The Kansai region of Japan includes the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. The region is served by two airports – Itami Airport (ITM), also know as Osaka International Airport; and Kansai International Airport (KIX). Depending on your arrival time, there are different ways of getting from Osaka airports to Kyoto.
Despite its “international” designation, Itami is mainly a domestic airport serving flights mostly by JAL and ANA. Whether you are flying directly from west coast of U.S into Osaka, or through another city in Asia, chances are you will land in Kansai International airport, which has been serving the region’s international traffic since 1994.
JR Limited Express Haruka from Kansai Airport to Kyoto Station
The easiest and fastest option between Kansai International Airport and Kyoto is the train. JR West runs the Limited Express Haruka, the only rail service between KIX airport and Kyoto Station. The whole journey takes about 75 minutes, with a quick stop at Osaka City’s Shin-Osaka Station and Tennoji Station.
The Limited Express Haruka runs about 30 round trips every day. The schedule to Kyoto Station can be found here and are highlighted in blue for Haruka Express. The earliest Haruka service from Kansai Airport leaves at 6:30 am and the last one leaves at 10:16pm. (The schedule from Kyoto station to Kansai Airport Station can be found here. The earliest train leaves Kyoto station at 5:45 am and the last train leaves at 10:30pm.)
This train is covered by the Japan Rail Pass. If you do not have a Japan Rail Pass, it is worth getting the “ICOCA & HARUKA” pass. It includes a discounted ticket for the Limited Express Haruka and a set of ICOCA prepaid IC card (500 yen deposit, and 1,500 yen pre-loaded fare). Similar to the SUICA prepaid IC card in Tokyo area, The ICOCA would be super convenient for subway rides in Kyoto and Osaka area. I intend to get one during my first trip to Kyoto.
Airport Limousine Bus from Osaka Airports to Kyoto Station
When I visited in Tokyo a few years ago, I was very impressed by the Airport Limousine Bus service from Narita airport to my hotel in Shinjuku. Here in Kansai region, regular services by Airport Limousine Bus make it easy for you to get from Osaka airports to Kyoto Station. Reservation is not needed, and boarding is first come first served. The advantage of taking bus instead of train is that you don’t have to haul your luggage and go through the JR platform which sometimes could be busy and hectic. The disadvantage is that buses might run into traffic on the road!
From Osaka Itami Airport
Service runs constantly between the hours of 8am and 9:10pm. You can find the timetable here. Bus departs every 20 minutes, stopping first at south terminal (near door 15), then north terminal (near door 5) before heading straight to Kyoto station. The entire trip takes about 55 minutes. Fare is 1,310 yen for adults and 660 yen for children. The last bus departs at 9:10pm from south terminal and 9:15pm from north terminal, It reaches Kyoto Station at 10:05pm.
From Kansai Airport
Service runs every 20 minutes between the hours of 5:55am and 11:40pm. You can find the timetables here. You can buy tickets from ticket windows by bus stop 8 on the first floor of Terminal 1 or bus stop 1 at Terminal 2. The fare to Kyoto Station is 2550 yen for adults and 1280 yen for children. The ride takes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.
The bus drops off at Kyoto Station’s Hachijo-guchi southern exit, plus a few other stops in Kyoto after Kyoto Station. The last bus departs from Kansai Airport at 11:40pm from Terminal 2, and 11:55pm from Terminal 1. It reaches Kyoto Station at 1.20 am.
Shared Shuttle directly to Kyoto hotel
There are two taxi companies offer affordable and convenient shared shuttle services between the airports and Kyoto. The advantage of these shuttle services is that it will drop you off or pick you up directly at your hotel, so you do not have travel between your hotel and Kyoto Station. If you are traveling with lots of luggage, or with kids and carrying strollers etc., definitely consider the share shuttle services.The journey can take a bit longer than the Airport Limousine Bus, but usually no more than 2 hours and 30 minutes. Both companies require a reservation at least two days in advance, but early bookings are recommended in case seats become unavailable.
Yasaka Taxi offers shuttle services from Kansai airport between the hours of 7am and 9am. Fare is 3,500 yen for adult and 1,750 yen for children. You can book Yasaka Taxi here.
MK Taxi seems to have a bigger operation than Yasaka Taxi. They offer services from both ITM and KIX airports. At ITM airport, MK Taxi doesn’t have a counter, but the driver will wait for you in the arrival hall. Their service hours cover all the flights arriving and departing ITM airport. From Kansai airport, MK Taxi runs shuttle service between 7am and until the arrival of last flight of the day (10:45pm for international and 10:55pm for domestic). MK Shuttle counter is located near gate H after clearing custom in Terminal 1. You can book MK Taxi here. Their fares are shown in the table below.
For my Kyoto trip, we are staying at Hyatt Regency Kyoto, which is located about 10 minutes from Kyoto Station. Even though Hyatt provides a free one-way taxi ride to the hotel from Kyoto Station, for ease of travel we decided to go with MK Taxi. I booked a reservation online for my group of 3 adults and 2 children just three days prior to our arrival. Within a few hours they emailed me back with a confirmation. Just as expected, we were quoted 3,400 yen per adult and 1,800 yen per child.
Conclusion
Which route should you pick to get from Osaka airports to Kyoto? It all depends how you are traveling, with or without kids, with lots or a small amount of luggage, and when you are arriving. Rest assured, no matter which route you choose, you will get to Kyoto safe and sound.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Thank you for this detailed post! Very useful. Makes me wanna go back to Kyoto and Kansai in general. Don’t forget Nara as well!
Love kyoto, Osaka is like mini Tokyo nothing special
Very helpful report. We will be going to Japan in Summer for a 1 week vacation (another week in Oceania) for the 1st time. Can you pl help me out with the below questions? We are family of 5 (3 kids-17/13/12). I am Hilton Gold and Hyatt Platinum. Like to use points for the stay/flights.
1. In Tokyo, I have booked both the Park Hyatt and Hilton. Which one will be better in terms of convenience, nearby restaurants/station/attractions/cost etc. Or is there another better option? Out of 7 days, how should I divide up the time between Tokyo and Kyoto? I am thinking 4 days in Tokyo and 3 days in Kyoto..
2. Where in Kyoto is a good place to stay? I booked Westin (doesn’t have good reviews) and Hyatt Regency (haven’t gotten the larger room yet). Same questions as above.
Like to explore mostly Natural sightseeing and Temples unique to Japan.
Also, should I get JR pass for all 5 of us?
I personally would do 4 days in Kyoto and 3 days in Tokyo. Check out 3 other post I wrote: Hotels on points in Kyoto, hotels on points in Tokyo, and the lessons I learned from planning my kyoto trip.
The Hyatt Regency Kyoto has Deluxe room that fits 5 people. You will see how I managed to get one using points (they are usually not bookable with points). In Tokyo, I would say Hilton and Hyatt Regency would be better than the Park Hyatt, because the first two are connected to a subway station while the Park Hyatt is not. Also, Hyatt Regency requires half the points of Park Hyatt, you will be out all day anyway. Being a Hilton Gold you might get room upgrade and free breakfast, but Hyatt Platinum will not get you any of that.
You can look up Japan-Guide.com for things to do in either city. I will try to do a trip report when I return from my Kyoto trip. I imagine you will be staying mostly inside Kyoto and Tokyo, in that case, the JR pass doesn’t cover all the subway rides. So I don’t know if you should get the JR pass. Other readers maybe able to comment. I think the bullet train between Kyoto and Tokyo are covered by the pass. You will have to research about that. I didn’t get the JR pass for both my Tokyo trip and Kyoto trip. But I did get the SUICA card in Tokyo for subway rides and it also works in Kyoto (In Kyoto, the similar prepaid card is called ICOCA card, works the same as SUICA card and can be used in Tokyo). The only thing is, you can only get SUICA card refunded in Tokyo not in Kyoto (vice versa for ICOCA card).
Thanks Sharon for the wonderful suggestions. The reason I booked the Park Hyatt Tokyo is that we have the 4 free nights. I also read through your other posts on the Hotels. I will for now keep those booking and change it once I get a firm idea on our side-trips.
So, we plan to take some side trips outside the Tokyo and Kyoto using the JR pass .
Looking forward to reading your Trip report.
Regarding JR pass: The cost of the pass is only worth it if you need to/want to take enough JR rides within that time period. It depends on which city, but especially in Kyoto, JR trains will not really help you get around the city. Last time I checked, a 7 day ordinary pass costs around 29,110 JPY. Cost of shinkansen fro Tokyo to Kyoto is about 13,000 JPY for unreserved seats. So if you are planning to a round-trip between Tokyo and Kyoto, plus a few more trips, you break even. If you do less than that, it’s not worth it.
Another money saving option is to buy special foreign visitors flights from ANA or JAL. I know that domestic one-way can be cheaper than shinkansen on some routes, depending on how you decide to get to/go from the airports.
@Naoyuki, thanks for your wonderful suggestions/info. We will be taking at one roundtrip Tokyo-Kyoto and some side trips. I may opt for a 4-5 day JR pass if that it cost effective.
JR Pass only comes in 7, 14, and 21 day denominations. If you are doing both Tokyo and Kyoto, another option (I’m sure you have already researched this) is to fly into Tokyo and depart from Japan from Kansai/Itami or vice versa. This saves you from a redundant round trip between Tokyo and Kyoto. Also, by the way, price of one-way “Experience Japan” ANA flight from Haneda to Itami/Kansai/Kobe is about 98 USD or about 11,000 JPY right now.
In Kyoto, I would take the municipal subway/bus to get around. You can’t use the JR pass on those, though. If you don’t mind paying for the tickets every time, you can do that, but buying a ICOCA or other IC cards would be much more convenient, since then you don’t have to buy tickets every time you use the system. As far as I know, there’s no real discount program to just buy ICOCA, but if you happen to fly into Kansai, there is a discounted ICOCA-Haruka (JR train to Kyoto) package that is a money-saver.