I would like to make sure I have understood some of the information given on this forum. We are booked into the Comfort Hotel at 1-15-15 Higashi, Shinsaibashi, Osaka. It is said to be close to the Niko Osaka, to which the airport bus goes. In order to go to Kyoto on the next morning, we should take the Shinsaibashi Subway line, located nearby the hotel to the JROsaka Station and pick up a train for Kyoto. At Kyoto Station, we can travel by Bus 100 to some of the "touristy" places. This is just a short version of our plans for one day. I've gotten a lot of good ideas from this forum, but would appreciate input on this scenario. Thanks. mercy

I can help with the part of your post about going from the hotel to Kyoto. Your understanding is about right. A couple of websites say that the hotel is a 5 minute walk from the Shinsaibashi Station on the Osaka City Midousuji Line.

At hyperdia.com you can see the route using Shinsaibashi as the origin. Looks like you have three options

Your first option is to take the subway line to the Umeda stop and walk 4 minutes to the JR Osaka station to get the JR Kyoto Line local train to Kyoto.

I think that hyperdia.com is wrong in showing Y820 reserved seat charge for the JR Kyoto Line train. There would be no limited express surcharge for that train and it would have no reserved seats. I hope somebody else can confirm this. If I am correct then your fare would be 230 for the subway and 620 for the JR train.

Your second option is to take the subway from Shinsaibashi to Shin Osaka station where you can get the JR Kyoto Line.

Your third option is to take the subway to Shin Osaka and take the shinkansen to Kyoto. This would save only 10 minutes and would cost an additional 1100 yen or so (more than double the fare of the local), but you would get to ride the bullet train.

A fourth option is to take the subway to Yodoyabashi station and connect there to a Keihan Honsen Line Ltd.Exp train to Sanjo station in Kyoto.

If you go to hyperdia.com and put in
Start point: Shinsaibashi
Destination: SANJO(KYOTO)
and chose a departure time of 07:04 then you will see what I mean.

mrwunrfl:I tried the Hyperdia link--but must be doing something wrong--It keeps saying it is 6,7, or 8 hrs. to destination. Maybe I'm reading it wrong. Had that link on my Favorites but had never tried it. Any other ideas? mhm

grace.hyperdia.com
depart: SHINSHAIBASHI
ARRIVE: SANJO(KYOTO) - you have to select in the menu where you see Sanjo, as it defaults to Nigata...you need to select the one that says Kyoto.
or
Depart: Shinsaibashi
Arrive: Kyoto

KIMJAPAN: Thanks to you and mrwunrfl for the suggestions. I was able to get it to come up correctly and go the information I needed.

I would appreciate comments about the Bus 100 in Kyoto, from anyone who has used it. We may do one of the suggested Kyoto Walks, from the Lonely Planet "Kyoto" book and walk , but want to have the bus as a back-up. mhm

Actually, in Kyoto we've always used taxis for ease...they are right there when you need them and bring you right to where you want to go. No experience with bus 100...but as far as I know it runs only on weekends and holidays.

I'm wrong about the bus 100. I think you are talking about the the "Raku Bus" routes. http://raku.city.kyoto.jp/data/cssys.../toku_1_e.html
and http://www.kcif.or.jp/en/benri/02_05.html
may be of help.

for those who will be travelling to japan.. this is a very useful site:
http://www.zone81.com/arch_sections/trains ... and this one, i just found recently...http://www.ocat.jp/english/index.html...i my self would like to visit kyoto and osaka someday.. i lived in japan for 4 years but never had the chance to go to these places...

thanks for the links eugene. The zone81 site has good subway maps. mercy, you can see that the Keihan train goes where you The schedule link just goes to hyperdia.com

fodors converted the text for ocat.jp incorrectly. This link should work:
http://www.ocat.jp/english/index.html

Thanks to all for the various links & info. I've put them in my Favorites file for Osaka & Kyoto and will review them when I have time. The Internet is a wealth of information and the sharing of information between individuals certainly adds to its value. mhm

If mhm are your initials then I would guess that your name is Mercy Me, middle name Heavens.

Sorry to disappoint, but Mercy is just my "Internet" name and the initials are a combo of letters I can remember. But I must admint I've sometimes said id "Mercy Me"!!mhm