riverkwai

Hello, I am planning a trip to Asia. Along the way I would have two layovers in Tokyo, the first one is end of July and the other is end of August.

Here are the times:

HND
Arrive: 7:00PM
Depart: 11:45AM

NRT
Arrive: 8:50AM
Depart: 4:55PM

I am just wondering what I can possible do during these times, I am interested in gardens and architecture.

Any suggestions?

thanks

ksandness

On the first layover, you could make a hotel reservation somewhere in central Tokyo (exactly where depends on your budget--there are too many hotels to recommend just one), have dinner, and wander around the neighborhood. Haneda is just a short hop from the central city, so you'll even have time for walking around in daylight. If you wake up early enough (but too late for the fish market, which I personally think is highly overrated), go to see the new Kabuki theater with its basement marketplace on the Ginza and/or the Indian-inspired Tsukiji Honganji Temple or the Hama Rikyu gardens. (I doubt that you will have time for all of these.)

Narita, however, is 60km (40 miles) out of town. I suggest a relaxing day in the town of Narita, a ¥250, 15-minute train ride from the airport. The temple Shinshoji is the most famous site there. Fairly large, it has lovely wooded grounds. Since this layover is shorter than the previous one, I do NOT suggest going to Tokyo. Wander around Narita, a fairly typical small city, although one that is accustomed to foreign tourists, and poke around in the shops, have lunch, etc.

roberto99

I agree with the HND suggestion.

But I have to disagree on the NRT suggestion.

I think that there is plenty of time to take the Keisei train to Ueno to shop, eat, walk through Ueno Park and return to NRT.

Local trains (about 75 minutes each way): 2000 yen return

Skyliner: (2x faster) 5000 yen return.

Keisei trains have their own platforms under both NRT Terminals 1 and 2 arrival halls.

riverkwai

Thanks for the suggestions, I will look into my possibilities for the first night.

For the second, there is also a different possibility than the Narita layover. That would be 8.5 hours in Osaka arriving at 8AM, then 4 hours at Narita before the flight to ORD. Would this be a better alternative?

evergrn

If you like gardens and architecture, then your return layover at NRT probably affords a better chance to go check out what you want to see in Tokyo, rather than your outbound HND layover. Shinjuku Gyoen, Imperial Palace (East Gyoen) and Rikugien are some of the more famous gardens/parks. But I think all these places open ~9am. You might love Hotel Chinzanso (was Four Seasons when I last stayed), but you may not have enough time to enjoy it for the amount that you're paying. If you stay in Shinjuku, you'll probably have to start making your way to the airport by ~9.30am. I think your HND layover will just comprise of dinner, hotel and nightlife (if you're so inclined).

Your NRT layover should give you ~4hr to spend in Tokyo. That's not much time, but still enough to do quite a bit if you just focus on one area (Ueno, Asakusa or Tokyo Station area might be good to consider).

That seems like a lot of trouble. 8.5hr in Osaka is not really any better than 8hr in Tokyo.