Japan - Narita- what to do in 2.5 days?

We arrive in Narita (including my wife and 8 yr old daughter) on an evening next month, and leave almost 3 days later. We will be staying at the Narita Hilton.

What things can we do? Practically, we have 2 full days, and a half of the departing day (plane leaves 4 PM that day). Can we see Narita on a half day - does the complementary hotel shuttle go from Narita Hilton to downtown Narita, where we can take a tour bus?

In terms of the remaining 2 days - can we see the sights of Tokyo on one day - via a tour bus, private sightseeing taxi, or take some form of rapid transit from Narita to Tokyo, and travel around Tokyo, either via subway/metro, or via a tour bus (that we board in Tokyo).

If we still have a full day, what else can we see? Are there one day tours of the countryside, including Mt. Fuji; or what about Tokyo Disneyland (the second marine park, which I understand has rides and attractions not present at WDW or Disneyland)?

I was in Tokyo for the first time this summer. You could take the 'hatobus', their version of grey line city tours in Tokyo. You could take a cheap train from NRT to Shimbashi to get on. It is a very interesting day long tour at ~$70-100 (meal included) a person say the imperial palace, tokyo tower, askasa temple, etc, etc, with interesting social commentary from the emcee.

I did not do this but you could also take a train out to Mt. Fuji as they have numerous train/Fuji tour packages.

Good luck in Narita...

hhmmmmmm 60+ topics on Tokyo/Narita including tour options & Narita you are looking for in the active Asia forum below.

That little thing called a search function is in the upper right hand corner of the page, if you use it, the topics will come.

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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Sweet Willie:
hhmmmmmm 60+ topics on Tokyo/Narita including tour options & Narita you are looking for in the active Asia forum below. </font>

One of the more recent XX days in NRT was in Mileage Run:

Topic:.. MR to NRT-What do I do for 2 days???
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum124/HTML/006799.html

Have a good trip!

Change your booking! Go into Tokyo and stay there. If you haven't been, you will miss a lot. If you are stuck in Narita, search for and find "Mike Newman's Narita Layover Page." Two of the suggestions I made there -- Boso No Mura and the National Museum in Sakura -- would be good with an 8 yr old.

But don't do that, go to Tokyo, cancel your booking or if not possible, try to get it changed to the Tokyo Hilton and go there instead.

(Edited for typo)


[This message has been edited by RichardInSF (edited Feb 08, 2004).]

I'll have to second (third? fourth?) what other posters have replied--go to Tokyo. There are some things to see and do in Narita, but there is more for an 8-year-old girl to see and do in Tokyo.

DisneySea is great. They've got a Hilton there (Tokyo Bay Hilton), but I was checking out rates (thinking of going again myself--with wife and daughter), and noticed the Sheraton next door had a great rate this month on some of their rooms. Of course, if rooms are still available, the DisneySea onsite hotels are fantastic and you'll be the first ones in the park, but they are more expensive, and they are usually booked solid well in advance. But worth a check.

One poster mentioned Asakusa. A major temple, Asakusa Kannon; interesting shopping (stalls selling all kinds of traditional items lining the street leading up to the temple. A nearby amusement park, Asakusa Hanayashiki, small but recommended. For food in this area, try an "okonomiyaki" restaurant. Okonomiyaki is a traditional-kind of Japanese "pancake," but what's fun about it is you make it yourself at a table grill.

Just some ideas. Have a nice trip. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Sounds like you are looking for three perfect days in Tokyo


The story is a couple it's a couple years old, but it may help

http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com/three/2002/tokyo.html

Take mjm up on his offer to view the Power of Cities exhibit at Roppongi Hills (see this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/Forum44/HTML/019842.html)).

The rest of the complex is awesome as well. You can easily spend an entire day just touring this city-within-a-city.

To give you an idea of what you can see in Tokyo city take a look at my pictures from my last visit. I have pics from Asakusa, Shinjuku, Akasaka and more. Rappongi is great at night. Be sure to go to my favorite grill and bar, Chunk. It is about a block from the Hard Rock Cafe. The Garlic Shrimp set or Sardines are best!

A great thing to do if you stay in Tokyo is take a bus tour from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji. They will then take you to lunch and then on to Hakone, a Japanese resort town. Then back to Tokyo on a Bullet Train. Cost is about $130 per person. Without the bullet train it is $100. I did it years ago and it was fantastic.

Here's the pictures:

http://www.ebzb.com/gallery/album07