- Local / semi-rapid unreserved stopping services
- Thunderbird Express one stop service (including green class)
- Local and then Shinkensen bullet train
We opted for the Thunderbird Express, which meant booking seats as all the Green Class seats have to be booked. The unreserved carriages had a very long queue when we found the platform in Osaka station – there is a really good iPhone app (Hyperdia) which allows 30 days free access to train schedules in Japan. These not only provide the timetables, but also the platforms of departure/arrival for most trains (very helpful in stations were signage is usually in Japanese rather than English) and also allows you to plan using non-Nozomi trains (great if you are using a Japan Rail pass as you can’t travel on the Nozomi bullet trains for free).
The train, as always arrived on time and the green class carriage on this service was 1-2 set up (ordinary was 2-2) – we would normally have got the local service if we didn’t have the green class Japan rail pass (price is ¥2,410 compared to ¥540). The train stopped only at Shin-Osaka and then onto Kyoto. Very comfortable seats with excellent leg-room and nice recline. I so wanted to say at some point “Thunderbirds are go” but managed to resist myself! Definitely worth the extra money to have a reserved seat and travel in comfort!
Kyoto is well worth a visit – one thing is that in the guidebooks the maps make it look fairly compact. It is a large city with all the interesting sights spread out – there are lots and lots of temples, shrines and other things to see there. You certainly can’t see them all in a day, particularly on foot, but then after the first few we started get a little bit “templed out”. However, the ones we saw were very good and would recommend the Higashiy ama district and the Kiyomizu temple. One thing to bear in mind is that it can get very busy with both Japanese and non-Japanese tourists, so allow plenty of time to get around.
We headed back to the train station, which is well worth a quick wander around. It is an amazing place to look at – it has a 12 floor open air roof garden, reached by a series of escalators and has glass windows looking over Kyoto. There is then a “skywalk” which goes from the 10th floor, suspended off the roof over the station to the other end – it sound more scary than it actually is, since you can’t really see down and it is well enclosed (this is from someone who hates heights!!).
