Yaatri

I am in Osaka right now. I arrived here on the 16th and will leave on the 24th. I don't know if there are any at KIX. But I realy don't know. I do know there is one between Osaka and Kyoto on the railway line.

jib71

Well, then ... head for Inunaki Onsen or Minami Tei

http://www.inunaki-onsencenter.co.jp/index.htm

http://www.minamitei.com/english/annai.html

Airport information desk should be able to advise you on the route. (It will be something of an adventure).

abraxis

Hmm. Minamitei looks doable...maybe FT should have an Onsen Report section!!

abraxis

Another question...I will be arriving KIX from SIN early in the AM for a 9 hour layover before continuing on to SFO. Can I do this:

Land, head to ANA Lounge using my SFO boarding pass and shower
Go through passport control and collect my checked bag

Is KIX set up for doing this?

abraxis

OK, I've spent much of the day here in the KIX vicinity and I've got some tips if you're stuck here in transit and you've got enough time to leave the airport.

First off, none of the lounges (according to the UA desk) have showers. None. Which means if you come off a red eye all sticky and gross, you have two options. There is a paid lounge across from the Tetsuya bookstore on the second floor. They will charge you Y700 for a 15 minute shower and an itty bitty towel.

What you should do instead is leave the airport, take the bus that goes to the Rinku Premium Outlets, get off at the Rinku Pleasure Town Seacle (it's a mall, really) and hit the onsen there. It's a 20 minute bus ride and there's indoor and outdoor pools, lots of lounge chairs, food and beverage and a lot of saunas. Despite not speaking english, the staff had a translated script that answers what people need to know to enjoy the onsen. Much better value for your Y800 then the bleah shower inside KIX.

All the good shops, which include two bookstores, a Lawson and a pretty complete food court are outside security. KIX may have been an engineering feat, but it feels kinda tired, though not as tired as PVG. It's still better than any airport in the states though.

Based on experience, I'd rank the Japanese airports thusly: HND, NGO, NRT, KIX

ksandness

Yes, if your layover in KIX is so short that you can't justify going through immigration, security, etc., definitely bring a book and your own snacks.

SJUAMMF

KIX had lost a lot of flights in the past ten years. Traveling to ITM for a domestic connection doesn't work well either. With UKE in operation, stretched airlines had to spread flights further. It's amazing KIX is still proceeding on the expansion project.

NGO is nice since domestic connection is just going thru security then walk to the other end of the same terminal. But some flights had stopped too. With Toyota cutting back, business at NGO is unlikely to pickup anytime soon.

abraxis

My favorite part of NGO is the ofuro in the airport!! However, with UA cutting SFO-NGO and now SFO-KIX, guess all of us who visit Japan from the West Coast on UA is stuck with NRT...

abmj-jr

Your source, please? To the best of my knowledge, UA has NOT terminated the SFO-KIX route. I am reserved on that flight in November and it is still showing on the schedule for December.

Do you know something the rest of us don't?

malgudi

Is there a more recent update? The link for the 3-hour tour appears to be broken.

Wikitravel has decent info. Is a day trip to Kyoto doable? I can do this on my return (arrival KIX 9am, dep 5pm).

abmj-jr

The transit tours were a limited time special, now gone.

You COULD do a quick run to Kyoto but would need to move fast. If you arrive at 9:00 am, you could probably get through C&I and get money and train pass in under an hour. The Haruka Express takes 75 minutes from KIX-Kyoto Station, putting you there by 11:30 am or so. Figure a return departure back to the airport around 2:00 pm, leaving 2 to 2.5 hours in Kyoto. In that time, you could wander around the station area, walk to Higashi-Honganji temple and the adjacent Shosei-en public Japanese garden and/or find a decent Japanese lunch near or at the station. Kyoto Station is a 9-story wonder with lots of shops and restaurants. You might just want to get a meal there and go up the loooong escalator to the observation deck for a view out over the city. If it were me, I'd use all the time in Kyoto exploring and just buy a bottle of tea and bento box lunch to eat on the train ride back to KIX.

The way to do the transportation for such a quick visit is to ask at the airport train station ticket window for a 1-day Kansai Area Pass. That will cover the roundtrip Haruka at a significant discount over just buying tickets. There are cheaper local train options but for such a short visit, you will need to ride the faster Haruka to give you any time at all in Kyoto. You can then use the Pass to make your seat reservations for both directions before leaving the airport. The 1-day Pass costs 2,000 JPY, which is much less than the one way ticket on the Haruka, making it a great deal.

jib71

I agree - If you make such a whistle-stop trip to Kyoto, I think you owe it to yourself to not hang around at the station but rather to make a beeline for one or two historic sites that interest you. If you just want to see a vibrant commercial area and a big station, I'd recommend going to Namba, which is just 34 mins from the airport with the Rapi:t train.

malgudi

Thanks for the responses.

I also looked up the train schedules to/from Kyoto, looks like a quick run is definitely doable.

Is the Kansai area pass valid on all these trains?

btw, I have a second trip coming up, also via KIX and with an identical 8hr (9am-5pm) transit. Is it foolish to even attempt a similar run to Hiroshima? It looks like it takes approx 2hrs to/from Hiroshima.

Looks like I might need a Sanyo Area Pass for Hiroshima, but there is only a 4-day pass, which is still cheaper (I think) than buying individual tickets.

Cheers!

jib71

It seems you're inputting "Osaka Airport", which is not the same as Kansai Airport (KIX). Try searching for trains to and from Kansai airport. Hiroshima should be at least 2.5 hours each way.

abmj-jr

Short answer - yes.

Arrive 9:00 am. Pass through C&I, get money, buy Rail Pass or tickets. Your best chance Haruka leaves at 10:16 am - you MIGHT make that one. Then transfer to the Nozomi shinkansen at Shin-Osaka at 11:29, arriving at Hiroshima just before 1:00 pm. If you turn right around and depart Hiroshima at 2:06 pm, you arrive back at KIX at 4:34 pm - far too late for a 5:00 pm departure.

Even if you fly through the airport on arrival at 9:00 am and manage to catch the 9:46 am Haruka, you would arrive at Hiroshima at 12:05 pm and have to leave for the airport at 12:15 pm to get back to KIX by 3:34 pm. A long train trip for 10 minutes at the Hiroshima station.

Forget Hiroshima. How about a quick visit to Osaka?