Getting from Osaka Kansai Airport to the City Centre - There are a number of ways to reach the city from Osaka Airport. Obviously the most convenient way is taxi, but you have to pay. We caught the Nankai Rapi:t (takes about 35 minutes to Namba Station) and from there we had our hotel bus wait for us. We stayed at the ANA Crowne Plaza Osaka. Namba is well connected to other areas of Osaka, so even if we had to take the subway from there it would take us around 15 minutes. The Nankai Rapi:t train tickets can be purchased at the Nankai ticket office in the airport.
Getting around Osaka - We managed to get around Osaka using subway. We purchased a day pass for each day at the vending mention in the station. There's a JR Loop line where the subway pass is not valid. Some of the attractions lie on the JR Loop line, so we paid as we went. If you have a JR train pass (for inter-city travel), you can travel on this line for free. We had the pass, but didn't activate it until 3 days later.
We spent a little over 48 hours in Osaka, but those extra hours do not count as we arrived around 9pm. Here's what we did in 48 hours.
As you can see, we covered quite a lot on our own in two days. Once you get a hang of the Osaka metro system, getting around is a breeze! Most of the attractions are around a metro stop.
Next up is - Miyajima! Stay tuned x