Friday, August 18, 2017

Day 5 - Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe Trip 2017 - Kobe Part 1 - How to go to Kobe by train from Umeda Station, Osaka, Japan.

From our hotel, we took the subway to Umeda subway station (Tap out from the subway station), walked to Umeda Hankyu Kobe Line Station, tap again at the gantry to change to Limited express trains on the Hankyu Kobe Line take 25 minutes and cost 320 yen from Umeda Station to Kobe-Sannomiya Station.

There are few ways to go to Kobe-Sannomiya Station (do not alight at Kobe Station, all the happenings are at Kobe Sannomiya Station).

By Japan Railways (JR)

Direct, 20 minutes, 410 yen one way, frequent departures

JR special rapid trains require 20 minutes and cost 410 yen for the one way trip from Osaka Station to Kobe's Sannomiya Station. You can also travel between the two cities by Sanyo Shinkansen in less than 15 minutes, however, the shinkansen stations in both Osaka (Shin-Osaka Station) and Kobe (Shin-Kobe Station) are not centrally located. The one way trip by shinkansen costs 1500 yen for a non-reserved seat.

By Hankyu Railways

Direct, 25 minutes, 320 yen one way, frequent departures

Limited express trains on the Hankyu Kobe Line take 25 minutes and cost 320 yen from Umeda Station to Kobe-Sannomiya Station. Hankyu Umeda Station is located just next to JR Osaka Station.

By Hanshin Railways

Direct, 30 minutes, 320 yen one way, frequent departures

Hanshin operates direct trains from Osaka's Umeda Station (30 minutes, 320 yen) and Osaka-Namba Station (45 minutes, 410 yen) to Kobe-Sannomiya Station. Above fees and schedules are subject to change. (Refer to source.)

We used our IC Card (ICOCA Card) and tap at the gantry to go into the station. At the entrance of the gantry, can see information on which platform to go to Kobe. From the information, the red coded is the limited express train that goes to Kobe Sannomiya Station (is a faster train that skipped few stations), the black coded is the local train that stop every station, takes longer travel time. So do not take the local train. So we walked towards Platform 7,8 and 9.

Another sign, direct us to take the train at Platform 8 and 9, not sure what happen to Platform 7, never bothered to find out haha.

After about 25 mins, we arrived at Kobe - Sannomiya Station. After tapping out at the gantry, we looked for the tourist information office, which is located on Level 1 (ground level), outside the train station. We can purchased the one day City Loop Bus Pass and collect the map of Kobe from the tourist information office. The tourist information office might be difficult to find. Can always buy the one day bus pass from the bus conductor inside the City Loop Bus.

It is wise to get the one day bus pass 660 yen(adult), 330 yen (child under 12 yrs), cause need to hop on and off the bus to few places. The one ride fare is 260 yen(adult),130 yen (child), so does not make sense not to purchase the one day bus pass.

Walk to the City Bus Loop Bus Stop (numbered 7) - below map. No need cross the road, the bus stop is just outside train station.

Besides the bus driver, there's an attendant in the bus explaining the bus route but in Japanese. However, there's English, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese announcement for each bus stop. Can pay cash, use IC Card in the City Loop Bus and also able to buy the one day bus pass from the attendant inside the bus.

More on Kobe attractions in next post.

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