Driving from Osaka to Kyoto, Nara n Takayama

I have a one year old baby + my parents and my husband, and i am thinking of driving from Osaka to Kyoto and then to Nara and Takayama. Its a bit of hassle of travel by train i think.

is it advisable to drive from Osaka to Kyoto and then to Nara n then to Takayama and then drive back to Osaka?

Even with a baby and older parents it is probably easiest to travel between the cities by train and then utilize taxis for local transport.

Thanks. Would like to know more on why not advisable to drive? i read some of the forums and most people advised against driving within the city (traffic jams and lack of parking lots).

but how about driving from one city to another city?

thanks again!

It really depends.

Can you read Japanese? Are you used to driving on the left side of the road and having the driver's seat on the right?

For me, the traffic lights are placed much further back from the stop line than I am used to, entries onto the highways ("IC"s) are sometimes ambiguous, toll is expensive, and Kyoto is a real maze if you have never been there. Even with a car navi, it can be quite a challenge with the small narrow alleys at some places. Also, parking is a real PITA.

I reckon most tourists wouldn't be driving in the cities or even inter-cities. It's just too much to acclimate to on a short trip.

From my personal experience, driving in Japan is as difficult as driving in London and Paris, and more difficult than in US.
If you have enough driving experience in
heavy traffic and if you can use navigation system properly, you won't have any problems.
Before start driving, check navigation system carefully and get used to navigation sysytem. Some buttons and icons might be displayed only in Japanese. It depends on models but the following video might be helpful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV-s8DfmGws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfYWehqJu60

One more thing you have to take care of is when and what time you are driving. Traffic is heavy in the morning and evening time like other major cities around the world. Avoid driving year end and mid summer: too much trafic jam like hell. Be careful driving in winter beacuse you might have sonw.

The following page might be helpful to get info about the current road conditions such as traffic jam, road closure , and tire chain requirement. Engilsh page is available:
http://www.drivetraffic.jp/pc_en/map.html

Enjoy your stay and driving in Japan.

I have done the itinerary that you plan to do several times both by car and by public transport, so this comes from experience.

Basically in all of those cities except Takayama, having a car will be a liability rather than a convenience. Getting between the cities is easy enough, but once you're in you'll really just want to leave the car at the hotel and use public transportation or taxis because navigating is difficult and parking is both expensive and inconvenient. A taxi will get you closer to the sites than you could ever park which minimizes walking, and will end up being cheaper than paying for parking.

Kyoto, Osaka and Nara are so well connected by fast, direct, cheap trains that there really isn't any advantage to use a car. But you might consider renting a car for your side trip to Takayama, as it will probably be cheaper and may be more convenient for seeing some of the sites that aren't in the central city.

Many thanks to everyone for the useful advices.