Kobe to Kyoto

We will be docking at Naka Pier Cruise Terminal in Kobe. We would like to go to Kyoto, overnight then return back to Kobe the next day. Which train and train station should we use?

Hi JW,

Do you mean Nakatottei Cruise Terminal or one of the other piers? If it's Nakatottei, you can either walk 1.5 kms to JR (Japan Railways) Kobe station or walk 900m to Minatomotomachi subway station.

If you walk to JR Kobe Station, just take the first Special Rapid train headed towards Osaka and it will take you directly to JR Kyoto Station after passing through Osaka. You should not need to change trains, until you get to Kyoto depending on what you want to do there.

Special Rapids run fairly frequently, about once every 15 minutes. The fare should be a little more than 1000 yen and the trip to Kyoto should take about 1 hour. Once in Kyoto, you might need to transfer to a bus or subway or a private train line or continue on JR depending on where specifically in Kyoto you want to go.

If you walked the 900m to Minatomotomachi Station until Sannomiya Hanadokeimae. It should take about 3 minutes. At Sannomiya Hanadokeimade you will need to transfer to JR (Japan Railways) Sannomiya, where you will once again catch a Special Rapid going towards Osaka and you will take it past Osaka to JR Kyoto. It will cost you about 200 yen more to do this route and will take you about 10 minutes longer because of transfers, so it might be easier to just walk to JR Kobe Station to begin with.

Enjoy!

Probably the easiest way is
to take a taxi for 10 minutes or less to Kobe Station of JR
(around 800 yen per car per ride)
then catch a Special Rapid train going for Osaka and Kyoto,
which brings you to Kyoto Station in about 1 hour
(1080 yen per adult passenger).

How many travelers will you be?
When in the day is your cruise expected to arrive?
(Train services are not 24 hours in operation.)
Will you go back to Kobe Port Naka Pier next day and leave Japan?
(Staying in Kyoto only for one night sounds too tight to explore the city.)

@rkold:

Yes; the passenger terminal at Kobe Port "Nakatottei" Pier is called in English as Naka Pier Cruise Terminal.
http://www.city.kobe.lg.jp/culture/leisure/harbor/passenger/terminal/i...

Thank you for the replies. The ship gets in at nine in the morning and will leave at eight the next night. There will be nine of us going to Kyoto. Some are staying overnight and some are going back that same evening. The ship is only staying overnight, then leaves for Yokohama. The terminal will have a free shuttle to Motomachi Station. That's why I was asking about riding train there to JR Sannomiya Station then train to Kyoto. Is JR Sannomiya Station the same as Sannomiya Station or connected?