Hello. Family of 3 [3 adults] will be arriving at Narita Airport in December. We will spend 3 nights in Tokyo, then travel to Kyoto for 2 nights, back to Tokyo for 1 night before fly out of Narita the next day at 4:00 p.m. Should we buy the JR pass for this 6 night/7 day trip?
maybe it’s cheaper to buy a return shinkansen ticket (tokyo-kyoto). japanican has some good deals on that. And to get from narita to tokyo you can probably purchase the NEX return ticket for a good price.
That is unless you plan to do some significant day trips from Tokyo or Kyoto
Usually, doing one domestic trip on the Shinkansen doesn’t make a JR Pass worthwhile. Have a look at these articles for ideas on alternatives, including combo packages and bus travel: