Travel to Kumano Kodo and to Ise

I have taken Shukoku pilgrimage but never been to Kumano Kodo. My wife and I are going to that region.
We will be coming from Osaka Airport (KIX) to Koyasan for one day and then we have 3 days and nights before we will need to be back in Kyoto. We would like to see the waterfall and shrine at Hongu Taisha and the shrine at Ise...would like to stay in a minshuku and ryokan to relax if possible and maybe walk a short way on the trail...we are not sure about how to do this concerning transportation and where should we stay...should we rent a car, take buses/trains...the books and internet don't seem to make it clear to me...maybe stay two nights on Kumano Kodo and one night in Ise...it seems train from Ise to Kyoto leaves at 0500 which is obviously inconvenient...leaving airport for Koyasan on May 9...exploring Koyasan on May 9 and would like to be back in Kyoto the evening of May 13th. Your help is greatly appreciated...Randall

Have you looked at the Kumano Tourist Association website? http://www.hongu.jp/en
It is very extensive and has suggested itineraries, transport details, accommodation listings, etc.

http://www.tb-kumano.jp/en/lodging/ this is also a good website (with details of onsens in the area as well as a good breakdown of the various walking routes into stages)

We've stayed at Yunomine (lovely and rural/old fashioned), Kawayu (more developed - the hotels are more modern), and Katsuura (the crazy hotel on an island - fantastic cave baths but a monster of a hotel), and we've visited Shirahame (a truly excellent quick onsen stop-off en route to Katsuura) and Ryujin (lovely drive to/from there to Koyasan. Ryujin itself was nice, but not as nice as Yunomine).

There are buses that will travel between the shrines, and also bus access to Yunomine (and I guess to the other places), but we hired a car as it gave us a bit more flexibility.

You could hire a car from KIX, drive to Koyasan then round the Kumano Kodo area and drop the car off at KIX, or you could do the same thing from e.g. Wakayama (Wakayama to KIX is an easy and frequent bus journey).