What To Do And See In One Night In Tokyo Or Narita?

by Terry
(Shallowater Texas)

Hi,

We're wondering what to do and see if we have just one night in Tokyo or Narita?

We have a 16 hour layover in Tokyo on March 20th. We arrive at 8:30pm that night and fly back out at noon the following day. There are 8 of us traveling.

Are there any 24 hour shopping areas that we can visit or late night stores and attractions that we might visit? What is open on Sunday morning that we might visit before we have to head to the airport? Are there any motels close to the airport that have any shopping areas within walking distance or will we need to catch a shuttle or bus or taxi? What would you advise for us to see in this small amount of time?

Hi Terry,

A tough one this considering what time you're going to be landing. I guess part of this depends on whether you plan on getting much sleep or not!

Basically the last Narita Express to leave the airport bound for Tokyo is at 22:16 according to Hyperdia with one more local train on the Keisei line leaving at 22:41 and getting into Tokyo at 00:05. Getting back would then mean getting one of the early trains in the morning to make sure you are able to check in ok. It would be a bit of a mad schedule to be honest!

I have no idea of your budget but there are airport limousine services as well as a helicopter service that could make this much easier. Let me know if you want more details on any of these.

Alternatively, you could stay in the Narita area. There is a great temple area there and lots of local shops but again, the opening hours make this difficult. Usually shops are open until around 9 or 10pm and don't open in the morning until around 10am.

Check out this site which is all about Narita layovers. It's very well written and constantly updated as information changes. You may find something useful on here.

Personally I love the Narita area but again, it's the hours that you'll actually be available that make this one hard to plan for.

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What To Do And See In One Night In Tokyo Or Narita?

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What To Do And See In One Night In Tokyo?
by: Steve

Same question but arriving at 3:30 pm into NRT on a Friday and flying out at 10:30 am the next day.
Steve

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Hi Steve,

Hmmm... to add to the information already given, because of the time you're arriving, you might also consider spending some time in Narita itself. It's a really nice place in its own right and a lot of people overlook it which is a shame. Is there anything in particular you want to do?

If you can give me some hints I can give you a better answer.

All the best,

Honor

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Narita Rainbow Tours
by: Anonymous

The company can arrange overnight tours from Narita to Tokyo, including staying at a bizarre hotel called "capsule hotel". check with their website.

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Daikeien
by: Maddoraemon

I would recommend to go to Tokyo, visit Shibuya or Shinjuku. You can go out (club/bar) or rent karaoke-box, go to Don Quichote, a store that sells almost anything 24/7. Around 4am you can head to Tsukiji fish market and after Tsukiji pay a short visit to Asakusa and head back to airport. Another option is Daikeien Gamecenter in Ichikawa. Open 24/7. It's insanely huge, more like a small theme park, and contains not only arcade and crane game machines, but also a (really) small slick cart track, batting cages, darts, pool tables, karaoke boxes. The entrance fee is 100yen($1). It will take you 1,5 hrs(train&cab)to get there though so I think Tokyo is a better option.
http://www.daikeien.jp/index.html

Maddoraemon (love the name : ) - fantastic tip. I didn't know about Daikeien - I will have to try that out myself. Thanks for sharing this.

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1 night in Tokyo
by: Tom

Seeing as you are pressed for time, what would maximize your time in Tokyo is to take the helicopter(http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/access/heri_hire/index.html) to Ark Hills, and then hit the town in Roppongi (http://wikitravel.org/en/Tokyo/Roppongi). You could visit a variety of restaurants, nightclubs and bars, as well as shopping in Don Quijote (http://www.donki.com/c/index_en.php?lang=en&shopid=/), which is a special sort of Tokyo shopping and stays open 24 hours.
Don't expect to sleep!

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