Japan Visit in Oct-14

Hi
I am visiting japan this Oct from 17-26th with my family (husband-wife and a 7 yr old son).
I would like to take help in finalising my itinerary. A draft itinerary is:
17 Oct - Arriving Tokyo around 2pm immediately leave for Kyoto - reaching there by late evening
18-19 Oct Kyoto
20-21 Oct Hakone
22-23 Oct Tokyo (including one day Disney land or Disney sea)
24 Oct day trip to Nikko
25-26 Tokyo - departure 26th evening

Upon first arrival in Tokyo I am planning to leave directly for Kyoto as its Friday and I would like to cover Tokyo/Nikko on a weekday to avoid crowded theme park or Nikko day trip also to better utilise last half day before leaving as I am in Tokyo on 26th

Please help me with my questions:
1. Is my decision to leave for Kyoto upon arrival on 17 make sense? would I be able to reach Kyoto in time and comfortably by train?(specially journey after a 7 hr flight)
2. Which rail pass to go for considering I will be travelling to Kyoto /Hakone and Nikko. (I read JR pass does not work as good for travelling within Nikko but a Tobu 2 day Nikko pass is better ?)
3. Would Nikko be comfortable in 1 day trip - I will be mainly interested in nature and autumn foliage i.e. Ryuzu kegon waterfall, lake, Shinkyo Bridge etc covering all shrines would not be a priority.
4. I would like to experience Onsen (preferably outdoor and out of Tokyo), should I combine it with a Ryokan stay in Hakone/Nikko (overnight)? what is a better option & good value for money?
5. is there any better option for Mt Fuji visit than going to Hakone (no hiking planned, visiting mainly to enjoy natural beauty and views of Mt Fuji & Onsen if possible)

Appreciate your views and guidance.

Thanks

1. Yes, no problem.
2. Since you are not doing the Tokyo-Kyoto round trip within 7 days, a countrywide JR Pass will not pay off. You might want to consider flying between Tokyo and Osaka/Kyoto (especially if yout Tokyo flights are at Narita, a LCC flight is significantly cheaper than a Shinkansen trip).

I can't comment on your other points.

Ah sorry, you can ignore the part about the JR pass not paying off, I misread your messages. LCC flight for Tokyo/Osaka will still be cheaper, however.

1. Yes.
2. Since you are making a round trip between Tokyo and Kyoto within a 7-day period, you could geta 7-day Japan Rail Pass. You can use it: Narita - Tokyo - Kyoto - Odawara (closest JR Shinkansen to get to Hakone) - Tokyo.
But 14-day JR Pass does not pay off, so do not get it just to cover Nikko. Then it would be better to buy a Tobu pass and use Tobu railway.
3. Simply start early in the morning, then it is doable. Note that Nikko will be pretty crowded during the autumn foliage season (but it is beautiful!).
4. As you are already planning to stay over in Hakone, yes you could choose to stay in a "ryokan" inn in Hakone.
5. You "could" opt to go for Lake Kawaguchi area if your main aim is to view Mt. Fuji. But we've been able to see Mt. Fuji from Hakone in the past :)

While Firas and AK already answered your questions, I will just add that Tokyo is big and it's good to chose your place of stay with regards to your plans to avoid a lot of time spent in trains/subway.

For Nikko, I also suggest Tobu and one day is fine - we managed all major temples, bridge, lake and Kegon falls in one day without issues. I would take the Spacia Express train - it's not fully covered by the pass so you need to pay the express surcharge but it saves quite some time. You can check schedules here (Spacia are the pink "limited express" columns):
http://www.tobu.co.jp/foreign/pdf/timetables.pdf

Regarding #1:

Will you fly into Narita International Airport [NRT] or Tokyo International Airport [HND, Haneda Airport]?

would I be able to reach Kyoto in time and comfortably by train?(specially journey after a 7 hr flight)

Generally speaking, yes, Tokaido Shinkansen super-express trains are fast and stable.
Considering that there will be a small kid being tired after a 7-hour flight (and the immigration procedure), it may be better to stay overnight in Tokyo and head to Kyoto in the following day.

Flying into NRT or HND, you will travel first to Tokyo Station or Shinagawa Station in order to use Shinkansen.
NRT is actually located outside Tokyo Metropolis. From a station in NRT you should take one or two trains for about 1 hour before using Shinkansen.
HND is located closer. You can get to Shinagawa in one train within 30 minutes.
Tokyo or Shinagawa Station and Kyoto Station are connected by Shinkansen "Nozomi" or "Hikari" in about 2 and a half hours per way.

By the way, have you confirmed that you cannot choose Kansai International Airport [KIX]?
(There seems to be at least 2 flights a day from SIN to KIX, one with departure in the afternoon and arrival in the night, another with departure after the midnight and arrival in the morning.)

KIX is located in Osaka Prefecture, in the same Kansai Region as Kyoto Prefecture is.
Although no Shinkansen service is available from KIX, you can take one Ltd. Express train to Shin-Osaka Station or Kyoto Station.
If you can choose KIX and arrive in the night, I recommend you would stay overnight near the airport or in Osaka City (for example near Tennoji Station) and head to Kyoto City in the following day.

Regarding Kyoto, the Jidai Matsuri will take place on the 22nd October, so if that is something your family might be interested in, consider switching your itinerary around, e.g.:

18-19 Oct: Hakone
20 Oct: Nikko
21-22 Oct: Kyoto
23-26 Oct: Tokyo

With an itinerary like this you could cram all your trips into a 7-day JR Pass, although transportation in central Nikko would not be included.

I'll be travelling to most of those places around the same time as you, but we have instead opted for a day trip to Hakone and spending the night at a ryokan in Nikko.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.these are really helpful, informative and given me lot of clarity to choose various available options.

I have already booked Singapore Tokyo flight which lands at Narita so can't change it to Kyoto/Osaka.
However I checked Narita to Osaka flight, and it seems convenient and cheaper option.

Thanks Pirilampo for highlighting about Jidai matsuri festival at Kyoto, I'll check and see if I can change my itinerary. One question I have is, whether I would get accommodation easily during this festive period? And if yes, would it be too costly during this period vs other days.

About Nikko/Hakone: I want to make up my mind on whether to stay at Nikko overnight by reducing 1night at Hakone. My primary consideration would be which place is less crowded during these days? I would go with it.

Hakone vs. Kawaguchi: How easy is to travel from Kyoto to Hakone vs Kyoto to kawaguchi?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

If you decide to fly from NRT to the Osaka area, the cheapest option will be Jetstar, they have a flight leaving NRT at 5pm (so it will leave you some time to cool off between the two flights) and arriving at KIX at 6:25, for 3290 yen currently (checked baggage will add about 1500 yen). Then at KIX you can get the Icoca & Haruka package to go to Kyoto. All in all, this will cost you about 6000 yen to reach Kyoto from NRT, which is less than half the price of N'EX+Shinkansen tickets.

(And if flying with a low-cost carrier bothers you, you can get an ANA flight to either KIX or ITM for about 10000 yen with the "Experience Japan" fare.)

Firas: if they will have JR Pass (which I assume from the original post), than it does not make sense to compare prices between flight and train to Kyoto and flying just adds more overall costs and makes the pass less advantageous.

It does make sense, because it shows that the JR Pass is not the most economical way to go. If the question asks basically "which of the 7 or 14 days JR Pass will be best?", it would be doing a disservice to not mention that the best option really is "none".

It's also not obvious to me that OP has already bought his JR Pass, he's probably working under the assumption that he will buy one, because you basically always hear in the "mainstream" circles that if you go to Japan, you must have one (we've even had a question recently asking whether it's possible to ride the Shinkansen without one!). But with his itinerary, it might not be the best way to go.

[Interregional transportation]

Regarding Question #2:

However I checked Narita to Osaka flight, and it seems convenient and cheaper option.

I am not sure whether the 7-year-old boy would prefer a Shinkansen super-express ride or a domestic flight, but if you fly from NRT to KIX, a Japan Rail Pass is not likely to save much cost for your current itinerary unless you use JR-East in your Nikko trip.

There is also Osaka Airport [ITM, Itami Airport] in the same Kansai Region as Kansai Airport [KIX] is, but a railroad route to Kyoto Station is simpler if you choose KIX.

To travel from Kyoto City to Tokyo Metropolis, Shinkansen is recommendable.
It is a roundabout to take trains to KIX or ITM and from NRT or HND while a direct Shinkansen train is available.

[Flights, air passes and stations]

Singapore Airlines SQ 5904 / United Airlines UA 9674 will be operated by All Nippon Airways [NH, ANA]. These three companies use NRT Terminal 1: South Wing, and they belong to Star Alliance.
If you come to NRT by any of these two international flights and travel to KIX by an ANA domestic flight in October, you can choose a Star Alliance Japan Airpass.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html

Kansai International Airport [KIX] has two terminals.
Railroad stations are in KIX Terminal 1, but not in KIX Terminal 2.
Among so-called low-cost carriers, Jetstar is using KIX Terminal 1, while Peach Aviation is using KIX Terminal 2.

Narita International Airport [NRT] has two terminals.
Railroad operators JR-East and Keisei have Narita Airport Station(s) in NRT Terminal 1 and Airport Terminal 2 Station(s) in NRT Terminal 2.
When you head to NRT by rail, please note that Narita Station and Keisei Narita Station are located outside the airport.

If it's any help (I know all children are different), our 4 yr old coped just fine with arriving at Narita at about 3pm/4pm on a direct flight from London and then getting the NEX to Tokyo and going on to Kyoto on the same day.

Hi all
Thanks for your update.
As suggested I would take jetstar flight to Osaka from Narita at 5pm. And then KIX to kyoto by train with kyoto pass.
I was hoping if you can help me with following questions in this regards.
My plan is:

17 Oct Friday reaching kyoto by night
18/19 Oct Kyoto
20Oct Monday - Hakone
Question1. can I cover Hakone trip Ina day and reach tokyo by night? I know round trip can be covered from tokyo in a day but not sure about kyoto- Hakone-tokyo?
If not, I would stay overnight and leave for tokyo next morning

Question 2 As I am traveling from tokyo to Osaka by flight, Am I better off not taking a 7 day JR pass for my return journey from kyoto to tokyo via Hakone and then few days in tokyo? Should I just buy normal tickets for these 2 legs of journeys ?
2. I would be buying a 1 day Hakone pass while in Hakone, I trust JR pass does not cover Hakone train/cable car/ boat ride??

3. I will be taking a trip to Nikko either 1 day or 2 (if Hakone 1 day trip then Nikko stay overnight in Onsen and if Hakone stay overnight then Nikko a day trip from tokyo.

I heard JR pass is not the best way for tokyo to Hakone so buying tickets separately for tokyo- Hakone anyway.

Considering this pls help me on 1. Jr pass 2. Whether to stay in Hakone overnight or Nikko (yomoto Onsen). Also based on which is convenient from travel and better outdoor Onsen experience?

Thanks

Correction in above post for this para:
Instead of tokyo -Hakone, I meant tokyo Nikko : read updated as follows....

"I heard JR pass is not the best way for tokyo to Nikko so buying tickets separately for tokyo- Nikko anyway"

You can leave Kyoto City in the morning, visit Hakone and reach Tokyo by the midnight. But..., when the weather is fine on the both days, staying overnight in Hakone can result in a good choice, I suppose.