I need some advice for an overnight in December at NRT. I get in from SFO at 15:25, leaving the next day for FRA at 10:30a. That leaves me with some time to play with.

Any suggestions on what I could do with this time? Where to stay, go? Is it worth going into Tokyo given my early departure the next day or should I just check into an airport hotel and veg-out?

Ideas, comments, suggestions, itineraries would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Of course, it depends on a lot of things, mainly how tired you think you'll be and how much you'll value your rest. If you hop on the Narita Express, you'll catch the 15:43 if you're very lucky or else the 16:13, and get into Tokyo Station (say) at 16:45 or 17:18. (If you want to go to Shinjuku, that's roughly another half-hour.) You'll want to arrive back at NRT on the 8:28 arrival, so you'll leave Tokyo Station at 7:30 or Shinjuku Station at 7:07.

I love Tokyo's nightlife, so for me it would be a no-brainer. If I were arriving in C/J or F, I'd definitely go into Tokyo. If I were arriving in Y, I'd probably want to rest instead.

You may want to check the Tokyo forum as there's lots of good information there on this topic.

I'll be traveling in Y, but it is purely a mileage run so I don't mind being run down. So I take it you are suggesting I enjoy the nightlife overnight and catch some winks on the way to FRA.

Is there a place to check luggage at NRT if I decide to go overnight into Tokyo? How about showers at the airport? Thanks

I would reserve a NRT hotel of my persuasion, leave all possible luggage there, then head to the city to have dinner and drinks if there is a suitable train back late in the evening. The morning rush hour is bad enough without jetlag and if, just if there should be an earthquake strong enough to shut down train services...

I wouldn't chance going into the Tokyo, not if you have to be at the airport the next morning by, say 8:30 a.m.

When arriving, your body clock will still be set at PST 2325, and you will no doubt be tired, especially after an 11-hour flight in coach. A lot of flights arrive at NRT in the afternoon, so allow about an hour or so to clear immigration.

Check-in at a NRT hotel for the night. You may have time to go to one of the shopping malls - I like Aeon - to do some shopping or have a nice quiet dinner in town or at your hotel. Stop at the bar for a nightcap, then head back and get some rest.

Yes on the left-luggage office, don't know as to the showers.

As much as I hate to argue with someone named after my favourite hamburger ... I can't agree. The last Narita Express leaves Shinjuku at 19:42, or Tokyo Station at 20:03. That doesn't allow for much of the evening.

I've never found the morning rush hour time to be any worse than any other time on the Narita Express--just be sure to stay near a N'Ex station, and buy your rail ticket the night before. For example, stay at the Hilton Tokyo or Century Hyatt and walk or take a very short taxi ride to Shinjuku Station. (If you take a taxi, ask to be taken to the South Entrance--say "Shinjuku-eki no minamiguchi, onegai shimasu." That minimises the walk through the station to the platform.)

And the probability of an earthquake shutting down the rail network is very small. I doubt that it happens once in five years.

More than one way to skin this cat....

If you're nervous about getting up in the morning and getting to the airport in time to check in for your flight, then it makes sense to stay in the Narita area. You can still make it into Tokyo for an evening. There are trains to Narita city from Tokyo station and Ueno station, which run until about 11.20pm. (True, the express trains stop running much earlier than that).

My preference would be to stay in Tokyo itself. For such a short stay it probably makes sense to stay on the east side of town - book a hotel in Ueno. You can catch a Skyliner train from Keisei Ueno station to Narita airport in the morning.

An interesting and relatively cheap option would be to stay in Asakusa. This is a fun place to see - and you can get there quite easily by subway, which saves a few dollars.

Another option - book a room at the Royal Park Hotel, which is immediately next to TCAT. That puts you within a short subway ride of central Tokyo - and in the morning you can catch a limo bus back to the airport.

Another option - Leave your bags at Narita airport. Go into Tokyo and spend all night at a nightclub. Get on the first subway of the morning (subways running from 5am or so) and connect to one of the lines that takes you back to the airport (probably a keisei line) take a shower at the airport (either by paying or by using the free showers in the RCC) before your flight. But be careful - unless you are really tough, you are going to fall asleep on the subway in the morning and wake up in some god-forsaken corner of Saitama, having missed that flight...

Take your pick - happy to advise you further on any of the above.

BTW -- I used to commute on the line which is used by the Narita Express. Timetable disruption for earthquakes and typhoons are rare but not unheard of. Much more common is disruption due to a suicide on the tracks.

I would say much of this comes down if the OP is familiar with Tokyo or not. Shinjuku station, for example, can be an overwhelming experience during rush hour for a first time visitor, especially with the jetlag kicking in. It's also a comfort issue: If I'd have a 11-12h Y flight waiting I wouldn't want to be in any kind of rush to catch it and have to worry about losing my connection. The prospect of leisurely taking a shuttle bus from some Narita hotel to the airport around 8am seems much nicer.

As for the night out, hmmm....I've done nights out in Japan after longhauls on arrival, but never with another longhaul coming up the next morning. Again, I think this depends much on the Tokyo expertise of the OP.

The earthquake thing was more of a joke, but I had one experience in 1998 when a fairly strong earthquake struck Tokyo on the morning I was leaving via NRT. Saved me the alarm clock, though.

Reading between the lines, I presume the OP has some sort of status that will allow him to use a priority check-in line at NRT (you can only do so many SFO-NRT-FRA flights and not have status). Therefore, I think your 8:28 arrival advice is more than a touch conservative. I wouldn't flirt with the 60 minute mark because I a have a friend who was denied boarding earlier this year for attempting to check in 57 minutes before flight time. However, I think anything north of 70 minutes should be completely ok.

Also, if flying JL or NH all the way, that itin should definitely qualify for a free room in Narita. While Narita is no Tokyo, it is possible to have fun evenings there.

Thank you all for the mounds of advice and information. To address some of the points raised....

- This will only my second time in Tokyo (my first visit will be next week) so I do have some concerns about being able to navigate the city

- By the time I get on these flights I should be well into PremierEx on UA. My outbound flight to FRA is on LH - so I don't know if that will buy me anything with them.

- My adventurous side is telling me enjoy a night in Tokyo and catch up on sleep on the planes.

Another way for me to rationalize this strategy is to tell myself that I just have to get on London time, even while in Tokyo. So if I get into Tokyo at 15:25, it really is what? 6:30a London? I should be rolling out of bed. Ideally, I would sleep on the ride over from SFO.

I've reserved the Holiday Inn by NRT just to give myself an out if I wimp out.

Any more info you could share on the above? Places to have a fun evening nr NRT / Narita?

Thanks.

Here you go -

http://www.mgnewman.com/narita/

JR

I wrote a looong reply yesterday and it got lost. I'll put some general info in first and then put some links in later.
As you're going to Tokyo at least twice - firstly, I highly recommend getting Kodansha's Tokyo City Atlas - a Bilingual Guide (ISBN4-7700-2503-3) it's 2,100yen but it will make Tokyo into a much less scary place. I promise!
Second - yes! Go out on the town that night! But don't get too freaked out with the prices. OK, it all seems expensive as most of the good clubs will charge a 6,7 or even 8,000 yen admission charge...but...you do get 4 or 5 drinks tokens included with that. For cocktails that would normally cost you at least 1,000yen each. For your money you'll get great music, decent airconditioned surroundings (the gay clubs will throw in fab entertainment, even cabaret) and, this is the important bit, as most of the kids there are marooned until 5:30 - when the trains start - there'll be a comfortable chillout room too, so you can snooze if it all gets a bit too much.
If you are really into this idea, jib71 mentioned that he could give you more pointers, and I'm sure others here could too. The club scene is in a constant state of flux, so the places I've been to aren't necessarily there anymore (or any good if they are) - I took tips from this website the first time I went to Tokyo - I got friendly with a few people on my first night out and just went on their recommendations afterwards (you may need your passport for some places, so do take it with you). Ah yes, most clubs will have coin lockers, if you plan on visiting a sento you can stuff your towel in one.

There are Sentos (public baths) that are open all night where a lot of marooned older people end up. Some of them are kind of entertainment centres in their own right and you can certainly enjoy a few beers here.
(list of sentos and reviews here - scroll down to the bottom to see the 24 hour places, under the heading 'bed, bath & beyond')

Another hang out for people who can't afford a taxi home are the all night cinemas in places like Shinjuku. - it'll be the same film over and over and lots of snoring mingling in with the surround sound.

Every time I've been to an all night club, they've allowed me to leave and return later, which means I've had late night suppers at the Izakayas that are open through the wee hours.

Another option if you do need a lie down are the capsule hotels - more options for guys than girls with this one. If you read the description of the 'Green Plaza' in the 24hr Sento section it shows that there is a male capsule hotel inside here too.

And if you want a change of scene, then there are the markets at Tsukiji which will be in full swing at 4am.

It's all so very different to a night out in London! Same sort of price perhaps, but way less scuzzy.

You can go to NRT at 5:30 and, once checked in, you can rent a day room for a couple of hours - here you can take a kip in a bed and have a shower.
Here are maps of where they are in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 info and prices here

The LH seats in Y have those little wings for your head, not so good food (don't have an onigiri rice ball on the way TO Tokyo - they're OK on the way back. Trust me on this one!) and a lousy movie selection. You want to tire yourself out for the trip to London. Your body will just assume you've submitted it to a decent night out and groan and whine accordingly - it won't feel so much like jet lag as the horrors of the morning after the night before.

Go on, go for it!!