the confusion.