9-10 hours / layover in KIX (Osaka) (merged threads)
May 25, 2011, 10:42 pm
#61
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,942
Thanks! Glad I posted the links ... 
No way I can make Hiroshima now that I know better!
I can certainly visit Osaka and will look it up. Alternatively, could I just ride the Shinkansen to some place and back, just for the experience?
I can certainly visit Osaka and will look it up. Alternatively, could I just ride the Shinkansen to some place and back, just for the experience?
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?
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?
May 25, 2011, 11:55 pm
#62
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Thanks for the Memories !!!
Posts: 10,657
You could ride the Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Shin Kobe, Kyoto, to name a few. Both will give you at least 10 mins on the Shinkansen! The added bonus of ending up in 2 interesting places to spend a few hours (not putting down Osaka)!
May 26, 2011, 2:24 am
#63
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: TYO
Programs: Tokyo Monorail Diamond-Encrusted-Platinum
Posts: 9,633
As Q-Shoe mentions, you could ride the Shinkansen for a very short distance between, say, Osaka and Kobe (or Osaka and Kyoto). But I wouldn't rate that as an experience. If I wanted to get to Kobe from KIX, I'd take the ferry.
May 26, 2011, 4:25 am
#64
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Tampere
Programs: BA EC Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,237
Originally Posted by abraxis
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.
Alternatively, somebody mentioned the super-sento Gokurakuyu in Amagasaki. It seems a little more complicated to get to, but still reachable by train, and we will have plenty of time. We're coming in on the shinkansen from Tokyo and flying out from KIX. This will be immediately after arriving at NRT on an overnight flight from Europe so we'll be tired; thus, the idea of a nice, convenient onsen sounds better than traipsing around Osaka seeing the sites. (This will be in about five weeks from now, by the way.)
cheers,
Henry
May 26, 2011, 10:29 am
#67
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: TYO
Programs: Tokyo Monorail Diamond-Encrusted-Platinum
Posts: 9,633
Yes, of course. But I don't think a super sento in Amagasaki will be one of the nicest (although, it may be good value for money... I can't say as I haven't been. Who actually suggested it to you?). I've posted links in other threads to a couple of nice looking onsen quite close to KIX.
May 26, 2011, 5:49 pm
#68
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Kobe/Osaka
Programs: Delta
Posts: 1,587
http://rinkunoyu.jp/
No worries about it being a tourist trap. Few tourists pass through KIX these days and those that do are likely headed elsewhere. When KIX was opening, I had quite a few good paying jobs teaching employees of the local city offices nearby English to prepare for the crush of foreigners - who never came. Virtually no visitors stop at the small towns between KIX and downtown Osaka.
May 26, 2011, 6:33 pm
#70
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: TYO
Programs: Tokyo Monorail Diamond-Encrusted-Platinum
Posts: 9,633
I have 8 hours in KIX ... so maybe I'll stay put until Nagoya (approx 1hr on the Shinkansen) 
Why not visit Kyoto during your 9am to 5pm stopover. Then visit Namba during the 3pm to 11pm stopover. Namba will be lively and you'll easily find some place to eat a reasonable dinner.
May 26, 2011, 6:50 pm
#71
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Kobe/Osaka
Programs: Delta
Posts: 1,587
May 26, 2011, 7:07 pm
#72
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: TYO
Programs: Tokyo Monorail Diamond-Encrusted-Platinum
Posts: 9,633
May 26, 2011, 9:58 pm
#73
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,942
Sounds like a plan ... Kyoto in the AM and Namba in the PM, the Shinkansen can wait. Thanks for the suggestions.
Well... more like two hours from KIX. But ... whatever floats your boat. To me it seems like an expensive way to spend four hours doing nothing much and seeing nothing much. YMMV.
Since you're talking about a whistle stop visit, go during the day. That will allow you to go into some temples and walk around.
Why not visit Kyoto during your 9am to 5pm stopover. Then visit Namba during the 3pm to 11pm stopover. Namba will be lively and you'll easily find some place to eat a reasonable dinner.
Since you're talking about a whistle stop visit, go during the day. That will allow you to go into some temples and walk around.
Why not visit Kyoto during your 9am to 5pm stopover. Then visit Namba during the 3pm to 11pm stopover. Namba will be lively and you'll easily find some place to eat a reasonable dinner.
Sep 16, 2012, 11:51 am
#74
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: United Plat
Posts: 501
10 hours transit in KIX and KIX airport tax
Hi,
My TG flight arrives at 7am. Will take UA leaving 5pm for SFO. If I factor in 3 hours of going through immigration in and out of KIX, I still have 7 hours left. Looking for ideas to:
1. Take a shower and nap.
2. Find a city nearby for a quick visit. (Have seen Osaka and Kyoto years ago.) I am thinking about Kobe...
Another question is about airport tax. My ticket only includes taxes of Thailand and USA. Since in theory I am in transit, do I have to pay any tax when I go out and come back to KIX for a day?
Thank you very much in advance!
My TG flight arrives at 7am. Will take UA leaving 5pm for SFO. If I factor in 3 hours of going through immigration in and out of KIX, I still have 7 hours left. Looking for ideas to:
1. Take a shower and nap.
2. Find a city nearby for a quick visit. (Have seen Osaka and Kyoto years ago.) I am thinking about Kobe...
Another question is about airport tax. My ticket only includes taxes of Thailand and USA. Since in theory I am in transit, do I have to pay any tax when I go out and come back to KIX for a day?
Thank you very much in advance!
Sep 16, 2012, 12:08 pm
#75
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: TYO
Programs: Tokyo Monorail Diamond-Encrusted-Platinum
Posts: 9,633
http://www.kansai-airport.or.jp/en/s...index.html#_01
Kobe is a good city to visit - Take the ferry.
No.