There are two ways to get to Arima Onsen from Kobe or Osaka: the cheap and practical way, or the fun but expensive way.
The practical way is to take the Hanshin, Hankyu or Sanyo Line to Shinkaichi æ°éå° just west of Kobe, then transfer to the Kobe Railway Arima Line to terminus Arima Onsen. Note that express services terminate at Arimaguchi, so you'll need to switch to a local train. Alternatively, if you're coming in on JR, get off at Kobe's Sannomiya station, take the Kobe Subway to Tanigami è°·ä¸, and connect there to the Kobe Arima Line. In either case, make sure to transfer at the Arimaguchi station onto the one stop only Arima Onsen line. The whole trip will cost around ¥900-1000 and take about half an hour.
The fun way is to take the Hankyu line to Rokko station and continue up Mt. Rokko on the cablecar 10 min, ¥570/1000 one-way/return. Connect with the bus loop line 10 min, ¥250 to the Rokko Arima Ropeway, then take the ropeway down to Arima Onsen 12 min, ¥980/1770 one-way/return. The Rokko Arima Katamichi JÅshaken å ç²æ馬çéä¹è»å¸ combination ticket ¥1700 one way works out marginally cheaper, and also lets you ride around the top of Mt. Rokko. This route is more scenic, but best avoided with heavy luggage.
