Getting around Kyoto

Getting inHow you arrive in Kyoto

Kyoto Station (shinkansen) · 15 min from Osaka, 2h 15m from Tokyo · nearest airport: Kansai

Confirmed journey times

Fastest services, checked on the date shown.

From Tokyo: About 2 hours 15 minutes to Kyoto by the fastest shinkansen (Nozomi). Every Nozomi stops here.
Checked 2026-08-16
From Osaka: About 15 minutes from Shin-Osaka by shinkansen, or half an hour on a local line from Osaka station.
Checked 2026-08-16

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

In this prefecture you will probably use Kintetsu, Hankyu, Keihan — a private railway, not JR. A Japan Rail Pass does not cover it.

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