Hi all,

My sister and I are spending 6 days in Tokyo and we'd love to do a day trip. Any suggestions on where to go from Tokyo? We're open to suggestions on locations and things to do in that city. Currently we're thinking Kyoto. We'll be in Japan the last week of April. Thanks much!

Kyoto is a 4-1/2 to 5-hour round trip. That's not a day trip.

Fodors likely has "suggestions on locations and things to do" in Tokyo. Japan-guide.com definitely does.

Nikko or Kamakura

Hakone would be another option

Lots of options! Scroll down to "Side Trips from Tokyo"

We liked our day trip to the base of Mt. Fujii. It was a nice change from seeing all the temples.

I agree that you do not enough time for Kyoto with just 6 days in Tokyo. Also Golden week starts at the end of April this year so travel and lodging may be difficult.

Giving your interests might be helpful - a few places you might consider as a day trip are:
Karuizawa, Kusatsu, Izu, the Ushiku Great Buddha, Kawagoe, Mt Takao, Hakone, the Fuji 5 Lakes area, the Boso Peninsula, Yokohama, Kamakura/Enoshima, and if you already have a JR Rail Pass, then Sendai becomes possible too.

One other place to consider is the Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi - the wisteria is something truly amazing, and it blooms from the end of April through the first week of May.
The Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki is well worth it too - and it's easy to fit in Kairakuen in Mito along the way.

I agree with everyone else that Kyoto is a bit too far away for a day trip, but the Nozomi shinkansen only takes 2 hours 20 minutes one way so it can be done. I would definitely consider doing it if I knew I wasn't coming back to Japan in the foreseeable future. You could at least go to Kiyomisu-dera, walk around Higashiyama, and eat some Kyoto sweets. In my opinion it's more interesting than the day trips from Tokyo and if the weather if fine you'll see mount Fuji from the train. Taxis in Kyoto are super cheap and all plentiful so moving around wouldn't be a problem.