We were there in December and it was jacket weather. I sort of relate the weather kind of like North Carolina... if that helps.

Hello, If you take the Port Liner to Sannomiya station, you will arrive on 2F and need to go down one floor to exit. If you exit at the central exit on the north side and go outside of the station, look for signs to the subway. Just outside there is an elevator that will take you down one level to the subway entrance. There are more subway entrances around that whole intersection but some only have steps. You will need to buy one ticket each. Shin Kobe is just one stop away on the subway line(about a 5 minute train ride). When you arrive at Shin Kobe, you will be underground. There should be signs but the entrance to the ropeway is at street level. I think you will need to take two escalators up to get to street level. If you keep going up, you will get to the bullet train part of the station and need to backtrack a little. Not a big deal, just more walking. The entrance to the ropeway is close to the Main Street right by Shin Kobe station. If you have a whole day in Kobe, you won’t have a problem getting here and enjoying the area before returning to the boat by reversing the process. Enjoy your day. Kobe is a beautiful city!

about 10mins , its def not that long