How to get around Sendai
Sendai station is the main and probably the only train station in the city of Sendai where you will arrive. Once you arrive at this station, which is located in the center, you can move on foot, by subway, by train, by bus.
Loople Sendai Sightseeing Bus
The easiest way to visit all the tourist attractions you are interested in is to use the
Loople Sendai, a bus line specifically for tourists.
The Loople Sendai starts its route from
Sendai Station, after leaving the station it goes around the city for about 70 minutes before going back to the station. Sendai Station is then both the first and the last stop of this bus.
During the journey, it makes a stop near practically all the attractions of the city. As you can see in the image below, there is only one direction of travel.
Fares and timetable of the Loople Sendai
There are three types of tickets available for purchase.
The
one-day pass costs 620 yen, a em>single-ride ticket costs 260 yen. There is also another one-day pass which allows to take both the Loople Bus and the metro, which costs 900 yen.
One-day passes can be purchased at 1) JR Sendai Station West Exit Bus ticket office 2) 21 hotels and accommodations in Sendai City (a full list
here) 3) Sendai Aoba Castle Museum, Zuihoden Mausoleum and Sendai International Center 4) Directly on board asking the driver, but if you are unlucky he might have no more of the tickets left to sell.
The Loople Sendai runs every 15 minutes on Saturdays and Sundays, in August and on some holidays, every 20 minutes on other days.
The first departure of the day leaves Sendai station at 9 am, the last departure leaves at 16 pm, goes around the city and goes back for the last time to Sendai Station at 5:10 pm. On some days the last ride might be very crowded and the bus might be full!
How to use the Loople Sendai
You can use this service in two ways. You can get on board, sit down, and take a trip around the city and then return to Sendai Station, or you can get off at the stops you are interested in, visit what you want to visit, and then take the bus again to the next destination you are interested or to return to Sendai Station. Of course it is better to buy the one-day pass if you plan more than 3 rides.
Inside the bus there are also announcements in English that inform about the next stop. If nobody has done it, just press one of the specific buttons on board before the stop you want to get off, just to make sure it will stop there.
If you have purchased a one-day pass, just show it to the driver before you get off, and if it is the first ride you must also punch your ticket before getting off. If you want to take a single ride, you do not have to buy the ticket first, but pay 260 yen to the driver before getting off. You can also use
Suica and Pasmo or 1000 yen banknotes, a machine will give you the change.
You get on board only from the central door and exit only from the front door, passing necessarily in front of the driver.
Anyway, for up-to-date information on timetables and prices, we recommend to take a look at the
official website.
Loople Sendai Pass and discounts
If you have a one-day pass, you can get some small discounts in various places and tourist attractions of the city. At
this link you can find the complete list.
Free wifi
We hope you do not waste too much time surfing the internet while visiting Sendai, but even just to check the map you will be able to use free wifi both on the bus and near each bus stop. Even if you do not have to take the bus, if you need internet just look for a bus stop of the Loople Sendai.
Buses used on this line all have a recognizable and typical retro look (photo taken by 663highland)
the typical sign at each bus stop
Sendai metro
The city of Sendai has two subway lines: the
Namboku Line which runs through the city from north to south, and the
Tozai Line which runs through the city from east to west. The two lines have only one interchange station,
Sendai Station.
The subway is not necessary if you are a tourist and you want to visit the city, moving on foot or by bus is more convenient, easier and cheaper.
You can find detailed information on how to use the metro and city buses in the excellent
official website in English.
Railway lines
Sendai Station is a large JR interchange station, served by high-speed trains shinaksen but also by several local lines: the
Tohoku Main Line, the
Senzan Line, the Senseki Line, the
Joban Line.
The
Tohoku Main Line is useful to go to the north (Morioka, Aomori) or to the south (Koriyama, Tokyo) without using the shinkansen.
The
Senzan Line connects Sendai with Yamagata. It is very useful to go to Yamagata and eventually continue to Akita with local trains, or to visit the
Yamadera Temple, located along this line. 15 minutes walk from
Kunimi Station there is also the
Osaki Hachimangu shrine.
The
Senseki Line is very important if you want to visit the area of
Matsushima.
The
Joban Line connects Sendai with Tokyo passing near the coast, but there are no famous tourist destinations along this line near Sendai.
Map of Sendai
Guided tours, activities and other things to do
If you are planning a trip to Japan and you want to do something more than just visiting famous places and monuments, we suggest you to use
Rakuten Travel Experiences.
How to use Rakuten Travel Experiences
Rakuten Travel is a very useful website to
enrich your travel experience, especially if you are going solo or it's your first time in Japan.
Because of the language barrier (and more), in Japan it is very difficult to interact with the locals and to get off the tourist track.
Thanks to Rakuten Travel you can find a lot of interesting and sometimes unique
guided tours and activities all over Japan (and not only in Japan), that you would otherwise never be able to enjoy.
But there's more: on Rakuten Travel you can also
buy tickets for several famous attractions, events, transportation and other useful services for tourists. Last but not least, you can
reserve a table in hundreds of restaurants.
Some examples
Take a look at Rakuten Travel Experiences
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Buses used on this line all have a recognizable and typical retro look (photo taken by 663highland)
the typical sign at each bus stop
