Tokyo, Nara, Kyoto trip plan

Hi,
We'll be in Japan from Aug. 19-24, 2012. Our plan is:
day 1, the 19th. arrive Tokyo in the early afternoon and stay at Tokyo.
day 2, the 20th. go to Nara for 1 day.
day 3, the 21th. go to Kyoto and stay for 1 night
day 4, the 22th. Kyoto
day 5, the 23th, back to Tokyo
day 6, the 24th. leave Tokyo in the afternoon.
Please give some advices about how to travel back and forth to these places, places to stay, places to eat...
Thank you,

We'll be in Japan from Aug. 19-24, 2012. Our plan is:
day 1, the 19th. arrive Tokyo in the early afternoon and stay at Tokyo.
day 2, the 20th. go to Nara for 1 day.
day 3, the 21th. go to Kyoto and stay for 1 night
day 4, the 22th. Kyoto
day 5, the 23th, back to Tokyo
day 6, the 24th. leave Tokyo in the afternoon.
Please give some advices about how to travel back and forth to these places, places to stay, places to eat...

I would purchase a JR 7-day Rail pass (in your home country) and use it for your entire trip.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html

Which airport do you land at, and what time? Narita? If so, then you can use your JR pass to get from Narita to Tokyo, and all the other journeys you have listed.

Do you plan to stay overnight in Nara?
Where are you staying on the night of the 22nd, as you only have one night in Kyoto listed.

To be honest you may wish to consider spending all three nights (20, 21, 22) in Kyoto and using it as your base for visiting Nara. I would then probably visit Nara on the 21st, but you could do it on the 20th if you wish. Nara is only 45 minutes from Kyoto.

As far as places to stay and/or eat, you probably need to provide a budget.
When researching what accommodation to stay at I usually use a combination of
http://www.expedia.com
http://www.jalan.net
http://www.rakuten.co.jp
http://www.agoda.com
and then read some of the tripadvisor.com posts. I also usually check the actual hotel website if one is available.

For Tokyo I usually stay in Shinjuku, but there are many other options:-
http://www.japan-guide.com/hotels/tokyo.html

For Kyoto the area around Kyoto station is often convenient.

For food half the fun is finding places on your own, but if you want specific recommendations either search these forums or look on wikitravel or in a Lonely Planet guide.

Enjoy your trip!

(replying to a PM here)

You could possibly add Nikko in to your schedule but you don't have much time overall and if this is your first trip I would probably think less is more.

Realistically you will probably have to decide between Nara and Nikko.

If I had to squeeze Nikko in I would probably do the following:-
day 1, the 19th. arrive Tokyo in the early afternoon and stay at Tokyo.
day 2, the 20th. Spend day in Tokyo
day 3, the 21st. Early train to Nikko, day in Nikko, train back to Tokyo in late afternoon, night in Tokyo
day 4, the 22nd. early train to Kyoto, day and night in Kyoto
day 5, the 23rd, Kyoto day (or Nara), evening in Kyoto.
day 6, the 24th. morning train from Kyoto to Narita for afternoon flight.

The above gives you a little bit more flexibility. I'd probably not book a hotel for Day 5 and just decide on the day if I want to stay in Kyoto, or head back to Tokyo and stay there.

I'd maybe consider staying around Ueno, or perhaps Shinagawa, just to make some of your train travel a bit easier. Shinjuku would still be ok though.

At the time of year you are travelling Nikko will be cooler (than Tokyo/Kyoto) so that might help decide on if you go or not.

Looking again I'd possibly consider going straight to Nikko when you arrive on Day 1, spending the night in Nikko, and then spending some time (as needed) in Nikko on Day 2 before leaving Nikko for Tokyo and spend the night of Day 2 in Tokyo.

ie. Option 2:-
day 1, the 19th. arrive Narita, straight to Nikko arrive Nikko at 5pm/6pm.
day 2, the 20th. Spend day in Nikko, afternoon train to Tokyo, night in Tokyo
day 3, the 21st. Day in Tokyo, night in Tokyo
day 4, the 22nd. early train to Kyoto, day and night in Kyoto
day 5, the 23rd, Kyoto day (or Nara), evening in Kyoto.
day 6, the 24th. morning train from Kyoto to Narita for afternoon flight.

This is a pretty fast pace though and most people would probably suggest you just concentrate on Tokyo and Kyoto for your first trip! Nara is certainly easier and quicker than Nikko to access.

Hope this helps!