jad n rich

Finally acheived the impossible!

Free tickets to UK thanks to qantas frequent flyer points. The points are about to go up from 110,000 per seat to 128,000 so seats are very hard to get.

Anyway we are on (for christmas too so excited now about christmas and its april!! ) but it means coming back with BA then Japan airlines with a terrible connection, 10 hours in Tokyo.

Does anybody know if its possible to give kids whirlwind tour of japan in about 6 hours I know the airports miles from the city, is it like singapore where you can get the quickie tourist bus of the city or something?, failing that does anyone know of a decent hotel at the airport.

Another lucky thing, we just avoided another increase in taxes on airline tickets, for those interested we paid $294.16 per adult and $256.16 per kid.

JackTheLad

The quickest way to get to the city from Narita Airport is taking the Keisei Skyliner train. It's quite expensive but as you have very little time, it's your best bet. It's quite an experience too for the kids especially.

The Keisei line ends at Ueno station. There is a lovely park there, interestingly, called Ueno Koen (Ueno Park) (pronounced OO-EI-NO KO-EN). You can easily spend a whole day walking around, visiting museums and the zoo. There are some shops and restaurants not far from the station and park. If I remember well there's a street market as well. Now is the best time to be in Ueno Park as the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Christmas time will be a completely different (also beautiful) scene with snow covering most of the park - dress warm for that!

Since you have so little time, I wouldn't recommend trying to taking in everything as Tokyo's traffic is terrible. If you are not keen on parks and want more action, take the train from Ueno to other attractions. There are some large lockers at the Ueno Station so you can leave some hand luggage there and pick it up on the way back to the airport, to make it easier walking around.

I think that's enough reading for you for now...

Have fun,
Mrs JTL

bondipom

You could see a small amount of Tokyo in that time and if you aren't exhausted Japan is a great place to visit. I have stayed at the Nikko narita which was included with the JAL flight from Sydney to London. Large rooms (for Japan) but I guess it might be pricey. They had a bus to Chiba to have a look around.

Have a look at www.jreast.co.jp for train info. The rail system runs perfectly on time and is well sign posted in English. Just going to a department store is an experience however there are some temples and other sites around Tokyo. There is no one must see place but each area has a different atmosphere and appeal.

An alternative is getting the narita express to Tokyo station (JTL is correct in that Ueno is much closer to the airport). At Tokyo is the imperial palace. You can wonder around some of the gardens, there are a few department stores. Anyhow Narita airport has very little to do and a suprisingly small amount of shops for a nation mad on shopping.

BTW allow plenty of time for immigration (over an hour in one case) in both directions as the qs get massive when the airport gets busy or a plane from china lands in front of you. Japan is a fascinating and rewarding place to visit but can be hard work. At least most menus have pictures.

Noriko

In addition, Asakusa(where you can experience temple) is only
three stops(10 min) from Ueno station on subway, or Akihabara(so called
electric town) is only two stops(7 min) from Ueno.

It takes 1 hour and 25 min to Ueno from Narita Airport by
Keisei Skyliner and 1,920yen for one way per person.

I hope you got more time!!

Noriko

jad n rich

Thanks to those who replied, lots of reading and links there, I was having nightmares about subway signs in Japanese big relief to find out there also in english.