The airport is connected to central Kobe by monorail and bus lines.

Top 10 hotels in Kobe

Portliner - automatic train (best)

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.

Ticket prices are calculated by distance and can be found on the map above the machines.

The machines are cash-only, but you can also use your own contactless card to pay at the turnstiles with one of 10 Japanese transport cards (Icoca, Suica and others).

• 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 run all the way to the airport when travelling from the city centre)
• 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.

The Portliner train station is located on the 1st floor of Terminal 1 - from Terminal 2, it takes about a 3 minute walk to get here via a marked walkway.

Buses to Kobe

There are several bus routes from the airport to Kobe city centre, 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

Bus stops are in front of both terminals.

Transportation to Osaka

Kobe Airport also serves as an alternative for travel to Osaka to the larger Itami or Kansai airports.

Direct buses

Direct services are 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

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Ferry to Osaka-Kansai Airport

For KansaiKIX Airport south of Osaka, take the fast ferries from the pier about 400 metres from the terminal.

A free shuttle bus connecting terminals 1 and 2 stops at the dock and connects to all ferries, see detailed timetable: kobe-access.jp

Ships depart once an hour and a one-way ticket costs 1 880 jpy. The cruise takes 35 minutes.

Official information is available at kobe-access.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.

Book a car at Kobe Airport

Buses to Tokushima

JR WEST Bus operates direct buses from Kobe Airport to Tokushima on the island of Shikoku.

• Price. 3 800 jpy
• Frequency - 60 minutes
• Travel time - 2.5 hours
• Timetable: timetable.nishinihonjrbus.co.jp