PLAN THE TRIP
Narita or Haneda to Your Tokyo Hotel: Skyliner, N'EX, Bus or Taxi
You clear immigration, collect a suitcase, and then have about four minutes before someone asks which way into Tokyo. This page answers that question for both airports, matched to the four neighbourhoods most of our readers base themselves in: Ueno, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, and Ginza or Tokyo Station.
The short version: from Narita, the Keisei Skyliner is the fastest and cheapest fixed option if your hotel is near Ueno or on the JR Yamanote Line; from Haneda, the Tokyo Monorail or Keikyu Line both get you into central Tokyo in well under an hour for a few hundred yen. Read on for why, and for what each option actually costs.
Narita Airport: four ways into Tokyo
Narita sits about 60–70 km from central Tokyo. Every option below leaves from the arrivals level at Terminal 1, 2 or 3.
| Way in | Fare (1 adult) | How often | Journey time | Where it drops you | Luggage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keisei Skyliner | 2,470 yen to Ueno/Nippori ($16) 2,670 yen to Shinjuku ($18) 2,640 yen to Ikebukuro ($18) 2,630 yen to Tokyo Station ($18) |
3 trains an hour | 40–41 minutes to Nippori/Ueno; add the JR Yamanote Line transfer time for the other stops | Keisei-Ueno or Nippori directly; change to JR at Nippori for Tokyo, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro or Shinagawa | A dedicated luggage bay between the cabin and the door in every car, with a security camera. No reservation needed for the bay itself. |
| Narita Express | N'EX TOKYO Round Trip Ticket: 5,200 yen adult / 2,600 yen child ($35 / $17), one outbound and one return ride within 14 days. One-way ordinary-car fare: check at the counter or jreast.co.jp. |
Check the JR East timetable — not published as a fixed trains-per-hour figure | Fastest run is 53 minutes to Tokyo Station | Runs direct, no transfer, to Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shibuya and Shinjuku on one branch, and to Tokyo, Shinagawa, Yokohama and Ofuna on the other | A dedicated large-luggage area in each car, no reservation required, but space is limited and first-come, first-served. If it is full, luggage goes at your feet. |
| Airport Limousine Bus | 3,100 yen to Tokyo Station ($21) 3,600 yen to Shinjuku ($24) 3,100–3,600 yen to Ikebukuro, depending on stop ($21–$24) |
Runs on a published timetable rather than a flat per-hour frequency — check limousinebus.co.jp for your flight time | Not published as a single figure; the operator's own site says estimated arrival times vary with road conditions, and points you to the timetable for your specific departure | Drops directly at major hotels and bus terminals on each route — no Ueno stop on the routes we checked | Goes in the hold under the bus. Check the counter for the per-passenger bag limit. |
| Taxi, fixed fare | 29,000 yen to Ginza, Tokyo Station or Ueno ($193) 31,500 yen to Shinjuku or Ikebukuro ($210) plus expressway tolls, paid separately |
No schedule — taxi rank at arrivals, no reservation needed from the airport | Not fixed; depends on traffic | Door to door, any address | Trunk space. Ask for the fixed fare ("teigaku") before you get in; tolls and a late-night surcharge (22:00–5:00) are extra. |
A cheaper Keisei option exists if the Skyliner's price is the issue: the Access Express runs the same Narita–Nippori–Ueno route on ordinary Keisei tracks for 1,240 yen ($8), about half the Skyliner fare, in exchange for a slower, non-reserved ride.
Narita: which one for which base
Ueno
The easy case. The Keisei Skyliner runs straight to Keisei-Ueno Station in 40–41 minutes, no transfer, and Ueno is the one base on this page the Skyliner was practically built for. Buy the ticket online in advance and you walk off the plane and onto the platform.
Shinjuku
Two direct options. The Narita Express is the only train that reaches Shinjuku Station without a transfer, in a seat with a dedicated luggage bay, for 5,200 yen on the round-trip ticket. The Skyliner plus a Yamanote Line change at Nippori is the cheaper route if you are travelling light enough for one platform change. The Airport Limousine Bus also runs direct to Shinjuku hotels for 3,600 yen, which is worth it if your hotel is one of the bus's actual stops.
Ikebukuro
Same logic as Shinjuku: Skyliner to Nippori then the Yamanote Line is the budget route, the Airport Limousine Bus (3,100–3,600 yen) is the one that puts you at the hotel door without changing trains, and N'EX gets you to Tokyo Station or Shinjuku for the same onward change.
Ginza or Tokyo Station
The Narita Express runs directly into Tokyo Station in as little as 53 minutes and is the fastest option on this list for this base. The Airport Limousine Bus to Tokyo Station (3,100 yen) is the direct alternative if you would rather not carry bags through a station transfer. For Ginza itself, walk from Tokyo Station or take a taxi for the last stretch.
Haneda Airport: four ways into Tokyo
Haneda is roughly 20 km from central Tokyo, which is why every option here is faster and cheaper than its Narita equivalent.
| Way in | Fare (1 adult) | How often | Journey time from Terminal 3 | Where it drops you | Luggage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keikyu Line (Airport Express) | A few hundred yen; the exact fare is on the board above the ticket machines | Frequent; check the Keikyu timetable for your terminal | 11 min to Shinagawa, 20 min to Tokyo Station, 23 min to Shibuya, 30 min to Shinjuku, 38 min to Ikebukuro (add roughly 3 minutes from Terminal 1·2) | Through-runs onto the Toei Asakusa Line and JR, reaching Shinagawa, Tokyo, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro without you needing to work out the transfer yourself | Ordinary commuter and limited-express seating with standard overhead racks — fine for one or two cases, tighter at rush hour |
| Tokyo Monorail | 520 yen ($3.50), 519 yen on an IC card, to Hamamatsucho | About every 5 minutes | About 20 minutes to Hamamatsucho | Hamamatsucho Station; change to the JR Yamanote Line for Tokyo, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro or Ueno | Ordinary commuter train, overhead racks only |
| limousine bus from Haneda | 1,200 yen to Tokyo Station ($8) 1,400 yen to Shinjuku or Ikebukuro ($9) |
Runs on a published timetable — check limousinebus.co.jp for your flight time | Not published as a single figure; check the timetable for your scheduled bus | Drops directly at major hotels and bus terminals — no Ueno stop on the routes we checked | Goes in the hold under the bus. Check the counter for the per-passenger bag limit. |
| Taxi, fixed fare | 7,600 yen to Tokyo Station/Chiyoda ($51) 9,000 yen to Shinjuku ($60) 9,100 yen to Ueno/Taito ($61) 11,200 yen to Ikebukuro/Toshima ($75) |
No schedule — taxi rank at arrivals | Not fixed; depends on traffic | Door to door, any address within the fixed-fare wards | Trunk space. Ginza (Chuo ward) and Shinagawa, Minato, Ota, Koto and Meguro wards are not covered by Haneda's fixed fare — the meter runs instead. |
Haneda: which one for which base
Ueno
No single-change option is as direct as the Narita Skyliner here. Take the Tokyo Monorail to Hamamatsucho (about 20 minutes, 520 yen) or the Keikyu Line to Shinagawa, then change to the JR Yamanote Line for Ueno. The fixed-fare taxi (9,100 yen) is the one-step alternative if you are travelling with a group and splitting the fare.
Shinjuku
The Keikyu Line runs through to Shinjuku in about 30 minutes without you needing to plan the transfer yourself. The limousine bus from Haneda is the direct-to-hotel option for 1,400 yen if your hotel is one of its stops.
Ikebukuro
Keikyu Line through-service again, about 38 minutes from Terminal 3. The limousine bus also serves Ikebukuro directly for 1,400 yen; the fixed-fare taxi here is the most expensive of the four bases at 11,200 yen, reflecting the longer distance.
Ginza or Tokyo Station
The Tokyo Monorail to Hamamatsucho or the Keikyu Line to Tokyo Station (about 20 minutes either way) are the fastest routes in. For a taxi, ask for the fixed fare to Chiyoda ward (7,600 yen) if your hotel is near Tokyo Station; Ginza itself sits in Chuo ward, which is outside Haneda's fixed-fare zone, so that leg runs on the meter.
Buy in advance or at the counter
The trains with reserved or limited seating are worth locking in before you fly: the Keisei Skyliner and the Narita Express both sell out individual departures around flight-heavy hours, and buying online fixes the yen price and skips the ticket counter queue right after you land. The limousine bus from Haneda and Narita's Airport Limousine Bus can usually be bought at the counter or vending machine on the day — several routes explicitly allow boarding without a reservation — so there is less to gain by prebooking unless you want a specific departure locked in.
Taxis need no advance booking at all from either airport; you simply queue at the rank and ask for the fixed fare. The one thing worth sorting before you land is connectivity and a transit card: a a Japan eSIM activates from a QR code before the plane touches down, so you can check live timetables the moment you reach the platform, and a Tokyo Subway Ticket or an IC card covers every onward train and bus for the rest of the trip.
Next: where to stay in Tokyo and planning the rest of the trip.