How to get to Tokyo if you arrive late or early to Haneda or Narita Airport

Are you arriving with an early or a late flight to Haneda or Narita airport and want to know how to get to Tokyo? With this article, I'm going to go through the best ways of getting from the each of the two airports to Tokyo and providing links to the timetables, fees and stops of the different transportations.

 Narita airport

Let us start with Narita airport. Narita airport is in the Chiba Prefecture which is 60 Kilometers away from Tokyo. Because The flights arrive to Narita from around 6:00am to around 10:30pm it will give you a good selection to choose your preferred transportation. The main differences between the transportations are the costs, destinations and how often they leave, I have provided a bit of info about each transportation as well as a link where you can find the fares, time tables and the stations they stop at.

Bus

Cheap and good way to get to your destination in Tokyo is to take the bus to Tokyo station or Ginza station and from there a metro or a train to your destination. The Bus fare is 1,000 yen which is the makes the bus the cheapest choice. The Downside of taking a bus is that it is the slowest way to get to the city, it takes around 1h 30min, where the other transportations take around one hour.  This is likely the cheapest and best option to those who want to save money, even if you need to take another transit from Tokyo station.

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N’ex Trains

A faster way to get to Tokyo is to use the N’ex trains they take around one hour depending on the station you are going to exit. Among the stations that the N’ex trains stop at are Tokyo station, Shibuya and Shinjuku. The schedule below shows you what time does each train leave as well as which stations it stops at. The N’ex train is unfortunately a bit more expensive than other choices, the cost is around 3,000 yen depending on your stop. If you want an easy and fast way to Tokyo station or the few other stations the train stops at, then Ne'x train is for you.

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Keisei Trains

The Keisei Trains have lthe largest number of stations to exit at, you can go to Ueno and Nippori, or to one of the many stops between Narita and Haneda airport including Asakusa. With the Keisei trains, you need to make sure you take the right train because there are three different Keisei trains going from Narita, these trains are color coded to help you know which is which. The price depends on which one of these trains you take and it is between 1,200 yen to 2,500 yen. The Keisei Trains are on the cheaper side of the spectrum as well, and have few more choices than the N'ex train and the Limousine bus.

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Airport Limousine bus

There is also Airport Limousine bus service which drives to most of the major hotels in Tokyo, but the bus timetables differ a lot depending on your destination, the prices also differ from around 2,500 to 3,500 yen depending on your destination.  If your arrival time matches with the time a bus goes to your hotel, or close by it, this is the most relaxing way to travel with the least hassel, unless you are willing to pay for taxi of course.                               

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Taxi

There are of course taxi services going from Narita to Tokyo, but the fares start from 16,000 yen and can go close to 30,000 yen.  If you want to get right in front of the doorsteps of your destination and you do not mind paying, taxi is safe but expensive choice.                    

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Haneda airport

Haneda airport is open 24/7 with flights arriving every hour, unfortunately there is not going cheap transportation to Tokyo 24/7, so you might have to wait till the morning or get ready to pay for a taxi.  The transportations from Haneda are mostly the same pride, the difference being mostly, where they go and what time, with the exception of the monorail which is as interesting as it is useful. As with Narita airport I have listed here the different ways to get to your destination in Tokyo as well as links for the timetables, fares and stations.

Keikyu Train

The first choice is the Keikyu train line, which travels to Shinagawa and Daimon where you can switch to another line. From Shinagawa, you can transfer to most train and metro lines in Tokyo. The last train from Haneda goes at 00:01 am and the first goes at 5:26am. If you must change trains at one point you need to make sure the second train is moving at that time as well, this you can check from the link below. The fairs differ from where you need to go starting from around 400 yen and going up to 1,000 yen.                                                                             

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Keikyu airport Limousine bus

The third choice is the Keikyu airport limousine bus which has few busses running till 3:00am but it depends on the bus line, some bus lines stop already around 9:00pm. As with other services the price depends on the area where you are traveling to, the prices start from just 100 yen and can go up to 1,000 yen. It is also best to check from the site below for what time does the busses move and to see the fair to your destination.

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Monorail

The most interesting choice on this list is the Monorail. The monorail is one of the cheapest transportation options with the tickets only costing from 80 yen to 490 yen but what makes the monorail standout from the other options is how and where it the monorail moves. The monorail moves on a single rail as the name suggest and over the streets, with large windows letting you see the city while it takes you to your destination. The Monorail also moves from 5:18am to 0:10am which is as late as the Keikyu train line. The downside about the monorail is that there are only few stops on it, so you will most likely have to take another transport from the final station, luckily the final station has good connections to get to Tokyo station, Ueno, Shibuya and Shinagawa.

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Useful for finding public transport or Taxi

If you don’t have a preference for the transit, the cost of it or you just want to take a taxi you can also check straight from the link below to check how to get to your destination from Haneda and its costs.

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