Itinerary for Osaka over the New Year

We, a family of 2 adults and 2 children, will be travelling to Osaka during Christmas and New Year for about 11 days. From Osaka, we plan to visit Kyoto, Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go, Takayama and Nagoya. Understand that transportation may be difficult over the New Year and some places of attraction, shops and eateries may be closed. Need some advise as to how to best plan our itinerary so that we get to visit as many places as possible before or after they close. Also, what would be the recommended mode of transportation?...rent a car or any JR passes that will best suit our itinerary? Thanks in advance!

From the places you mentioned there is a JR Hokuriku pass that allows to travel to Kanazawa/Takayama/Shirakawago/Nagoya from either Osaka or Kyoto. It is only for 5 days but this pass allows to visit Shirakawago on bus from either Kanazawa or Takayama. The normal JR pass don't cover this bus network on Shirakawago.
So you could do Osaka and Kyoto normally (if you want check the JR regional passes for Kansai), then use the Hokuriku pass starting in Kanazawa.
Rental car is also an option since you are four, but I never needed one since I use public transports only while in Japan, so I can't help you with that. I hope everything goes well and enjoy your trip!

As for the time you are going. My advice will be staying on just one place on new years (many things close, so better to stay on just one location just in case, and transport might get too crowded), and use the other days for travelling.

Enjoy!!!

Only only gave vague info like 11 days etc but not much more. Most eateries and tourist locations are still open. Museums etc are closed. So you need to find out which places close, and then place your itinerary around those.

Thanks catiasmteixeira & hakata14 for your replies! So far my itinerary looks like this:

24-26/12 : Osaka
27-29/12 : Kyoto & Nara
30/12 : Kanazawa
31/12-1/1 : Takayama & Nagoya
2/1 : Shirakawaga (only managed to get accommodation on this date)
3/1 : return to Osaka to fly off 4/1

Do you think this itinerary is doable especially transport wise if we don�ft rent a car?

Yes it is doable. Transports won't be closing but might have different timetable for New Years. My advice is for you to check the bus timetable for that dates for the Shirakawago trip.

Do you really want to stay 3 days in Osaka? Or are you planning to visit Universal Studios or the Aquarium on one of those days? You arrive on the 24th (so a rest day after flight), then you have the 25th to explore the city, I think two days is plenty enough, unless on the 24th you arrive late at night.
As for Nagoya, you are going back and forth with that days, you're visiting Takayama on the 31st and the next day Nagoya, but to go to Shirakawago you need to go back to Takayama to catch the bus.

I would put it this way.
24th: Osaka Arrival
25th: Osaka
26th: Kyoto Central Area
27th: Kyoto Higashiyama District
28th: Kyoto Arashiyama Area
29th: Nara
30th: Kanazawa Arrival
31th: Kanazawa
1st: Takayama
2nd: Shirakawago
3rd: Osaka return
4th: Departure

But if you really want to go to Nagoya, then stick to your itinerary. I hope you have a great time in Japan.

Thank you so much for your suggestion! Yes, we want to take the kids to Universal Studios and will consider skipping Nagoya.

Ok, nice then. So keep the beginning of your original itinerary the same.

Usually for Shirakawago, the normal route is Kanazawa-Shirakawago-Takayama, but since every date was unavailable except for the one you booked, it's fine. To get back at Osaka from Takayama, catch the train to Toyama, then the Shinkansen to Kanazawa and then the train to Osaka. This is included in the JR Hokuriku Pass.

Thank you so much for your suggestion! Yes, we want to take the kids to Universal Studios and will consider skipping Nagoya.

Unless there is something you really need to see in Nagoya, go. But if not, save yourself money and time and traveling and omit it.

The 3rd of Jan back to Osaka will probably be one of the busiest days for transport.

If it was me, I'd do all the big traveling first, and spend new years and your last few days in Osaka/Kyoto.