Izumo is served by Izumo Airport, which has daily flights to and from Tokyo Haneda (about 90 minutes). The airport is 4 km north of the city centre. Rail travellers arrive at Izumoshi Station on the JR Sanin Line, which runs along the San'in coast. From Osaka, the journey by express train takes about four hours; from Hiroshima, change at Masuda.
For Izumo Taisha specifically, a private railway line — the Ichibata Electric Railway — connects from Dentetsu Izumoshi Station (adjacent to the JR station) to Izumo Taisha-mae Station directly outside the shrine grounds. The journey takes about 30 minutes. Buses also run from the JR station to the shrine.