Starting from July 1, 2010, JR-East Japan Railway offered the round-trip Suica & N’EX package for 5500 yen (Ordinary Car). Previously, only the 1 way trip package is available. Many frequent Tokyo travelers probably already know about this Suica & N'ex package. It includes 2-way tickets from Narita Airport to a major Tokyo city train station (i.e. Tokyo, Shinjuku, Shibuya, etc...) and a 1500 Yen + 500 Yen deposit Suica card which can be used with various trains, subway lines, and bus rides around the city. The 500 Yen deposit can be refunded in the JR Ticket Office when you finish your trip. This card is valid for 10 years without transactions, so it can be kept for future trips to Japan. Some just keep it as souvenir. If you decide to get the deposit back, make sure you've used up all the remain balance in your card, otherwise the reminding balance will be deducted by 210 Yen as a service fee.
There are also other transit choices such as the Airport Limousine and other train lines. The choice of transportation will depend on the number of luggage you have, if you are traveling with kids and your arrival and departure time of your flight. If you are carrying lots of luggage, you should check ahead and look for escalators or elevators on platform where you get off or board the train. Otherwise, prepare to carry your luggage to walk up or down the stairs.
Since the hotel I stayed in is very close to the Shinjuku JR train station entrance, the Narita Express seems like a great choice for me so I don't have to worry about traffic congestion or transferring from one train to another. The Narita Express is available every 30 minutes to 1 hour on prime times, check the schedule based on your destination city. It takes about 90 minutes to ride from Narita Airport to Shinjuku. All seats in the Narita express are reserved seats. When purchasing the Ne'x package, your train tickets will indicate exactly which cart and seat to board. When boarding the train, wait at the indicated position of the platform which corresponds to the cart number printed on your ticket. Take only the seat you are reserved in, then just sit back and enjoy your ride. There is information displayed monitors in each cart indicating your current location through out the route, the next upcoming station, transfer information as well as some local news and weather.
This package is only available to foreign passport holders and can only be purchased in the airport (in the JR East Travel Service Center during regular hours or JR Ticket Office during off hours) by showing your passport. The return ticket to Narita Airport is good for 2 weeks, you can either reserve seat of your return ticket when you purchase the package or reserve it later in a JR ticket office in most of the JR train stations.
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| Suica Card with the Ne'x package |
There are also other transit choices such as the Airport Limousine and other train lines. The choice of transportation will depend on the number of luggage you have, if you are traveling with kids and your arrival and departure time of your flight. If you are carrying lots of luggage, you should check ahead and look for escalators or elevators on platform where you get off or board the train. Otherwise, prepare to carry your luggage to walk up or down the stairs.
Since the hotel I stayed in is very close to the Shinjuku JR train station entrance, the Narita Express seems like a great choice for me so I don't have to worry about traffic congestion or transferring from one train to another. The Narita Express is available every 30 minutes to 1 hour on prime times, check the schedule based on your destination city. It takes about 90 minutes to ride from Narita Airport to Shinjuku. All seats in the Narita express are reserved seats. When purchasing the Ne'x package, your train tickets will indicate exactly which cart and seat to board. When boarding the train, wait at the indicated position of the platform which corresponds to the cart number printed on your ticket. Take only the seat you are reserved in, then just sit back and enjoy your ride. There is information displayed monitors in each cart indicating your current location through out the route, the next upcoming station, transfer information as well as some local news and weather.
This package is only available to foreign passport holders and can only be purchased in the airport (in the JR East Travel Service Center during regular hours or JR Ticket Office during off hours) by showing your passport. The return ticket to Narita Airport is good for 2 weeks, you can either reserve seat of your return ticket when you purchase the package or reserve it later in a JR ticket office in most of the JR train stations.
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| Information displayed inside the Narita Express Train |
Getting Around Tokyo Cities:
Tokyo has a very complex but indeed easily accessible transit system. I was overwhelmed when I first looked at the public transportation maps that contains various trains and subway lines through out the cities. But in the end, I discovered it actually takes only 1 or 2 trains or subways lines to get around most of the destinations. However, this does require some studying to understand how to transfer between trains and subway lines and involved some planning to group visiting attractions that are close together on the same day.
There are several web sites which provide searches on suggested train or subway lines routines. All you need to do is key in the the station names. The search result provides your with the fastest and the most convenient train or subways lines to take, the platform which the train departs from, as well as maps which indicate all the exits for the stations. I suggested putting in the exact date and time when you will be taking the train (if you know ahead), the search result will be more accurate. The Japanese version requires you to key in the station name in Kanji or Japanese but there is also an English version. However, the search results may not be as detailed compared to the Japanese version.
Depending on where your hotel is located, it may take few to 20 minutes of walking from your hotel to one of the stations. For my case, I stayed in Hotel Century Southern Tower and I think is an excellent hotel with an extremely convenient location. It takes about 3 minutes to get to the JR Train station and about 2 minutes to one of the Toei subway lines (都営大江戸線). Therefore, I highly recommend selecting a hotel close to a train or subway station to save walking time and energy.
Reference Links
Suica & N'ex
Train Route Finder (Japanese Version)
Train Route Finder (English Version)
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