What's the difference between green and regular coach?
I will be making this same trip in April.

Green car is roughly equivalent to European 1st class; regular car equivalent to 2nd class.

I am contemplating visiting Kyoto for the first time in many years. We are trying to fly in to KIX but at the moment still waitlisting so we might have to fly in to Tokyo instead. Hope someone can clue us in on this:

1. How long is the train ride from KIX to Kyoto (Westin Hotel Kyoto)? How do we get from KIX airport to train station? And then from station to Westin?

2. Would it be a better idea to first go to Tokyo (which would be 2nd leg of our journey any way) and then take a train to Kyoto and back? HOw long is that journey? I was thinking we might even be able to use TAKKUPEN service.

Thanks.

The Haruka Express train from KIX to Kyoto takes about 75 minutes, and it runs twice an hour. The train station is in the KIX airport, just a minute or two walk from the customs exit. Follow the signs to the train, and you'll find the ticket office and ticket machines. The trains are at the bottom of the escalator.

From Kyoto Station, take a taxi to the Westin.

1. Perhaps the most convenient way from KIX to Kyoto is via the deluxe express train called the JR Haruka. It starts from the airport train station, which is just across the elevated walkway from the arrivals lobby, and takes about 70 minutes to Kyoto, with only 3 other stops in between. It is nearly $30.00 for reserved seating, but faster and more comfortable than other, less expensive methods. There are also limosine buses and local trains. Once at Kyoto station, bear right as you exit the north side and you will come to the cab stands. Cabbies probably won't speak much English, but will understand "Westin Hotel."

2. If you can work out arriving at either KIX or NRT and departing from the other one, you would only need to ride the shinkansen one way, rather than doing the roundtrip. The shinkansen takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours one way, depending on class of train. One of my better trips involved arriving KIX, spending several days in the Kansai (around Kyoto/Osaka), followed by the train to Tokyo for a few more days there and leaving for home from NRT.

JR

I'd be safe, and ask them to take me to the "Miyako Hotel". That they'll understand for certain....

Not safe at all. Kyoto has both the Miyako Hotel and the New Miyako Hotel, and they're nowhere near each other. (The Westin is the Miyako.)

Now, now, let's not get contorted. If I recall correctly, the New Miyako Hotel is right on the South exit of the station. If you get into a taxi on the South exit, and he thinks you are going to the New Miyako, the driver will tell you to walk there. If you take a taxi on the Karasuma side, and the driver thinks you said "New Miyako", he'd tell you get off and walk to the other side of the station.

So, I think the lesson here, is get out the Karasuma side. If the driver looks intensely puzzled if you say "Miyako Hotel, please", just as much as if you said "please take me to the Westin" (the what?), then tell them you are going to Sanjo Keage. Better yet, tell them you are going to Sanjo Keage to begin with!

How true! I must say you have a thorough understanding of the Japanese mentality.

My cousin went to St. Joseph's in the 1950s. When his parents wondered why he always had so much money, the maid followed him one morning as he took the bus to school. She observed him getting on the bus but, unlike the other children, didn't pay the driver. When she asked the driver why he didn't collect from my cousin, he raised his hands and told her the kid is an American, probably can't speak Japanese and he doesn't want to bother with communicating with an English-speaking 7-year old that he has to pay 10 yen to ride the bus.

As for Westin Hotel, you can check-in at JR Kyoto station. You can take a hotel-provided shuttle bus to the Hotel. I remember it runs every half hour (at least). If you take a taxi, just tell the driver "Westin Hotel," then it will be no problem.
Also when you leave, you can pick up your luggage at the station. So you can look around the city and go directly to the station.

I do not think it is a bad idea to arrive at NRT and take Shinkansen to Kyoto.
It takes only 2 and a half hours.

Unless you're traveling during a peak period (like a national holiday or school vacations), you can usually get by without an advance reservation between Tokyo and Kyoto, because the trains leave every 5 to 10 minutes.

You can make reservations for ANY JR train or bus at most JR stations throughout the country. Look for the "Midori no Madoguchi," the "Green Window," which is marked with kind of a square, green cloverleaf sign and which may actually be a room rather than a window in the larger stations. If you don't speak Japanese, write down what you want in clear, block letters. The clerk will check availability, and if there is room on your desired run, you pay for and receive your tickets right there. (Often the larger stations have Midori no Madoguchi clerks who speak English.)

I am a student in Japan, and when I first got here I spoke no Japanese, and I kept on putting my money in the change slot, taking my change, and walking off the bus. The driver never said a word.
I LOVE BEING A GAIJIN!

Question concerning the Haruka �xpress, does it have enough luggage sorage space or is it one of the usual trains who don't have storage space.

I also read that there is an direct Airport Limousine Bus from KIX to Kyoto train station, has anybody used that.

Thanks a lot

The Haruka has lots of luggage storage space -- there's an area set aside at the ends of the cars for luggage. It's got multiple levels (similar to the luggage areas on the European TGV or Thalys trains).

That's the same thing I did. Just drop some change in the box and keep walking. No idea if I ever did it right. A little 'wakarimasen' goes a long way. I think that's the right word.