Kobe: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Kobe is a city of 1.5 million people in Japan (Hyōgo), 35 m (115 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Kobe Airport (UKB), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre. It has a dozen or more railway stations on record, including Kobe-Sannomiya Station. It is a port city: Port of Kobe. Our booking partner lists 220 places to stay.
Key facts
Daylight in Kobe runs from about 9 h 53 min a day in late December to 14 h 32 min in late June (computed for 34.69° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Kobe is served by 5 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is Kobe Airport (UKB), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre, with a longest runway of 8,202 ft, which limits it to short and medium-haul aircraft. The alternatives are Osaka Itami International Airport (ITM, 26 km), Kansai International Airport (KIX, 30 km), Tokushima Awaodori Airport / JMSDF Tokushima Air Base (TKS, 82 km), Konotori Tajima Airport (TJH, 98 km).
Flights to Kobe: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include Kobe-Sannomiya Station, Kōbe Station, Motomachi Station, Rokkō Station, Okamoto Station, Tarumi Station. Trains to Kobe
Buses to Kobe · Driving and car hire · Ferries
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 220 places to stay in Kobe. Of the 189 with a star rating, the largest group is 3-star (93), and 12 are five-star. Across 125 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8.4 out of 10. Guests have left 153,087 reviews in total.
Hotels in Kobe: the full picture, and book
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Osaka, 29 km — car rental · ferries · tours
- Nagoya, 166 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Kyoto, 64 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Hiroshima, 252 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Sakai, 29 km — car rental · tours
- Hamamatsu, 233 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Aihara, 389 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Okayama, 114 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Sagamihara, 382 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Shizuoka, 294 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
Twin towns and sister cities: Seattle, Marseille, Rio de Janeiro, Faisalabad, Riga, Brisbane, Barcelona, Haifa, Incheon, Cádiz, Terni, Philadelphia, Tianjin.
Common questions
Which airport serves Kobe?
Kobe Airport (UKB), 8 km (5 mi) from the centre, plus 4 other airports with scheduled flights within 100 km.
How big is Kobe?
About 1.5 million people live in Kobe, across 552,230,000 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Kobe in?
Asia/Tokyo, currently UTC+9.
What currency is used in Kobe?
The Yen (JPY). Traffic drives on the left.
How many hotels are there in Kobe?
Our booking partner lists 220 places to stay in Kobe, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Kobe?
Osaka (29 km), Nagoya (166 km), Kyoto (64 km), Hiroshima (252 km), Sakai (29 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 13 September 2026. Hotel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.