Kokura Station is the main Shinkansen stop for northern Kyushu — bullet trains from Tokyo (around 4.5 hours) and Osaka (under 2 hours) all stop here, with Hakata (Fukuoka) just 16 minutes further on. Most travellers arrive by Shinkansen rather than flying, since Kitakyushu Airport is a 45-minute bus ride from the centre and serves mostly domestic routes.
The Kanmon Strait that separates Kyushu from Honshu runs just north of the city, and there are pedestrian tunnels and short ferries across to Shimonoseki for an easy half-day side trip.