Hi

I will be flying in to Japan 2nd week of December to visit few places

Tokyo, Osaka, Hakone, Kyoto and Kawaguchi

Where should i fly in and from there where should i go and end my trip ?

Your call!
Do you like to start trips with relaxation or vibrant city life?
Do you want to start with traditional Japan or modern Japan?
Will climate affect your choices? (Consult weatherspark.com
Are there events that appeal? (Consult japan-guide.com

Japan is fascinating -- enjoy!

No particular event. No particular preference. Important thing is the time taken. If 2 places are nearby each other then better go those 2. Like if point B is between A and C, then prefer to go A B then C

Unless you have something you want to schedule something like a baseball game game it doesn’t matter whether you fly into Tokyo or Osaka. I do prefer Haneda vs Narita in Tokyo

How should the route be eg if i fly in from Tokyo, where's next between these ( Osaka, Hakone, Kyoto and Kawaguchi). Then after that where in order to save time and not backtrack

How should the route be eg if i fly in from Tokyo, where's next between these ( Osaka, Hakone, Kyoto and Kawaguchi). Then after that where in order to save time and not backtrack

You can get routing info by looking at a map and consulting japan-gude.com for how to get from place to place.

You should fly into TYO or OSA. Those are the All Airports codes for Tokyo and Osaka. Fly into one and return from the other (open-jaw/multicity) or make a simple roundtrip to/from either. Best fare would probably be Tokyo and preferred airport would be Tokyo Haneda (HND).

I think ht once mentioned that the gingko trees in Showa Kinen Park might have autumn color in the beginning of December. Maybe not 2nd week. Would be weeks past the peak of fall colors in Kyoto.

You should consider visting Hakone or Kawaguchiko, not both. Hakone would fit a simpler route, Tokyo - Hakone - Kyoto - Osaka.

If you want it all then Tokyo - Kawaguchiko - Hakone - Kyoto - Osaka would absolutely minimize backtracking. But finishing in Kyoto would involve very minor backtracking.

Was thinking that going to Kawaguchiko would mean returning to Tokyo, but that is not the case. There is a bus between Kawaguchiko and Hakone (Fuji-Hakone National Park). Thing is: Kawaguchiko to Kyoto/Osaka would not be a good idea (bad idea due to being complicated and involving backtracking).

ETA: Go ahead and go for all, but that depends on how much time you have. This would be nutty if you only have that one week.

If you fly into OSA the route would be the reverse of above.

I assume you mean Kawaguchiko and not the city of Kawaguchi in Saitama-ken.


If you fly home from TYO then Kyoto after Osaka would be better (not by a lot).

thanks so much for the info. Yes Kawaguchiko the lake. Is there any difference between 2 airports in Tokyo ?

Tokyo Narita (NRT) is farther from the city than Tokyo Haneda (HND). Public transportation from either airport ranges from cheap to inexpensive. That would be from less than $5 from HND or about $6 from NRT to about $20 on the Narita Express. Taxi would be about US$60 vs $200 (ballpark).

HND has many more domestic flights/connections than NRT. Haneda used to be domestic only. LCCs, like Zipair or Jetstar, would fly to NRT. Expect that airlines that fly to both airports would have their best/newest business class seating on HND flights. For example, JAL's A351 to HND vs their 787s going to NRT. The former is superior. Same applies to other classes, am pretty sure.

On some aircraft the JAL premium economy is in pods. To recline, the seats slide forward instead of the typical seatback leaning back taking room from the passenger behind. With that newer seating you would see no difference if the seat in front of you was reclined or not. That is my understanding, not experience.

Yesterday, I wrote:
Best fare would probably be Tokyo and preferred airport would be Tokyo Haneda (HND).

s/b
Best fare would probably be Tokyo Narita (NRT) and preferred airport would be Tokyo Haneda (HND).

(oh, wait, what I was saying yesterday was that you would probably get a better fare to Tokyo than Osaka)