Wednesday, December 7, 2011

How to Get to Shinsaibashi From Kansai Airport

Hi all,





Will be visiting Japan from 9 Apr - 21 Apr.





1st Leg will be at Osaka.





Have booked Comfort Hotel Shinsaibashi.





Understand that to get to the hotel, I will have to alight at Shinsaibashi subway line.





Question is, do I take the JR line from Kansai Airport and change at JR-Namba station and change to a subway line from there?





Is there a interchange with the subway line at JR-Namba?





Next, how do I walk to Comfort Hotel from the subway station?





Also, is it good that I buy a 1 day JR West pass? I maybe going to Himeji once I checked in. Is it worth it?





Thanks all in advance for your inputs.





How to Get to Shinsaibashi From Kansai Airport


I%26#39;d suggest you to take the Nankai Line from KIX to Namba in order to transfer to the Osaka Subway Midosuji Line. JR Namba is remotely located from Namba Station on the Midosuji Line.



Shinsaibashi is the next stop on the Midosuji Line. 200 yen each way, 2 minutes.



Nankai Line info:



鈥logspot.com/2008/09/info-on-nankai-line-to鈥?/a>



Directions from Shinsaibashi Station to Comfort Hotel:



www.choice-hotels.jp/cfosaka/access.html



You might purcahse the JR West Kansai Pass when you travel to Himeji from Osaka. You%26#39;ll save 900 yen.



JR West Pass info:



鈥logspot.com/2008/09/japan-railpass-validat鈥?/a>



How to Get to Shinsaibashi From Kansai Airport


Economically the JR 1 day pass is good, if you were to go to Himeji that that, however to save money you will then need to take JR trains to JR Namba.



(';Nanba'; is an alternate spelling found on maps as well.)





From KIX more Nankai Railway trains go to Nankai Namba providing a little easier access to Subways, plus more Kintetsu trains from KIX go to Namba. But if you get the JR West pass, then it would be economical to go with JR trains (Nankai rapid express trains are pretty cheap already).





鈥akuten.co.jp/HOTEL/16006/16006map_e.gif





http://tiny.cc/jXKvx



The url is super long for google maps so I tiny url%26#39;ed it.





Take subway exits 5 or 6. Go strait past 2 intersections, turn right at the thrid intersection. Cross one intersection, the hotel will be at the left towards the 2nd intersection.




Thanks for the prompt reply.





From what I checked on the Nankai line, there%26#39;s a price of 500 Yen for reservation of seat.





Is this compulsory?





Also, from the web, I found out that there%26#39;s this 2 days ';Surutto Kansai'; pass for usage of all subway lines and buses except JR operated ones. Should I get this instead?





My itinerary in Osaka will be visits to Himeji, Kyoto, Nara, Mt Yoshino as well as a visit to Universal Studios.





So will most of my transport be on JR or subway? Taking into consideration that as the hotel is near the Shinsaibashi subway station, all my trips will start from the subway station right?





Thanks once again for your help. First time in Japan and thus very confused. :)




Kansai Airport to Namba:





If you take the slightly faster Nankai Rapit A or Rapit B trains, then the fare is 1,390 Yen (reserved seat mandatory) and the ride takes about 35 minutes.





If you take the slower Nankai Airport Express, it takes about 50 minutes and the fare is 890 Yen.





Kansai Thru Pass:





The Kansai Thru Pass (Surutto Kansai) two day version could be good for you if you take the roundtrip to Himeji. The one-way fare is 1,480 Yen on the subway from Shinsaibashi to Umeda, then transfer to Hanshin Rail from Umeda to Sanyo Himeji station. Over two days, you should save some money.




%26gt;%26gt;From what I checked on the Nankai line, there%26#39;s a price of 500 Yen for reservation of seat.



Is this compulsory?%26lt;%26lt;



No, you don%26#39;t have to take the limited express %26#39;Rapi:t%26#39;. Take the express instead if you want to save 500 yen. The express train is like MRT in Singapore. All the info on the Nankai Line is in the link on my last reply.



%26gt;%26gt;Also, from the web, I found out that there%26#39;s this 2 days ';Surutto Kansai'; pass for usage of all subway lines and buses except JR operated ones. Should I get this instead?%26lt;%26lt;



You can purchase the two-day Kansai Thru Pass and use it when you travel to Himeji and Yoshino. It will pay for itself based on that itinerary.



Don%26#39;t use it for a trip from KIX to Shinsaibashi. You%26#39;ll lose some money.





However, please be reminded that the Hanshin limited express through service to Himeji from Umeda takes 1.5 hours while the JR special rapid from Osaka (Umeda) to Himeji takes only 1 hour. The Hanshin limited express to Himeji is as frequent as the JR special rapid service. They both run 4 times an hour.




Hi optimistk and Sammyfloyd,





have checked out hypedia.





from what I gathered from hyperdia, the subway will only stop at Umeda and then after that will be taking JR line to Himeji.





But from what I read from both of you, there should be another subway to Himeji from Umeda is it and it can be covered by the Kansai Thru pass?





Thanks once again for the wonderful advise!




For clarification, let me add:



From KIX to Shinsaibashi, basically you have 2 train routes only, if you train it at all: 1)JR plus subway and 2)Nankai plus subway. If you fly in in early-to-mid morning hours (so you can have time for doing Himeji) and also if you buy 1day JR West Pass, you may like to hop on a haruka limited express on JR at KIX, and off at Tennoji, from where you switch to Subway Midosuji Line. From here, Shinsaibashi is only a 4stop away on that subway line.




%26gt;%26gt;But from what I read from both of you, there should be another subway to Himeji from Umeda is it and it can be covered by the Kansai Thru pass?%26lt;%26lt;



As I indicated in my last reply, the whole journey between Shinsaibashi and (Sanyo) Himeji is covered by the Kansai Thru Pass.



You are supposed to take the Hanshin-Sanyo through limited express on the Thru pass. It%26#39;s not subway lines, but private railways.



Do not take the JR train on that pass.




Basically, when you go to Himeji, the transfer is from one Umeda (subway) station to another Umeda (Hanshin Rail) station. As optimistk said, make sure you get on the right train. Don%26#39;t end up at Osaka station and try to take JR because the Kansai Thru Pass is not valid.





Just follow the signs. It%26#39;s really very easy.




hi guys,



thanks for the wonderful help!





it really cleared my doubts..





1 last question, how much is it from Shinsaibashi to Himeji (Sanyo)? checked Hyperdia but it seems that it won%26#39;t give me the result of taking the private railway to Himeji.





Also, as my second day will be at Universal Studios, does the Subway cover that? Cos the Kansai thru pass is for two days and I dun wan to waste the two days pass... or maybe I can swap the itinerary with the visit to Yoshino for the sakura viewing, is this covered by the subway too?





if all is covered by the Kansai thru pass, the I can consider getting the 3 day pass!





Thanks again Optimistik and SammyFlyod! :)

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