Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) to Tokyo
The Keisei Skyliner is about 2,580 yen and the JR Narita Express about 3,070 - the cheaper one is also the faster.
- Narita is about 60 km from central Tokyo. Tokyo's other airport, Haneda (HND), is 14 km out - which one you fly into changes your day.
- The Keisei Skyliner is about 2,580 yen at the station, or about 2,310 yen booked online, reaching Nippori and Ueno in around 40 minutes.
- The JR Narita Express (N'EX) is about 3,070 yen to Tokyo Station and about 3,250 yen to Shinjuku or Shibuya.
- The Skyliner is usually both cheaper and quicker. N'EX wins only if it drops you closer to where you are staying, which for Shinjuku or Yokohama it may.
- Book the Skyliner online before you fly for the discount - it is a few clicks and saves a few hundred yen.
Two premium trains
Narita has two fast trains and they are run by different companies to different stations.
| Keisei Skyliner | JR Narita Express | |
|---|---|---|
| Fare | about 2,580 yen (about 2,310 yen online) | about 3,070 yen to Tokyo Station |
| Arrives | Nippori and Ueno | Tokyo, and on to Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Yokohama |
| Time | about 40 minutes | about 55 to 60 minutes to Tokyo |
The Skyliner is normally the better buy. It costs several hundred yen less and takes less time. The Skyliner's fare splits into a 1,280 yen fare ticket and a 1,300 yen liner ticket, which is why the number looks odd.
N'EX earns its price only on geography. It runs through Tokyo Station to Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Yokohama without a change - if you are staying at one of those, the extra fare buys you not dragging luggage through Tokyo's interchanges, which is worth real money.
The Skyliner and Tokyo Subway ticket
- Keisei sells a combined ticket pairing the Skyliner with a 24, 48 or 72-hour Tokyo Subway pass.
- It is good value if you are going to use the subway heavily, which in Tokyo you will.
- Buy it with the Skyliner ticket rather than separately.
Cheaper and slower
- Keisei Access Express runs the same corridor without the liner supplement, taking longer and costing considerably less. It is the local train and it is perfectly comfortable.
- Limousine buses run to major hotels and stations. They are slower and traffic-dependent but they take you door to door with luggage.
Which Tokyo airport
If you have a choice when booking, Haneda is dramatically closer - about 14 km, and a 520 yen monorail. See its own page. A cheap Narita fare can be swallowed whole by the transfer at both ends.
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