Kamakura and Nikko could each be full day trips from Tokyo. Takayama for a night, and if you go there, you might like to visit Shirakawa-go or Gokayama to see somewhere that is not a city. Kanazawa for night or two. Kyoto for 3 - 5 nights. Day trip to Nara from Kyoto is possible, but I like Nara's feel so I would spend a night there. It is possible to do all you want, but you may feel rushed. Do a bit of reading about each place and prioritize what you want to see. It is my preference to slow down and see places well rather than see lots of places, but everyone is different.

www.hyperdia.com for train schedules and prices. Price you would pay is the total, not only the fare, were you to buy tickets. You can plug in your trips, get the fares, add them up, then compare to the cost of a JR Pass.

JR Pass info http://www.japanrailpass.net/ Basically, it is valid on JR trains and buses. When you use www.hyperdia.com you will see if a train is JR or another company. JR is the norm rather than the exception, though there are a few places JR just does not serve, like Hakone for example.

Thanks for your suggestions. Is there an "order" that makes sense regarding train travel? We would prefer to keep going until it's time to return to Tokyo which is why we thought perhaps we'd spend a night at Nikko or Kamakura without returning to Tokyo and then go from one of those cities to the next, etc. We'd like to minimize time in Tokyo due to expense and size of city (we live in a pretty big one!) Are there trains that run from either Nikko or Kamakura that go to Takayama or Kanazawa? And then on to Kyoto? (or something like that?) I agree that it's better to really SEE a place but don't know if we'd ever return and all of these mentioned places sounded lovely. You mentioned two places that are not cities - are they parks or shrines? Is there one place you'd totally eliminate?

We plan at least three nights in Kyoto so even if we made it four -- plus two in Tokyo - we'd have eight nights to play with.

Fourteen days is pretty good duration of time. It appears you prefer outdoor scenery over the lights and sounds of a big city. If that is the case, you would be better off spending most of your time in Kyoto and Kansai area, rather than Tokyo.

I would stay in Tokyo for the first 2 or 3 nights. Then I would day or overnight trips to Nikko and Hakone. Afterwhich, start migrating southwest to Kamakura, Takayama, Kanazawa, Nagoya and stay a night in 2 of those places. Then I would make Osaka/Kyoto your base for a your remaining days. There are tonnes of sights to see in the Kansai area (like Nara, Kobe, Osaka, Himeji, Kyoto, Mount Koya).

After which, if you have a yearning to buy stuff, you can still go to Osaka to buy stuff and eat, as Kyoto is only separated 10 mins by train. And then just take the train back to Narita.

You should get the 7day JR Pass, since you plan to visit a few cities in between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka.

What I suggest is to not activate your 7day JR pass until the day you start heading towards the Kyoto area. If you use it on the first day by accident, then you ll be stuck paying for the train trip from Kyoto to Tokyo and then the trip to Narita airport, which would come to like $150. So make sure your JR pass is valid on your last day.

The JR pass is not economical for train travel if you traveling just within the city of Tokyo.

In order to figure out train travel for times, fares, etc.

use this link:

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

You can pretty much plan out everything train related and the schedule is highly accurate.

Hi forgamez,

On the Hyperdia link, what do they mean when they list "fare" and then "charge" and then a total amount? Also, when they say first course, second course, do they mean "choice"? (some trains faster/slower than others, etc?) I typed in Tokyo and then Nikko to see what the fare would be.

I'm still confused about activating the JR pass, however, because we would need it to go to our first place after Tokyo and it seems like we would need then to buy a 14 day pass. If we only spend two nights in Tokyo, and then start moving on (Nikko,

Kamkura, Takayama, etc.) we would need more than a 7 day pass, no? PLEASE ADVISE. Also, could you suggest the ORDER of visits that makes the most sense for the time we have. Thanks so much.

On www.hyperdia.com, the price that you pay for tickets is FARE plus CHARGE. The fare is the basic cost of point A to point B and the CHARGE is the supplement you pay for faster trains. The only time you can pay the fare price alone is on the slowest local trains that stop at every stop. Local trains typically have bench seating and take a very long time.

The order that you go places will depend on exactly where you decide to go, the timeframe you plan (for JR Pass use), and what works for you. Get out a good map and plot out your destinations. Then plug them into www.hyperdia.com and check the time and number of changes of train, trying different orders until you have a satisfactory schedule.

You get 5 choices for each search...to get more, change the time. If you are using a JR Pass check the box that says "except Nozomi" as the JR Pass is not valid on the Nozomi.

Your question about the two places I mentioned that were not cities...Shirakawa-go (town) and Gokayama (group of villages) are World Heritage sites. They are villages of thatched roof houses in the country/mountain area between Kanazawa and Takayama.