Amanohashidate Route?

Hi Fellow members,

on my last trip (2025) from Kobe to Amanohashidate I went to the JR Ticket office in Kobe for tickets.

Much to my surprise, I ended up with tickets to Kyoto and then to Amanohashidate Price was over 23,000 Yen for 2 tickets.

My question: what�fs an alternative route, Kobe to Amanohashidate, using public transport other than JR trains.
How do I book such a trip and what would the cost be?

Thanks in advance for any replies

Cheers

ronzac

A train ticket from Kyoto to Amanohashidate should cost you about 5000 yen one way per person:
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3991.html

Kobe-Kyoto is around 1000 yen one way per person, unless you take the shinkansen in which case it can be almost 3000 yen for unreserved seats and even considerably more for reserved seats:
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2363.html?aFROM=2158_2159

So, you should be able to do the one way trip usuall for around 6000 yen.

I can explain the 23,000 yen only by you referring to a round trip in combination with traveling by reserved seats on the shinkansen.

Although there is a Kobe Station, it is not the city's central station. The main station in Kobe is Sannomiya Station, which does not have a Shinkansen line. The Shinkansen stops at Shin-Kobe Station, which is a little far from Sannomiya Station. There are no JR lines connecting the two stations, so you'll need to take the subway.

There are various ways to get from Sannomiya Station to Amanohashidate, including by train only, or by bus and train. Here are some routes suggested by Google Maps, departing at 8:00 AM.

Sannomiya Bus Terminal: 8:10 AM (bus) 9:40 AM Fukuchiyama Station (walk) Fukuchiyama Station 9:59 AM (JR Limited Express Hashidate) 10:40 AM Amanohashidate Station: 2 hours 34 minutes, 3,750 yen.

Of course, this route will not be offered at JR ticket offices, since the bus is not operated by JR. You can buy the bus ticket at Sannomiya Bus Terminal.

Kobe Sannomiya (Hankyu Kobe Line) 8:06 8:42 Juso 8:42 9:03 Takatsuki City 9:04 9:14 Nishiyama Tennozan (1-minute walk) Expressway Nagaokakyo 9:23 11:05 Amanohashidate Station

Here, too, the JR ticket office doesn't sell Hankyu tickets. Hankyu accepts IC cards. What about the bus? I think reservation is the safest bet.

3 hours and 3 minutes, 3,940 yen. It's slow, a little expensive, and the transfers seem difficult for beginners.

The next route is basically the same as the first: take the bus to Fukuchiyama, then take a Kyoto Tango Railway local train instead of an express train, and transfer at Miyazu.

Fukuchiyama 10:21 11:07 Miyazu 11:21 11:27 Amanohashidate Station: 3 hours 21 minutes, 2,800 yen. This is cheaper because you don't have to pay the express fare, but it takes longer.

Next, there's the option to go all by train.

Sannomiya 8:13 (JR Limited Express Hamakaze) 10:35 Toyooka 10:54 11:54 Amanohashidate Station: 3 hours 41 minutes, 7,320 yen.
It takes longer and is more expensive, but I'm sure the JR ticket counters will be happy to sell you a ticket.

Another route is to change at Amagasaki and take the JR to Fukuchiyama, then go to Miyazu and Amanohashidate (3 hours 37 minutes, 5,300 yen).

It's quite complicated, as it's not the main route.

Talking about Amanohashidate, a friend will bring me there from Osaka by car, is Amanohashidate and Ine doable in 1 day from Osaka by car? what do you think? Do I need to visit it at fast pace?

Talking about Amanohashidate, a friend will bring me there from Osaka by car, is Amanohashidate and Ine doable in 1 day from Osaka by car? what do you think? Do I need to visit it at fast pace?

I have never been to both places, so this is only what I gathered from the web. Osaka (JR Osaka station) to Ananohashidate takes about 2 hours via mostly the highway (toll road). From Amanohashidate to Ine is 30 min drive. So I think it will be doable. But if you start from southern part of Osaka and don't use highway, it will take longer. Normally you will see Amanohashidate for 2 hours so you may better consider the sightseeing time.

Thanks Uji for the 2 links and for pointing out where I spent (unnecessarily) 23,000 yen. 🙄. Your 12K yen is much better than my 23K yen.

Thanks also to frog1954 for your 5 suggested routes with prices far more attractive than my 23K yen.

To Peter1986: suggestions for your consideration.

My wife and I were in Amanohashidate & Ine in December 2025.

We arrived in Amanohashidate in the morning, bought the Tourist Pass at the tourist office at the station, headed off by bus to the chair lift that took us to great views AND where I did the - bending over - between the legs looking backwards viewing task (twas fun) , then caught the bus for a long trip to Ine where we had one nights accommodation.

For dinner that night, at our accommodation, we enjoyed the most delicious seafood meal of all time. Fish caught by the owner of the property.

Next day, before training it to Kyoto, we went on the boat trip in Ine where many seagulls flew around our heads taking food we offered them. Lots of fun! One landed on my head.

So yes, do the trips in 1 day - but leave Osaka around 7 am.

Cheers

ronzac

Honestly, if you're traveling from Sannomiya to Amanohashidate by public transportation, I think it's best to take a bus to Fukuchiyama and then take the train from there. Don't worry about other routes.

I'm Japanese, and what surprised me when I looked into it this time was that there are buses from Sannomiya to Fukuchiyama about once an hour. Fukuchiyama City is a city in northern Kyoto Prefecture with a population of about 74,000. I knew the name and knew its general location, but I thought it was in Hyogo Prefecture. Japan is a country of railways, and wherever there are trains, they're almost always faster than buses, so buses aren't competitive, and as a result, they're almost always non-existent. For example, there are several trains from Sannomiya to JR Osaka and even to Kyoto, but no buses (there is an airport bus as an exception). However, while there is a train between Sannomiya and Fukuchiyama, buses are faster, so if there were a bus service, many people would probably use it.