Traveling to Tokyo on April 4th, staying in Tokyo for 2 or 3 nights and planning to go to Kyoto. All hotels in Kyoto from April 7th-11th seem to be booked, i understand that its a high season and cherry tree blossom time but there is NOTHING.
Would anyone suggest staying in Osaka during those dates and coming to Kyoto for a day trip?

That is really prime time in Kyoto - have you checked japanican.com and rakuten.co.jp - I have seen them listed on various sites - it looked like they had some availability. Don't know what your budget is....

Yes, I think you can definitely stay in Osaka - the local train takes 30 to 40 minutes and costs ¥540.

Then we have a laps between Tokyo and Kyoto, 3 days in Tokyo, 3 days in Kyoto, would you suggest Osaka in between or something else?

Mara had exactly the same idea as me. I had a look at Japanican and they had quite a lot of places with availability, both in Kyoto central and Kyoto suburbs(over 50 places listed). Prices are high season of course but there were a few cheaper ones in amongst the expensive ones.

If price is a problem, then Osaka will give you much more leeway in that respect and tons of availability. Perhaps split it 2 nights in each to cut the price down.

I have used Japanican a couple of times and they were very efficient.

shandy, how are you? I just looked at your Japan trip report - I will be doing some parts of it in April....will stay at the Rickshaw in Takayama....

MME - how long is your lapse between Tokyo and Kyoto - will you have a JR pass?

you can check out eot j-bridges travels about your hotel and travel in kansai area.

we're coming into Tokyo on April 5th and leaving on 14th.
wanted to do 3 days in Tokyo, 2 days in Osaka or somewhere in that area and 3 days in Kyoto. Will have a JR pass. What is the best place to buy a JR pass in advance?

The ultimate purpose was to make the cherry blossom festival in Kyoto. However, reading Osaka reviews i see that there is also a festival. i dont want to jump around too much, so maybe Tokyo 5-10, Kyoto 11-14 with day trips

You could go to Hiroshima and then stay over in Miyajima for a night - that can be done as a long day trip also....you could go to Koyasan for a night as well....many possibilities....

You need to buy your JR pass before you go to Japan - don't know where you live -there's a list of vendors on the Japanrail website....

if im only planning to travel from Tokyo to Kyoto, not sure its a very smart idea to get the rail pass. We have six people and the total for JR pass will be almost 2000, im almost sure we can get a car to drive us to Kyoto for a lot less.
Any suggestions?

<i>im almost sure we can get a car to drive us to Kyoto for a lot less.
Any suggestions?</i>

If you are flying into Narita and out of Kansai then you don't need a rail pass and can get one way nozomi shinkansen tickets but if you have to fly out of Narita then the rail pass becomes more beneficial to you. Hiring a car is the most expensive option of travel in Japan I can think of between these two cities.

Aloha!