nishimark

Maybe some questions to help get an idea of what you want. Have you been to Japan before? What are you interested in seeing? Tons of restaurants in Kobe. What do you want to eat?

Take the PortLiner monorail from the airport to Sannomiya station, which is the heart of Kobe, in about 18 min.

http://www.kairport.co.jp/eng/access/pub_port.html

Palal

I've been to Tokyo and Kyoto before, so I've seen both the old and the new. I'm up for seeing a couple of interesting sights (historical or not), and by the looks of it, I have less than 4 hours for all of it. I think I'll buy a bento box and eat it on the ferry on the way back to KIX (does this sound like a good idea?)

nishimark

Here are some random ideas for just walking around the area.

1. Go to Tokyu Hands store near Sannomiya. Lot's of cool Japan gadgets, stationery, interesting things. Right behind the store is Ikuta jinja, the main shrine in the downtown area. Interesting to walk around in.

2. Go to Kitano area where foreigners lived when Japan was just opening up to the outside world. It's a well-known tourist area.

3. Walk the long shopping street (Center Gai, then continues on to another shopping street) that goes from Sannomiya to Motomachi area. Hundreds of shops along a covered shopping street, some other interesting Japan shops on sides streets along the way.

4. Kobe China Town. Not as cool or large as other China Town areas, but some interesting things.

If I had a friend coming with a similar layover and we were going to hang out for those few hours, I'd probably walk along Center Gai shopping street and eat ramen for lunch.

Here are some Kobe tourist maps.
http://www.feel-kobe.jp/_en/guidemap/index.html

Palal

Thank you nishimark! This is very helpful!

Palal

Now that I'm back...
The ferry takes 31 mins, but the whole trip from KIX to Sannomiya is closer to 75 mins (10 min bus ride, 31 min ferry ride, 5 min bus ride or walk, 20 min portliner ride).

Had a nice lunch in Kobe and then a nice walk around the place. Kitano was interesting in the amount of foreign stuff you can find there. Also walking from Kitano to Sannomiya I stumbled upon a street full of "French" and "Italian" restaurants and Irish pubs. A bit of Europe in Japan

Overall it was a very enjoyable visit.

nishimark

Glad you had a good time! Kobe is a great town for just wandering around and bumping into interesting things.

clifford79

I planned to go to the outlet malls as advertised as a "transit tour" during my 7 hour layover at KIX.

Since I arrived before 7am and the shops don't open until 10am, I went through transit security instead of immigration, planning to relax and eat something in the lounge before heading out of the airport. However, when I asked about getting back to immigration after having gone through transfer security, I was told it was impossible!

There was definitely a communication gap between myself and the airport and lounge staff, but it does seem to be difficult or impossible to leave the airport once you are airside. This was not mentioned anywhere, however. They even had flyers for transit tours and what not at the transfer security checkpoint.

So anyone planning to go out of the airport during their layover, make sure you go through immigration immediately after you arrive! @:-)

OskiBear

Hi All -

I'll have a 5.5 hour layover from around noon to 5:30pm in April. I've been to Kyoto/Nara.

Would you recommend a quick trip into Osaka or Kobe? Is it reasonably doable?

I'm actually really curious about the Instant Ramen museum - is that worth visiting?

Thanks!

fumitani

Instant Ramen Museum...it's quite interesting...5.5 hours is sorta going to be pushing the limits. I figure its going to take 1.5hrs each way so 3 hours roundtrip. you might have 30 minutes or 1 hour tops to spend at the museum. It can get quite crowded there.

OskiBear

Oh wow - didn't realize it takes 1.5 hours to get into the city. May have to shift plans. I am actually going through KIX in a couple of weeks but the Instant Ramen museum is closed!

jib71

Depends where you want to go. From KIX to Namba is 40 minutes on the R:apit train. That might be your best option for a quick roundtrip.

nishimark

Actually, to get to Ramen museum you would go through the main part of Osaka city to a suburb on the opposite side of town from KIX. As noted above, Nanba would be a good choice. It's kind of the heart of downtown, especially for entertainment.

suthida

I will be in KIX this June 2018, traveling from Bangkok to the US, layover for 10 hours. Please advice how I can best spend my time there. Do I need special visa to leave the airport (US passport here)? I've never left the airport during layovers before. Thank you.

jib71

You do not need a special visa. On the immigration card, in the space for "intended address in Japan," just write TRANSIT and your outbound flight details (Date, Airline, Flight number, Destination). Since you have a US passport, the immigration agent will probably stamp your passport with a 90 day temporary visitor stamp, which is what most tourists from the US and Europe are issued.

If you're arriving in the morning and you really have 10 hours, I would suggest taking the JR Haruka train to Kyoto (90 minutes each way) and visiting a couple of famous attractions that are fairly close together - perhaps Kinkakuji, and Ryoanji (and Nijo castle on the way back).

If you're arriving in the afternoon, you will be too late to see tourist sites in Kyoto. You might take the Nankai Rapi:t train to Namba. There you can wander around some lively streets and find some cheap and fun restaurants and bars to spend some time.

suthida

Thank you for your recommendations. I will be flying to Bangkok from the US tomorrow for a funeral, layover 6 hours at KIX and not looking to going anywhere. However, on my way back in June, I have 10 hours at KIX, arriving at 6:30 a.m. and leaving at 5:25 p.m. I'm not looking to go sight seeing but rather to help pass the time there as it's such a long time in transit alone. Thank you for your suggestions.