Getting around Fukui

Getting inHow you arrive in Fukui

No airport — Fukui Station (shinkansen) · about 50 min from Kanazawa

Confirmed journey times

Fastest services, checked on the date shown.

The bullet train reaches here now: The Hokuriku shinkansen was extended to Tsuruga in March 2024, so you no longer change trains to get to Fukui.
Checked 2026-08-16
Tokyo to Fukui: 2 hours 49 minutes at fastest on the Kagayaki service, and 3 hours 6 minutes to Tsuruga at the far end — both shortened by two minutes in the March 2026 timetable. The last train back to Tokyo leaves Fukui at 20:00.
Checked 2026-08-16
The fastest service is reserved-seat only: Kagayaki has no unreserved carriages. A Japan Rail Pass is valid on the shinkansen, and a seat reservation is collected first; it is free with the pass. The slower Hakutaka service does have unreserved seats.
Checked 2026-08-16
For the dinosaur museum and the cliffs: Both need a further leg from Fukui — and the local railway inland is a private line that a Japan Rail Pass does not cover. Set aside a full day for either one.
Checked 2026-08-16

A Japan Rail Pass does not cover Nozomi or Mizuho. What a rail pass covers

An IC card works on most of them. Signs and station names are in English.

Worth it the moment you leave the main city. What you need to drive here

Permit neededDrive left

Clean, safe and metered. Show the address on your phone rather than saying it. Doors are often opened for you.

Show the address

City: Usually around midnight
Country: Far earlier — sometimes mid-afternoon. Ask at the stop when you arrive, not when you want to leave
If you miss it: Ask your inn to call a taxi before the last bus goes, not after

ATMs: Use 7-Eleven or Japan Post for a foreign card. Bank ATMs are hit and miss
Carry: ¥10,000–20,000 on a day out of the city. Rural areas have very little
Small places: Cash only is common. Ask “Card OK?” before you order

Lockers: At the main station, paid by IC card. They fill by mid-morning
Send it: Any convenience store will deliver it to your next hotel, usually next day. Cheaper than carrying it up stairs
At your inn: They will hold it before check-in and after check-out