How would you recommend I get from Narita Airport to Kyoto for a quick three days trip? Is there a rail connection?

Easiest is Narita Express to JR Tokyo (1 hour) and Tokaido Shinkansen to Kyoto (around 2.5 hours). If you have a Japan Rail Pass, you can use it for Narita Express and Hikari Shinkansen (around two an hour). If you are paying as you go, N'Express is a shade under 3000 yen and you have a choice of 5-6 Nozomi Shinkansen an hour, which gets to Kyoto in about 2 and a quarter hours (around 14000 yen one-way)..

You can also take the NEX to Shinagawa(1 hr 24 minutes) thus avoiding the long walk and awesome crowds at Tokyo station. The NEX arrives in the bowels of the fifth floor basement, southeast corner of Tokyo station. You then have to go up 3 levels and over to the far north west corner of the station to transfer to a shinkansen. I have done this and its a long walk.

Shinagawa on the other hand is a much smaller station and is a shinkansen stop. You can connect on the Nozomi or Hikari there and save yourself the long walk (especially if you have a bag)and maybe some time.

Aloha!

Here's the plan for the Shinagawa station:

www.jreast.co.jp/estation/stations/788.html

The NEX uses platform 15, and the Shinkansen towards Kyoto uses platforms 23 & 24. Should be pretty easy.

I agree changing at Shinagawa is easier. However, there are fewer N'Express going to Shinagawa, even if you include connecting service via Tokyo (same platform, a couple of minutes' wait while the train is divided). N'Express is around two an hour, while Shinagawa service is around one an hour. You can take commuter train on Yamanote or Keihin Tohoku line to connect between Tokyo and Shinagawa, but it's just as easy to walk further 100 yds to catch Shinkansen.

I'd like to recommend Hyperdia. It'll give you the train schedules -- the only catch is, you need to know the station names. But Narita, and Kyoto are both pretty easy.

http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi

Kyoto is absolutely beautiful . . . I wish I could go again.

According to this timetable from JR East, all trains stop at Shinagawa:

http://www.jreast.co.jp/nex/timetabl...ita/index.html

It appears that they split the train at Tokyo, then one part continues south to Shinagawa and beyond (Yokohama and so on); the other part goes NW towards Shinjuku.

rkkwan, perhaps your Japanese language skills need some sprucing up (as you did point us to the Japanese lang schedule).

In the afternoon, when many flights from North America and Southeast Asia arrive in Tokyo, only about half the trains stop at Shinagawa. For example, looking at the J-schedule, N'Ex trains #34, 38, and 42 don't stop @Shinagawa.

Alternatively, you can fly Narita-Osaka (Itami) if you're arriving late pm.

rizzuto - You're correct. I didn't check the whole timetable.

Thank you all for the great info info.