I will be in Tokyo beginning of October and would like to ask for any train-accessible, nature/small town-focused day trip recommendations - ie. hiking, onsen, small town exploring.
Also have plans to visit Kasukabe in Saitama prefecture - any recommendations up that way?

Kamakura

Hakone for onsens, and the self directed circle route tour by boat, rail, bus, tram and ... there's one more I forget - buy the pass. It takes a day and don't miss the outdoor art gallery near the Picasso Museum. It's wonderful. You can train to Hakone from downtown Tokyo - the pass is cheaper. make sure you get a riokan with an onsen.

i second this trip. Although the tram was closed due to volcanic activity a few years ago.

It was open in spring 2017 when I was there....

Nikko was awesome. Easy day trip. Also agree with Kamakura (you can stop in Yokohama on the way)

Nikko is definitely doable as a day trip, and highly recommended.

May good to know! Any tips for things to do/see/eat in Nikko?

Ninabanda - Here is an example of a very packed day trip to Nikko (please double-check the travel schedules on your own as the info might be outdated): https://trip101.com/.../day-trip-from-tokyo-the...

I would recommend Nikko. Better sense of rural Japan. Go by train. Kamakura is just outside Tokyo.

Mt. Takao Was an excellent day trip! https://www.jnto.go.jp/.../routes/g_route/golden_13.html

Would not recommend Mt. Takao. Cement road to top. Not much in the way of food etc.

We did a trip up to Takaragawa onsen. It's north of Toyko. Beautiful train ride up there and the scenery is beautiful.

Looks amazing! Might be too far for this trip but it's on the list for the next one!

Yeah..it's a beautiful part of Japan.. regardless of where you go, you can't go wrong. Japan is an amazing country with amazing people...have a wonderful time!

TIP: some of the best food I had in Japan were inside of train stations underground. if you can find it: Rokurinsha Ramen in tokyo station was the best ramen ever, long line up means its a good spot but the line went by so fast in like 5 mins or less. I still dream about it and want to go back just for another bowl of that ramen

I will definitely look for that! Thanks!

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Mt Takao if the weather is nice. https://japan-magazine.jnto.go.jp/en/special_keio.html

For the calmer old-town feel in Tokyo itself, you can spend a few hours exploring Yanaka & Nezu. https://livejapan.com/en/in-ueno/article-a0000038/

Amazing, thank you!

You're welcome! Tokyo is huge and has many neighbourhoods of different character. Enjoy!

Can anyone share their experience with bike rentals around Tokyo or Kamakura?

Sugamo is an easy train ride and a fun market street slower than usual Tokyo life. Little food stalls for snacks. I was there in April easy to get around

Tonkotsu ramen

http://www.whatthedickens.jp

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1066456...

Shibuya crossing

https://digjapan.travel/en/blog/id=10637

Thank you, I’m actually just looking for day trip recommendations outside of Tokyo

Atami is a nice town with a lot of ryokan’s

I found Nokogiriyama and the Nihonji Temple complex in Chiba is a great day out from Tokyo & a great alternative if you've seen the others mentioned above. Less popular than Nikko & Kamakura but good easy hiking around the various temple sights including & a huge stone Buddha (Ishidaibutsu) carved out of a cliff face. It's accessed from Hamakanaya JR Stn in Chiba, or by ferry from Yokohama. It can be a longish day out with travel included though & whilst there was no doubt restaurants nearby, I fueled myself on convenience store snacks.