Eight Hours in NRT: What to do?
 

Because of rescheduling it looks like I'll have a 9 hour daytime layover at NRT before catching AC 002. Does that give time to go into the city, and are there any alternative ways to spend the time?

What I have done before is, if I took the red eye from SIN I head straight for the lounge and sleep in the massage chairs in the lounge. But I have also gone to Narita city since you have 8 hours. Mos of the stores will be closed that early but you can walk around and have lunch before returning to he airport. You will not have enough time to go into the city itself even if you do it will be really tight.

9 hour layover isn't really enough time to go into Tokyo for anything worthwhile. It takes more than an hour to get into town both ways on the express trains and the train tickets are not cheap. Local trains will take too long. You have plenty of time though to go into Narita city and see the temple, walk around some of the nice streets and grab a bite to eat somewhere. Narita is actually quite a nice city.

Never used a day room at NRT but both the NH and UA lounges have decent showers when you get back into the secure area. I'm not really an expert on Japan or the Tokyo area so I can't really recommend anything past that.

We do this once in a while. Sometimes, we arrive at NRT at 07:00 from SIN and connecting to AC2.

We would take the Narita Express to Tokyo, do some shopping in the department stores, have a nice lunch and head back to NRT.

Narita has nothing to see/do. I would go into Tokyo.

But it's just us. JMHO.

+1

I'd go to Tokyo as well.

So the trip is 2 hours r/t, that still leaves at least 4-5 hours or so and enough time to clear security etc. upon return.

Even if you just stick to Tokyo station's vicinity there is still plenty to see/do least of which is a nice lunch!

If you really want to go to Tokyo you could try taking the Keisei Skyliner to Ueno or Nippori instead to save a bit of time in train travel. Still quite pricey though.

Agreed. The new Skyliner is a lot faster than the NEX.

However, it only goes to Ueno or Nippori, which are not very interesting. Tokyo or even Shinjuku would be more fun to spend a few hours and have better restaurants. But then if you take the Skyliner, you would have to spend extra time to take additional transportation there. That's why I favor the NEX. Plus they have a combo offer with Suica, which makes the trip cost a lot less than the Skyliner.

Not only cost but the Narita Express is probably the most comfortable airport train in the world (love the deep recline on those seats!). Even my beloved HKG Airport Express pales in comparison!

run around the terminal and chat with the ladies....... that what i did back in May

Ueno and Nippori are reasonable choices if you take Keisei trains. It is around 1hr to reach Ueno. Tokyo is further beyond and you need to change trains from Ueno.

I would not recommend Narita city, nothing much to see and rather bOring.

If you are tired, spending 2-3 hrs in Ueno and Nippori is much better than staying in Narita lounges.

It might be a bit intimidating if you find taking Japanese trains to the city and also easily get lost, and worse, hard to find a Japanese speaking English.

Ticket to Shinjuku:

NEX: 3500 rt if you use the SUICA+NEX package(and return the SUICA card for close to full refund). 1:30 hrs one way

Keisei Skyliner: 4800 rt to Nippori + 360 rt to Shinjuku : 36 min. + ~ 10 minute transfer time + 20min = 66min one way . Alternatively Ikebukuro is 10 minutes closer and is just as good as Shinjuku for a short visit.

Of course there is the added problem of getting lost inside Shinjuku station. If you are a 1st time visitor, probably Ueno or Ikebukuro is a better destination for a few hours.

I would rather take the Keisei Skyliner--36 minutes to Ueno and a decent fast train as well. Once there you can do some sight seeing in the park, visit a museum if you feel like it or go into some stores. If electronics/cameras are your thing, you can visit Yodobashi Camera at Ueno.

Sure, Ueno is not an upscale area, but IMHO not worth the extra time going to Shinjuku on such a short trip

There is also the street market "AmeYoko" under the railway track at Ueno.

+1

Personally, I think you don't really have 8-9 hours if you factor in the time you need to exit/enter Customs. You'd really just be taking the NEX into Tokyo, run around for a bit, and then take the NEX back out.

I am just going to do that next month ;)