I have been researching extensively, and while there is so much to see in Japan, we simply can't do it all in a week. We arrive on a Saturday afternoon, and depart on the following Sunday afternoon, both from NRT. We aren't big fans of wasting time trying to see everything. We like to get to know the neighborhood we are in. In hindsight, we would have flown into NRT, and out of Osaka, but it's too late for that. Now, we likely will spend our first 2 days in Tokyo, then spend 2 days in Kyoto, and come back to spend final 3 days in Tokyo again. Kind of sucks to split the trip up like that, but I'm not sure what choice we have. We don't really want to go direct to Osaka after a long trip from North America to Japan.

First - should we train, or fly to Kyoto (Osaka)?
Is the JR Pass necessary for this? On first glance, it seems like it is not, and even if we used the NEX train from NRT, we could only use it once, since our trip actually spans 8 days.

If you think Kyoto is not the "one" other place we should see, or theres something to see on the way, please chime in.

Thanks!

The closest airport with commercial service for Kyoto is Itami airport at Osaka, where have to take bus between Kyoto and Osaka Itami airport. Travel between Tokyo and Kyoto you will not save any time by flying. Actually flying may take little longer. I say take train between Tokyo and Kyoto.

As for JR pass, 7 days JR pass is 29,110 yen. If you buy individual reserve seating on JR on Narita Airport – Tokyo – Kyoto – Tokyo – Narita Airport, it will come out as 33,380 yen per person. Where 33,380 yen per person is using Nozomi on Tokyo – Kyoto where Nozomi departs every 10 minutes. JR Pass is not valid on Nozomi, only valid on Hikari or Kodama where Hikari runs only every 30 minutes.

I think it is your decision if you want to use JR pass or not.

P.S. Since your travel is 8 days, 7 Days JR Pass plus one way Narita Airport - Tokyo on Narita Express will come out to be 32,130 yen. If you utilize a lot of local JR trains at Kyoto and Tokyo to get around places, then JR Pass option will come out cheaper, but by how much cheaper depends on how much JR trains you will ride at Kyoto and Tokyo. There will be situations in Kyoto and Tokyo where you need to take non-JR trains where JR Passes are not valid.

Thanks. I guess my other struggle, is, is it worth spending 60,000 yen to get two nights in Kyoto.

You have over a week. I would suggest splitting your stay a little better, perhaps 3 or even 4 days in Kyoto/Osaka/Nara.

You may not realize that you can set your 7-day Rail Pass to start on any day you wish. Since you don't want to take the 2-1/2 hour train trip directly from Tokyo to Kyoto upon arrival, you could plan on spending a night in Tokyo near one of the major rail stations and traveling to Kyoto in the morning. Pay as you go for the ride into Tokyo - either train or limo-bus - and activate the Rail Pass for the following day or the day after. Then the Rail Pass will cover the last 7 days of your visit, including the round trip to/from Kyoto and the Narita Express train back to NRT when you leave. For the round trip plus the airport train, the Rail Pass definitely saves you money. I would never suggest flying from Tokyo-Itami-Tokyo. The shinkansen (bullet train) is definitely the way to go.

Kyoto should be given more than a couple of part days to appreciate. I would suggest at least 2 days in and around Kyoto plus a day trip to nearby Nara while still based in Kyoto. If you want something different, take part of one day and go to (also nearby) Osaka for a few hours but I would put that at a lower priority than Kyoto and Nara, which are fine examples of older, traditional and historic Japan than Osaka or Tokyo.

I think splitting 8 days in Japan into 2-Tokyo, 2-Kyoto, and 4-Tokyo again is an inefficient use of the time.

If you're flying in from Canada (via YVR?), it's likely that your flight will arrive in the late afternoon, which means that you'll be capable of little else than finding your way into the city (bus or train), checking into a hotel and going to sleep. However, I suggest staying awake till at least 10PM Tokyo time, even if you have to force yourself. This will help put you on a local time schedule.

You will wake up early, but this means you can have breakfast and go to the large station nearest your hotel to validate your JR Pass and head for Kyoto, arriving around noon.

There's a lot to see in Kyoto and vicinity, but don't expect quaintness all around. Your first view of Kyoto will be of the futuristic main train station and the business districts around it. The city's charm is in its other neighborhoods.

Nara can easily be a day trip. The capital of Japan in the eighth century, its main sites are clustered together in a park-like setting.

Concentrating on Tokyo and the Kyoto-Nara area will give you glimpses of modern and traditional Japan. For such a short trip, adding other cities, especially such business-oriented places as Osaka and Kobe, doesn't make much sense. They may be worthwhile destinations for a second trip, but this itinerary is Japan 101.

If it's your first trip to Japan and you think you will eventually have a return visit, I'd probably suggest just staying in Tokyo. There's enough sites in Tokyo and day trips around it to keep things interesting for a week for a first timer. But I love Kyoto though, so I wouldn't hold it against you if you really wanted to head there for two days.

One trip, we have landed in the evening at NRT and then directly trained it down to Hiroshima. We found it kind of a rough go.
If heading to Kyoto midtrip, I'd probably take the shinkansen to save all the overhead of flying (getting to the airport outside of town vs a train station in town, luggage check, security, etc).
The alternative I'd suggest looking into is seeing if you can get a cheap connecting flight to Kyoto after you land at NRT. Then you can start your trip in Kyoto and train it up to Tokyo to end your trip. If you are flying JAL or ANA... for our previous trips, some Japanese airlines offered a cheap add-on flight within Japan if you bought your overseas flight with them.

What time is your return flight?

We just got back from Japan. Our final night was in Kyoto. We caught the Shinkansen at 0956 and reached Narita around 1330.
If your flight departs after 1700, you could spend 5 nights in Tokyo and 2 nights in Kyoto. However, that will give you only a day and a half in Kyoto-You'll need more time than that.

Jay71 has a good suggestion. Leave Kyoto for a future visit.

To me, I would strongly recommend not bothering with Kansai (Kyoto/Osaka) at all, unless you're certain you won't re-visit Japan any more in the foreseeable future.

For your 7 day itinerary, I'd just spend 4-5 days in Tokyo and the rest doing short day or overnight trips to the nearby areas (Fuji five lakes, Nikko, Hakone for scenery, Kamakura for culture, maybe Kusatsu or somewhere around Nagano for onsen).

And then come back a second time for Kyoto/Osaka/Nara/Kobe.

Thanks everyone. We are a young couple - only 30 - and travel alot, so I am sure we will make it back to Japan a few times in our life. We love thriving cities, nightlife (not clubs, but finding fun bars/restaurants), exploring everything a city has to offer, etc. To compare to New York, we love lower manhatten (LES, SOHO, NOLITA, CHINATOWN, WEST VILLAGE, ETC). To be honest, temples, museums, etc. aren't our thing, but that being said, Kyoto area looks beautiful, and I know we would also enjoy it. We were most looking forward to renting bikes and riding around the city to explore. It sounds like it makes more sense to do Tokyo and area (day trips or closer overnight trips) for the entire trip. I have been focusing my research on tokyo and kyoto, but I think I will shift to some of the areas you suggested that are closer.

For only a week, this might be a better idea. Nearby Kamakura will give you a taste of the temple, historic side of Japan more commonly seen in Kyoto and Nikko makes a nice day trip into the mountains for a glimpse of the days of the shoguns. If you want another day out of the city, the direct train from Shinjuku to Matsumoto (called the Super Azusa) makes for a quick trip into the mountains and a nice castle to visit.

You sound a bit like me. Temples and old things are boring, unless there's food, festivals or nature involved. I take Tokyo any day over Kyoto, but many will disagree. Even then I found Kyoto mesmerizing the first time I went, and I do think you and most other people will enjoy it. Definitely worth going at least once or twice. For an 8-day trip to Jpn, I definitely think you could fit in both Tokyo and Kyoto. On the other hand, you'll never run out of stuff to do by just staying in Tokyo.

If you do decide to go to Kyoto after all, then I'd suggest doing what abacaxi said. Spend the last night in Kyoto. It's only ~4hr from Kyoto to NRT (give/take a few depending on how the connection works out at Tokyo/Shinagawa to N.Express). So spend the first 5 nights in Tokyo, last 3 nights in Kyoto. No sense in changing hotels 3 times.

My thinking is that for some people staying at one general area for one week is little much regardless of if there are enough activities to occupy self for one week or not. I happen to be that person. I totally agree that Tokyo offers enough to keep visitors occupied for one week. For me I would want to move to different location, and do not think I can stay at one general location for a week.

However, for other staying at one general area for a week is no problem if there are things to do for visitors. So, I think question about if a person should make a trip to Kyoto or not depends on the traveler. Only the traveler can answer that question if they should make a trip to Kyoto or not.

I would say we are OK with sticking around 1 place. We may split our stay into two neighborhoods or hotels, just to get a different local flavor. Also, with the day trips suggested, it would feel like we are "getting out" during the trip. The Onsen's are interesting to us for a day trip for sure. It looks like we can rent bikes in Kamakura and explore that day on bikes as well.

Alternatively, it sounds like if we are bored in Tokyo by day 4 or 5, we can hop on a train and cap our trip off with Kyoto, then head straight to NRT from there.

I don't know when your trip is (maybe you already mentioned and I missed it), but quality accommodation in Kyoto may be difficult to secure on a short notice these days.

Trip is in October. I'll have multiple rooms for multiple scenarios prebooked thru my Corp rate, with free cancellation up to 6pm day of