The airport is connected to central Kobe by monorail and bus lines.
Portliner - automatic train
The monorail on a line called the Portliner provides the clearest and fastest service to Kobe Sannomiya Central Station, where you can also transfer to regional trains.
The ticket price is calculated according to distance and can be found on the map above the ticket machines. The machines are cash only, but you can also use one of Japan's 10 transport cards (Icoca, Suica and others) to pay at the turnstiles.
- 340 jpy - Kobe Sannomiya
- 290 jpy - Port and Boeki Center
- 250 jpy - Other stations
At Portliner, neither the Kobe Metro all-day pass nor the JR Pass are valid.
- Travel time to Kobe Sannomiya - 23 minutes
- Frequency - 5 to 8 minutes (some trains do not go all the way to the airport when traveling from downtown)
- Last train from the airport - 23:42
- First train from Sannomiya station - 5:40
- remm plus Kobe Sannomiya **** - Tip for a hotel right in Sannomiya station
For official information and timetables, visit knt-liner.co.jp.
Buses to Kobe
There are several bus lines to central Kobe from the airport operated by different carriers:
- Shinki Bus Airport Shuttle per 340 jpy
- Sannomiya Station (30 minute ride) and Shin-Kobe Shinkansen Station (40 minute ride)
- Frequency 20 to 30 minutes
- Timetable: shinki.bus-japan.net
- Can be paid for with cash or Japanese transport cards
- West JR Bus for 340 jpy
- Sannomiya Station (30 minutes) Shin-Kobe Shinkansen Station (40 minutes)
- The JR Pass can be used on this route, but the regional variant of the JR-WEST Pass is not valid here
- Frequency 60 minutes
- Timetable: timetable.nishinihonjrbus.co.jp
- Can be paid for with cash or Japanese transport cards
- Line 61 (Kobe Minato Kanko Bus) for 500 jpy
- Rokko Island (stops at Kobe Bay Sheraton Hotel)
- Frequency 10 times a day
- Timetable: kobe-minato.co.jp
- Can be paid in credit card or cash
Transportation to Osaka
Kobe Airport also serves as an alternative for travel to Osaka to the larger Itami or Kansai airports.
Direct buses
Direct service is provided 4 times a day by the Osaka Bus Company's Limousine Bus to Osaka-Umeda Station.
The ticket costs 1 000 jpy and the journey time is 80 minutes.
The timetable can be found on this page: osakabus.jp/route.
An alternative route is to take bus line 61 to Universal Studios Japan theme park. This line runs 10 times a day and the journey time is about 90 minutes. Tickets cost 900 jpy and can be paid with a regular credit card or cash.
The timetable can be found here: kobe-minato.co.jp/route61
Via downtown Kobe
A considerably busier route is by regular buses or monorail from the airport to downtown Kobe (see above - prices for 340 jpy).
From here you can continue to Osaka by the following rail service:
- JR WEST trains - from Sannomiya Station to Osaka Station (Umeda)
- Price - 460 jpy (both JR Pass and JR-WEST Pass apply here)
- Travel time - 30 minutes
- Frequency - 2 to 10 minutes
- Connection Search: westjr.co.jp
- Hashin Railway trains - from Sannomiya Station to Osaka-Namba Station
- Price - 640 jpy (JR Pass not valid here)
- Travel time - 40 minutes
- Frequency - 20 to 30 minutes
- Connection Search: hanshin.co.jp
- Hankuy Railway trains - from Sannomiya Station to Osaka-Umeda Station
- Price - 330 jpy (JR Pass not valid here)
- Travel time - 28 minutes
- Frequency - 20 to 30 minutes
- Connection Search: hankyu.co.jp
Buses to Tokushima
JR WEST Bus operates direct buses from Kobe Airport to Tokushima on the island of Shikoku.
- The price - 3 800 jpy
- Frequency - 60 minutes
- Travel time - 2.5 hours
- Timetable: timetable.nishinihonjrbus.co.jp
Taxi, Uber
Only official taxis operate in Kobe, as well as the Uber app, but only regular taxis can be hailed through the app at metered rates.
You can book a car in the arrivals hall of the terminal.
The price to Kobe city centre varies depending on traffic around 5 000 jpy.
Car rental
Although the airport is very small, several car rental companies have their counters here, including the well-known multinational Europcar.
You can compare prices from all rental companies in 1 click.
For a weekly rental, you can pay from about 300 usd.
