Itinerary & airport help
 

I am just about to book flights July 1-14. Does it make sense to fly into Tokyo and out of Osaka?
We arrive July 2nd at 3pm (is it wise to stay in Narita that night and get good sleep and start fresh the next morning to Tokyo?)

Tokyo: 4-5 nights: plans to explore various areas and do day trips to both Nikko and Kamakura.
Thinking of spending a night in Hakone to experience an Onsen/Ryokan (suggestions on where?)
Kyoto: 4-5 nights

Flight departs Osaka (kansai) at 4pm on the 14th (again is it wise to spend the evening before the flight in Osaka rather than Kyoto?. The other option is finding our way back to fly out of Tokyo but that doesnt make sense to me if we are already in the Kyoto area...

JR rail pass: I understand this must be bought out of country and before trip. Will I be able to use it for the entire trip getting to the above spots and around those spots and from/to airports?

Let me endorse your idea of flying into Narita and out of Osaka. It will save you time and money. I don't know whether a rail pass would save you any money or not. You'll need to spend some time on Hyperdia to check on that.

Do you know about japan-guide.com ? It's the best resource on Japan on the web!

Thank you for the website recommendation-have not heard of it but with just a quick glance I can see it will be extremely helpful!!

For your itinerary, flying into Narita and Osaka is very convenient as Kathie said.

If you are primarily in and around those two cities, a JR pass won't pay off for you.

I don't see any reason to spend the night in Narita - to me it will be more of a hassle as you would have to go to your Tokyo hotel in the am and leave your luggage. 3 pm arrival gives you loads of time to settle down in Tokyo.

Same for your departure, easier to stay wherever you are in Kyoto - your flight leaves late in the afternoon....

Into Tokyo / out of Osaka makes perfect sense! And Kansai is close enough to Kyoto that I, personally, would not relocate to be closer to the airport the night before your flight.

I’m a fan of defying exhaustion to push on to my first destination of a trip; others prefer to rest ASAP. Your call! (But if Mara says to go on to Tokyo, I certainly won't question it! ;-) )

Excellent advice from all three ladies. Mara makes a good point about not being able to check into your Tokyo hotel in the morning. In Japan, there is generally a 3 PM check in, and even if the hotel is empty, they won't let you check in early. I was at an onsen hotel on Kyushu awhile back, and I arrived around 2 PM, and they wouldn't let me check in. The lobby began to fill up, and around 2:55 PM, the guests started lining up at the reception desk. It was orderly chaos, as the staff tried to give out keys, and people jammed into the elevators.

It's easy to get into Tokyo from the Narita airport. We used the limousine bus, but other braves souls here have used the subway. Save the city of Narita for a time when you have a five hour stop over, or something similar. You will arrive into just Tokyo in time for an early dinner, and shower, and an early bedtime.

You are traveling too slowly to benefit from a train pass, but do add up the figures just to prove it to yourself.

May I also suggest going to Odaiba while you are in Tokyo? The boat ride out there is really pretty and peaceful.

<<It's easy to get into Tokyo from the Narita airport. We used the limousine bus, but other braves souls here have used the subway. >>

No they haven't. Not one of them. <b>There is no "subway" from Narita to Tokyo.</b>

There are various train options, all of which are faster than the bus. Which one makes sense is dependent upon the location of your lodging in Tokyo.

Based on your itinerary above, a JR pass would lose money compared to buying individual tickets as needed. If you decide to go to Himeji or Hiroshima, then the JR pass may be useful.

Depending on where you are traveling from you won't necessarily be using Tokyo Narita Airport on arrival in Japan. And when you depart, you won't necessarily be using Kansai Airport.

When you do your open-jaw airfare search use TYO as your destination and you may see options for Tokyo Haneda as well as Narita.

For your return, use OSA as your departure location. That will show options for both Osaka Itami and Kansai airports.

Be aware that your search might yield itineraries from either Osaka airport that would require a transfer between Haneda and Narita.