How Do I Get from Osaka to Kyoto?

Best Train Routes, Transfers & Day-Trip Tips

Osaka is a great base if you’re staying in Kansai, because from here you can do day trips to Kobe, Nara, or Kyoto. One of the questions I get asked a lot is, “How do I get from Osaka  to Kyoto for a day trip?” 

There are a couple different options. If you’re with me on an Osaka Day Tours van trip to Kyoto, we’re going to drive up on the Meishin Highway. The other really good option is the trains. Forget the buses, definitely forget the taxis. The trains will get you there quickly and easily.

The Shinkansen Option

There are two options. One is the Shinkansen, the bullet train, and yes, that’s fun. It’s a 12-minute zip through the countryside – and you’re there. It is a bit of a hassle to get from Osaka to Shin-Osaka, where you catch the bullet train.

The Train Option

My favorite way to get up to Kyoto from Osaka station is really easy. You take the JR train. You want one called the Shinkaisoku, or the Special Rapid. It’s written in both Japanese and English, and it usually leaves from Track 8. It’s going to take you 30 minutes to get to Kyoto station. It costs ¥580.

Going to Arashiyama

If you want to go to Arashiyama to see the bamboo forest and all that, you also take the same line up to Kyoto station, and then you have to switch over to another line called the Sagano line. You’ll arrive in Kyoto Station on Track 2. From there, walk to Tracks 31, 32, and 33 – the Sagano line.

Ride that out to Saga Arashiyama. When you get to Saga Arashiyama station, you need to just walk up to the main street, turn left, follow down the main street a bit, and turn right when you see a huge white sign for Tenryuji Temple. Walk over to the temple, buy a ticket to go into the temple, go through the temple garden, see the pond, and if you go to the other side of the temple gardens, that’s going to get you into the bamboo forest.

Going to Fushimi Inari Shrine

If you’re going to go to Fushimi Inari Shrine – the big shrine on the hillside with all the red gates going up the hill – you do the same thing from Osaka station to Kyoto station. Ride that Shinkaisoku (Special Rapid). You’ll arrive at Track 2, and you’re going to walk over to the Nara line.

To get to the Nara line, it’s going to leave from track 8, 9, or 10. Just check out the overhead signs on the way to those tracks. From Osaka to Inari station is about 50 minutes, and it costs you ¥840. 

Once you come out of Inari station, it’s very easy. Just cross the road and you’re going to see the huge torii gate. Start walking up to that, and you’re going to see another huge torii gate, the big orange gates, and then behind that, you’re going to see the shrine. 

Go through the shrine, and go up behind the shrine, that’s the beginning of all the red (actually orange) gates going up the mountainside. 

Going to Gion & Higashiyama

If you want to go to Gion or Higashiyama – go to the Yasaka shrine, hang around the Gion district, walk up along Ninenzaka, Sannenzaka, and over to Kiyomizu Temple – you’re going to take a different train line.

Take the Keihan train line out of Kiyobashi Station. Inside the station, you want to go up the escalators, after you’ve gone through the ticket booths, and up to track2. You don’t want to take a local train, you want to get one of the express trains called a Tokyu, because that’ll get you there in 40 minutes, and it costs¥480. The only car you cannot go in is car number 6, because that’s the premium car – unless you want to pay extra for the premium car

To get to Kyobashi Station from anywhere else in Osaka, you’re going to take the loop line, and you come to Kiyobashi Station. If you’re up in Osaka, it’s just a couple stations down. If you’re down in Tennoji, in the south part of Osaka, just come around the loop line going counter-clockwise, and come to Kiyobashi Station. Come out of the JR, and walk across to the Keihan line.

You’re going to take the Keihan line up to Gion Shijo. That’s a small station, it’s underground, so come up out of either Exit 6 or Exit 7, and that’s going to have you right in the Gion area. As you look down that street, you can see the orange shrine at the far end – that is Yasaka shrine.

Walk towards it. You can wander through the Gion area, go up through Yasaka shrine, then you’ve got Kodaiji Temple up behind there, you’ve got Ninenzaka, Sannenzaka, and it’s going to take you right up to Kiyomizu-dera, or Kiyomizu Temple. That’s the big wooden temple, which has a great view out over Kyoto. 

Easy Travel With an IC Card

It’s really easy to get around anywhere in Kansai by train, and if you’re going to be using (5:36) the trains, I highly recommend you get yourself the Icoca card. You can get it from one of the ticket machines, you load it up with a little bit of money, you tap in, you tap out, and you can go anywhere in Kansai area – or actually anywhere in Japan, and not just trains, you can use this on buses too.