The Best 2-Day Trip from Kyoto: Hiroshima, Amanohashidate and Koyasan

The Three Routes Compared

Each route below fits comfortably into a weekend. Hiroshima needs the shinkansen, Amanohashidate uses a reserved-seat limited express, and Koyasan runs on the Nankai line from Osaka Namba. Fares are one way per person unless stated otherwise.

How to Choose

Pick Hiroshima and Miyajima if this is your first 2 day trip from Kyoto and you want the biggest payoff. The Peace Memorial Park and museum deserve a calm half day, and Miyajima rewards a second morning because the great torii only appears to float above a tide level of 250 cm and can be walked to below 100 cm, so timing matters. The Miyajima Tourist Association publishes official tide tables, so you can plan the shrine visit around your ferry.

Pick Amanohashidate and Ine if you want sea, sand and small villages without big crowds, and note that the Ine sightseeing express bus only runs in season, with three trips each way. Pick Koyasan if a night in a temple with vegetarian shojin ryori meals sounds like the point of the trip, because the shukubo stay is the experience, not just the bed. If your window is shorter than two days, the one-day Hiroshima and Miyajima tour with shinkansen tickets is the practical fallback.

Whatever you choose, book the limited express seats early, since reservations are mandatory on the Hashidate and Kinosaki limited expresses.

Why the Night Helps

With a night on the coast you can spread the pieces over two easy halves. The key link is the Miyazu and Amanohashidate to Ine sightseeing express bus, which costs 1,200 yen one way and takes about 40 minutes. It runs daily from 1 October to 20 December with three trips each way and no reservations accepted.

The regular hourly bus from Amanohashidate Station to Ine takes about one hour for 400 yen as a fallback. Ine itself holds about 230 funaya boathouses along the bay.

Getting There

The direct JR Hashidate limited express from Kyoto to Amanohashidate takes 2 hours and costs 4,800-5,400 yen one way, with mandatory seat reservations. The alternative is a JR Kinosaki limited express to Fukuchiyama, 75 minutes at about 3,050-3,650 yen, then the Kyoto Tango Railway for 40-60 minutes at 800-1,750 yen. The Japan Rail Pass does not cover the Kyoto Tango Railway section, but the JR Kansai Wide Area Pass does, at 12,000 yen for 5 consecutive days.

A Tankai highway bus from Kyoto Station also runs direct in about 2 hours for 3,200-3,400 yen.

Day 1: Sandbar and Kasamatsu Park

The Amanohashidate sandbar is about 3 km long and takes about 45 minutes to walk end to end, or about 15 minutes by bicycle, with rentals at 500 yen for two hours. Sightseeing boats along the sandbar run every 30 minutes for 800 yen one way or 1,300 yen round trip. For the classic upside-down view, take the Kasamatsu Park cable car or chairlift, 800 yen for adults and 400 yen for children aged 6-12 with one ticket valid for both.

The cable car runs every 15 minutes from 9:00-18:00 from March to October, and the chairlift runs 9:00-16:00 from March to November. Amanohashidate View Land has both a chairlift and a monorail, covered by one ticket.

Day 2: Ine

Ride the express bus over and spend the morning on the water. The Ine Bay cruise takes 25 minutes and costs 1,200 yen for adults and 600 yen for children, with large boats leaving every 30 minutes from 9:00 to 16:00 without reservation. Small sea taxis cost about 1,000 yen.

In the afternoon, walk the waterfront among the funaya before the bus back to Amanohashidate and the limited express to Kyoto. If you would rather see it all in one push, two bus day trips cover the same coast from Kyoto: Amanohashidate, Ine and Miyama at $86 for 10 hours, and the cheaper Amanohashidate and Ine bus day trip at $55.10 for 9 hours, with boat and chairlift tickets only in the included-ticket options.

The Route Via Namba

Koyasan has no direct service from Kyoto, so you first reach Nankai Namba in Osaka. From there the Koya limited express takes 80 minutes to Gokurakubashi for 1,880 yen with an e-ticket or 2,030 yen on paper, with only two direct trains a day. The cheaper Nankai express or rapid express takes 100 minutes for 930 yen and usually needs a change at Hashimoto.

From Gokurakubashi the Koyasan cable car takes 5 minutes and costs 500 yen, then a bus runs 10 minutes to the town centre for 460 yen.

The Koyasan World Heritage Ticket

The Koyasan World Heritage Ticket from Namba costs 3,980 yen digital or 4,210 yen paper in the regular version, and 4,910 yen digital or 5,200 yen paper with the limited express. It is valid for up to two consecutive days, which is exactly the shape of an overnight trip, and it includes unlimited rides on the Koyasan town buses, so day 1 and day 2 both run on one ticket. The regular version does not cover the limited express supplement of 1,100 yen one way, or 950 yen online.

Nankai's digital ticket is valid 2 days from the selected date, with no refund once it expires.

Day 1: In, Okunoin and the Temple Night

Arrive early enough to check in, because shukubo check-in should be by 17:00. Stays cost 10,000 to 40,000 yen per person including dinner and breakfast, the meals are vegetarian shojin ryori, and most temples accept cash only. Day 2 starts with morning prayers at the temple around 6:00, then Kongobu-ji, which costs 1,000 yen alone or 2,500 yen on the combination ticket and is open 8:30-17:00 with entry until 16:30.

No Catalog Tour Covers Koyasan

None of the bookable day tours listed on this site go to Koyasan, so there is no one-day fallback here. A temple night is the way to do it, and the two-day World Heritage Ticket plus one shukubo booking is the whole plan. If a guided day trip matters more to you than a temple stay, the routes above to Hiroshima or Amanohashidate are the ones with tour options.

What the Tours Actually Include

The Hiroshima and Miyajima day trip with shinkansen tickets and bus tour costs $114 for 8-12 hours and includes round-trip shinkansen tickets, Itsukushima Shrine entry, the Peace Memorial Museum ticket, the round-trip ferry and an okonomiyaki lunch. Staff hand you the train tickets at Kyoto Station but do not ride with you, and the guide meets you in Hiroshima. The Hiroshima and Miyajima day trip by bullet train costs $119, includes the train tickets if selected, the ferry and shrine admission, but lunch is not included and you ride to Hiroshima on your own.

On the coast, the Amanohashidate, Ine and Miyama day tour costs $86 for 10 hours, and the Amanohashidate and Ine bus day trip costs $55.10 for 9 hours, both with boat and chairlift tickets only in the included-ticket packages.

What the Second Day Buys

Two days on your own to Hiroshima means 10,770 yen each way in non-reserved shinkansen fares before local transport, while the $114 tour already bundles the train, entries, ferry and lunch. What it cannot buy is the tide. The great torii only floats above a 250 cm tide and can be walked to below 100 cm, and a fixed 8-12 hour schedule takes whatever the tide gives.

A second day also lets you spread the museum and the island across separate mornings instead of racing both, and it is the only way to get the Koyasan temple night at all. Use the tour when the calendar is tight, and the overnight plan when Miyajima is a headline of your trip rather than an extra. For single-day train trips closer to Kyoto, see free day trips from Kyoto.