Kobe is well served by public transport, and most of the main attractions are reachable on foot from the railway lines.
Subway: The Kobe Municipal Subway has two lines — the Seishin-Yamate Line running east-west, and the Kaigan Line along the waterfront. Between them, they connect Shin-Kobe, Sannomiya, and Harborland. The IC card (ICOCA or Suica) works on all subway lines.
JR and private railways: JR, Hankyu, and Hanshin lines run parallel east-west routes through the city. JR stops at Kobe station (close to Harborland) and Sannomiya. Hankyu stops at Sannomiya and several other central stations. Hanshin is closest to Motomachi and the old town.
Portliner and Rokko Island Line: Automated monorails connect Sannomiya with Port Island (where the airport is) and Rokko Island (ferry terminal).
Walking: The main tourist areas — Sannomiya, Motomachi, Nankin-machi, Kitano-chō, and Meriken Park — are all walkable from each other. The walk from Sannomiya to the Port Tower takes about 20–25 minutes. For Kitano-chō, the walk uphill from Sannomiya takes about 10–15 minutes.
Nunobiki and the mountains: The Nunobiki Ropeway connects the city to the Rokko mountain ridge. For Arima Onsen, a combination of train and bus from Sannomiya takes about 30 minutes.