What other travelers are saying about Kyoto Station
I was pleasantly surprised by how grand and luxurious Kyoto Central Train Station is. I’m not sure why more places around the world don’t do the same—it truly leaves a lasting impression on travellers and makes a big difference to your overall experience of the city.
The sheer variety of food options is incredible, and they’re all good—there’s just no other way to put it. It’s also a fascinating place to simply stand or sit and people-watch, as you see so many different walks of life passing through this impressive transport hub—coming together and then parting ways to their own cities, towns, prefectures, and adventures.
I stayed in Kyoto for five days and used the station as a base for day trips to places like Osaka, Nara Deer Park, and Nagoya. The transport system in Japan is just so well designed and thought out—I can’t wait to visit again!
This is a humungous station that has several different train lines including the world renowned Shinkansen aka bullet train of Japan. The station has more than eight floors, several platforms, exits, ticketing booths and multiple customer service booths. Alongside being a station, it is also adjacent to a shopping center. There are some landmark spots too, especially the eight floors of steps.
The station is very clean. Directions are posted everywhere but it’s little bit confusing. It’s so huge that when we returned to the station from Fushimi Irani, we couldn’t locate the store where we left our luggage. We walked around for 20 minutes to find the path to other side of the station. Buying Shinkansen tickets was difficult too. Since we were boarding evening train, regular ticket wasn’t enough, the clerk sent us back the booth to buy express tickets. Tickets are expensive for express lines, about $175 per passenger to go from Kyoto to Tokyo.
Once we were inside the Shinkansen platform it was super nice. The platform and their destinations were clearly marked. All the timestamps were posted on display screens. The platforms themselves had wonderful small waiting rooms. People waited in there for 1-2 minutes before the arrival of their train, as we could see the train arriving from the waiting room. There were several vending machines to purchase drinks and snacks.
Very very big station.. lots of different train lines.. lots of shops.. neat & clean and fully organized... beautiful musical fountain outside it. dedicated shinakesan line and jr line ticket office along with number of vending machines.. one can get limited express ticket which is quite fast This station also has connected bus stop, which is required to go to various places in local city such as Gion market, yadaka shrine, pontocho etc. Nearby also has bus station for airport limousine.
I love this station. It has everything and it is so busy from day to night. I can find all sorts of food and buy my souvenirs there. It is accessible to the porta dining area as well as the isetan food court. The mall behind the station has quite a few shops such as Donki and Gu.
Getting lost in a train station will no longer be strange because Kyoto Station is a very large train station with trains, subways, and buses. It is the transportation hub of the city. People walk around and there are also many restaurants, coffee shops, and convenience stores. It feels like a small shopping mall. We got lost here for about half an hour because we couldn't find the way to the subway station. But in fact, there are many officers you can ask. The restrooms are very crowded but clean.
