Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Plane -- If you're arriving at Kansai International Airport (KIX), there are a couple options for travel onward to Kobe. Easiest are the limousine buses departing KIX every 20 minutes for Sannomiya Station, costing ¥1,800 ($15/£7.50) one-way and taking about 75 minutes. If you want to use your Japan Rail Pass, take a kaisoku (rapid train making only major stops) to Osaka Station and change there for the JR Kobe Line's 20-minute ride to Sannomiya Station (considered the heart of the city). If you're staying in a hotel closer to Shin-Kobe Station, take the JR Haruka train from the airport to Shin-Osaka Station and transfer there for a speedy Shinkansen connection to Shin-Kobe Station.

If you're arriving at Kobe Airport, which opened in 2006 on Port Island to serve domestic flights, you can take the Portliner Monorail to Sannomiya Station in 16 minutes for ¥320 ($2.65/£1.35).

By Train -- The Shinkansen bullet train takes 3 1/4 hours from Tokyo, 31 minutes from Kyoto, and about 14 minutes from Osaka; the fare from Tokyo for an unreserved seat is ¥13,760 ($115/£57). All Shinkansen trains arrive at Shin-Kobe Station, which is linked to Sannomiya Station (considered the heart of the city) via a 3-minute subway ride (or a 20-min. walk). If you're arriving from nearby Osaka, Kyoto, Himeji, or Okayama, it may be easiest to take a local train stopping at Sannomiya Station if you're staying in one of the area's hotels.

By Bus -- Buses depart from Tokyo Station's Yaesu south exit for Kobe every night at 9:50pm, arriving in Kobe at 7:30am. They also depart nightly from Shinjuku Station's New South Exit at 11pm, arriving in Kobe at 7:46am. The one-way fare is ¥8,690 ($72/£36).

Visitor Information -- There are tourist information offices at Shin-Kobe Station (tel. 078/241-9550; daily 9am-6pm) and outside the west exit of Sannomiya Station on Flower Road in the Kotsu Center Building (tel. 078/322-0220; daily 9am-7pm). The English-speaking staff can provide maps and sightseeing information and make hotel reservations. Ask here for your Kobe Welcome Coupon, which offers discounts on the City Loop Line and most museums. Tourist information is available online at www.feel-kobe.jp.

Information on Kobe's sights, festivals, and attractions appears in the monthly Kansai Time Out, available at bookstores, restaurants, and tourist-oriented locations for ¥315 ($2.60/£1.30).

Internet Access -- The Litz Comic Café, on the sixth floor of the Tatsumi Building at 5-3-2 Asahi Dori (tel. 078/241-8815) is open 24 hours and charges ¥480 ($4/£2) for the first hour and then ¥50 (42¢/21p) for each subsequent 30 minutes. It's located southeast of Sannomiya not far from the bus station, down a small street parallel to the tracks (there's a Starbucks on the corner), on the sixth floor above a pachinko parlor. The Hyogo International Plaza, located a 10-minute walk south of Nada Station in the new HAT urban renewal development at 1-5-1 Kaigandori, Wakinohama, Chuo-ku (tel. 078/230-3060; Mon-Fri 9am-8pm, Sat 9am-5pm), offers free Internet access.

orientation & Getting Around

Squeezed between Mount Rokko rising in the north and the shores of the Seto Inland Sea to the south, Kobe stretches some 29km (18 miles) along the coastline but in many places is less than 3.2km (2 miles) wide. It's made up of many wards (ku) such as Nada-ku, Chuo-ku, and Hyogo-ku. The heart of the city lies around Sannomiya, Motomachi, and Kobe stations in the Chuo-ku (Central Ward). It's here you'll find the city's nightlife, its port, its restaurants, its shopping centers, and most of its hotels. Unlike most other Japanese cities, many of the major streets in Kobe have names with English-language signs posted, so it's easier to get around here than elsewhere. Additionally, the maps provided by the tourist office are good.

Because the city isn't very wide, you can walk to most points north and south of Sannomiya Station. South of Sannomiya Station is the Sannomiya Center Gai covered-arcade shopping, beyond which lies Kobe's business and administrative district. North of Sannomiya Station are bars and restaurants clustered around narrow streets such as Higashimon Street. Kitano-zaka leads uphill to Kitano-cho (usually shortened to Kitano) with its Western-style houses, about a 15-minute walk north of Sannomiya Station. Shin-Kobe Station is a 20-minute walk north of Sannomiya. Running from Shin-Kobe Station south through Sannomiya all the way to the port is a flower-lined road -- called, appropriately enough, Flower Road.

About a 10-minute walk west of Sannomiya Station is Motomachi Station, south of which lies the fashionable Motomachi covered-arcade shopping street, Chinatown, and Meriken Park, established to commemorate the birthplace of Kobe's port. The next stop on the JR line from Motomachi Station is Kobe Station, just south of which is Harborland, a waterfront development with hotels, restaurants, and the colorful Mosaic outdoor restaurant and shopping complex.

Two train stops east of Sannomiya Station is Nada Ward, home of several renowned breweries, as well as one of the city's most ambitious urban renewal projects. Called HAT Kobe (an abbreviation of Happy Active Town), it's a mixed-use neighborhood of apartment complexes, research facilities, schools, and museums, including the new Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution, which chronicles the Great Hanshin Earthquake.

Because of restricted space, Kobe has also constructed two artificial islands in its harbor, Port Island and Rokko Island. Farther afield, on Mount Rokko, is the Arima Onsen Spa.

A 13km (8-mile) City Loop Line bus, distinguished by its old-fashioned appearance, passes all major attractions, including Kitano, Chinatown, Meriken Park, and Harborland. Buses run every 15 to 20 minutes from about 9am to 5 or 6pm, with the route marked on the map distributed by the tourist office. It costs ¥250 ($2.10/£1.05) for adults and ¥130 ($1.10/55p) for children per ticket. A 1-day pass, allowing you to get off and reboard as often as you like, costs ¥650 ($5.40/£2.70) for adults and ¥330 ($2.75/£1.40) for children.

You can also use the JR Local Commuter train, which includes stops at Sannomiya, Motomachi, and Kobe stations, if you don't mind walking to destinations north and south of its stations (the City Loop Line buses will get you closer to major attractions). The subway is useful only for transportation between Shin-Kobe and Sannomiya stations. The Portliner Monorail connects Sannomiya with Port Island, while the Rokko Liner travels between JR Sumiyoshi Station and Rokko Island.