16 day itinerary - first time family of 4

Hello everyone!

I am planning our first trip to Japan for our family of 4 (2 adults and 2 young teens) for 16 days in mid March 2024. We're looking to enjoy a little bit of everything that's great about Japan:) Below is our tentative itinerary:

Day 1 - arrive Narita
Day 2 to 4 - Tokyo
Day 5 - Tokyo to Osaka
Day 6 to 8 - Osaka, including 1 day at Universal Studio and 1 day trip to Nara
Day 9 - Osaka to Kyoto
Day 10 - Kyoto
Day 11 - Kyoto to Tokyo
Day 12 to 15 - Tokyo
Day 16 - return home via Narita

I am looking for some recommendations about the following:
- Would like to include 1 night stay in a ryokan along the way. Advice on some family friendly ryokans and which day in the itinerary?
- The amount of time in Osaka vs Kyoto.

Thanks!

Amount of time in Osaka vs Kyoto, for me that’s 0 in Osaka. I have been on extended business trips including many weekends and so far I haven’t found interesting things to do in Osaka. So if I am now in Osaka (for business) I would spend my weekend elsewhere (Kyoto, Nara, Biwako…).

Can you check if you can get an open jaw flight getting into Tokyo and leaving from KIX?

Regarding Ryokan stay, maybe a night in Nara?

Hi
As mentioned before
Kyoto instead of Osaka as the base . From there you can travel to Nara Uji Osaka and Kyoto itself that has a lot to offer. , Shrines ,gardens , shopping , train museum etc...
Also the days of travel between the big cities you have time to enjoy either Tokyo or Kyoto . Check closing time of the sites .
And check USJ a few years ago the fast pass was expensive and even sold out if i remember well
In 11 days we even went to Nagano area seeing the snow Monkeys . If youll find an open jaw flight you can in 16 days see more places and still it will be relaxed enough in my opinion

I agree that Nara would be a great choice for a ryokan stay. Nara was always a hit with our kids when we travelled with them, I am liking it more than Kyoto.

Another place would be Kamakura (take a night from your Tokyo time, as it is close to Kamakura). I really like Enoshima which is a small island off Kamakura (access by bridge) with dragon themes, caves, a nice shrine, and Fuji views if you are lucky, also a bunch of hawks hang around there, like dozens of them. We have stayed a few times at Iwamotoro Honkan there which is very nice, the food is very heavy on fish.

Also Lalaca at Gora (Hakone) was a fantastic kid friendly ryokan, the Japanese/western rooms are massive.

Thank you for all the ideas!

Day 6 ,7 , 8 =3 day in Osaka, Nara
You can buy JR west Nara ken enjoymentfree pass 3 Day =3260 yen