7 day Itinerary Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo

We have only 7 nights in Japan, landing 1600 on a Sunday in Osaka and leaving Tokyo 1400 the following Sunday last week of September. Trying to plan hotels and wondering how many nights in each city would be ideal. Plan to take bullet train to Kyoto and from Kyoto to Tokyo. Also, an nearby side trips that are better than cities themselves? Thanks for any help.

It entirely depends on your personal interests. If you are most interested in traditional and historic Japan, I recommend to stay most of your time in Kyoto. If you are most interested in modern culture and shopping, I recommend to stay most of your time in Tokyo. If you want to see both, balance the days accordingly. It depends on your interest!

About Kyoto:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html

About Osaka:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2157.html

About Tokyo:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html

A week full of sightseeing can be:
Buy a 7 day JR Railpass Ordinary Class in your home country .
Sun after arrival at Kix activate and by train 17.16 h to Kyoto arr 18.32 overnight Kyoto
Mon full day Kyoto /overnight Kyoto
Tue full day Kyoto /overnight Kyoto
Wed lv Kyoto 07.42 h by shinkansen arr 08.30 Himeji walk to castle visit for 120 min back to station for 11.29 h shinkansen to Hiroshima change to local line to Miyajimaguchi JR ferry to Mijayima Island arrive there around 13.30 h stay for 90 min back by train and later tram at 15.14 h for A-Bomb side arrive around 16.00 h stay for 60 min by tram to station for 17.39 h shinkansen to Kyoto arr 20.25 overnight Kyoto
Thu ( preferably send luggage Wednesday already to Tokyo hotel, see this forum for details ) lv Kyoto 09.00 h shinkansen to Odawara buy extra Hakone Free Pass make loop Hakone evening Odawara shinkansen Tokyo overnight Tokyo
Fri full day Tokyo overnight Tokyo
Sat lv Tokyo 08.08 h shinkansen 08.58 h Utsunomiya 09.12 h JR local 09.55 h Nikko visit till 14.19 h minimum back same way to arrive Tokyo 15.56 h ( later returns for more time in Nikko possible ) overnight Tokyo ( last day of JR Pass
Sun lv Tokyo by hotel limousine bus to Narita airport to arrive at around 12.00 h

Sat lv Tokyo 08.08 h shinkansen 08.58 h Utsunomiya 09.12 h JR local 09.55 h Nikko visit till 14.19 h minimum back same way to arrive Tokyo 15.56 h ( later returns for more time in Nikko possible ) overnight Tokyo ( last day of JR Pass


You can also squeeze in Chuzenji lake after a visit to Toshugu complex. I rode the same train to Utsunomiya and Nikko and found out that I finished touring the Toshugu site at 1:30pm. Had a leisurely lunch after that and got on a bus to Chuzenji at around 3:30, More than enough time to see the fall and the lake, and returned to Nikko at around 6.

Thinking of spending 3 days in Osaka, 2 days in Kyoto and 4 nights in Tokyo, wondering if 1 night is actually enough to explore Kyoto ?Is anyone could help me to inform suggested 10 days itinerary ? Thinking of getting 7 days JR pass for 28.400 yen...Please anyone feel free to send me suggestions..Thank you so much,.

You can modify this standard itinerary in accordance with your interest.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2400_osaka_9.html

Peggy,
it would take a lifetime to explore all of Kyoto so you have to make hard choices. It depends on your tastes. Osaka is a small Tokyo. Both the Kita and Minami areas have modern buildings and lots of great stores, restaurants etc.but have different flavours.
Kyoto is history, history but quite a few tourists look at a few temples only (which ones is purely a personal choice depending on what you read in guidebooks) and perhaps at Nijo castle and also go to nearby Arashiyama and Nara (1/2 day each) for a different flavor (small town feeling)
Tokyo is modern, modern and not particularly pretty but is brash, exciting, trendy. Harajuku has wild young people fashions, famous designers stores (their buildings are actually more of an attraction than the very expensive clothes) and Meiji shrine, nestled in a huge park. Shinjuku, Ginza, Odaiba are other areas not to be missed. At the same time Tokyo has
other areas that have kept the
old pre-war Tokyo alive; Asakusa, Yanaka, Zoshigaya.
I would spend 2 full days in Osaka (my favorite city but I GO there regularly and on a first visit one must make choices...) and 3 in Kyoto, including one for Arashiyama and Nara (both accessible from JR Kyoto station). 4 days in Tokyo would be divided into 3 days for Tokyo itself and 1 day outside of Tokyo.
day 1:morning trip from Kyoto, afternoon in Shinjuku.
day 2 (last day for your JR pass): Nikko or Kamakura, if only because you get to see the country side. Kamakura is easier to go to, Nikko is mindboggling.
day 3: Harajuku,Yanaka,Ginza day 4: Asakusa then take a boat to Odaiba.

YES you will miss lots of stuff but this will give you a great overview of Japan.
BEWARE: JAPAN IS ADDICTIVE.
note: from Kansai airport the Haruka express whisk you to Kyoto. Stay there for 5 days ( nights)and commute to Osaka (30-40 minutes by local trains using your JR pass) you can also use your JR pass to go around Osaka on the JR loop line or, to go faster, take the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka then go to Kita and Minami by subway from Shin-Osaka (1 day subway pass is 850 yen I think)
on the first and second day in Tokyo you can use the JR pass on the Yamanote loop line to go from place to place. After that you can buy day passes for JR loop line or for the subways.
if you have a fast internet connection have a look at www.skyscrapercity kansai and
www.skyscrapercity osaka and
www.skyscrapercity tokyo for great photos (skip the comments, most are misinformed)