Admittedly not the best tourist destination in Japan, the main problem with Naritaairport is getting there in the first place - it's about an hour out from Central Tokyo and getting into the city centre can be expensive. I would advise not taking the JR line train but the Keisei line instead as it's much cheaper (unless you are lucky enough to have a JR pass). Driving or taxi would also be possible I suppose, but there is a toll road and Japan is expensive enough without extravagances!
As for the airport itself, I found it pretty standard. Better facilities than most US airports, but less than Heathrow. There is a small arcade of shops and restaurants in the Departure lounge before you check in, naturally they're overpriced and fairly limited in what they sell but what do you expect from an airport? The best one is probably the Convenience store (yep, they're everywhere in Japan!). I wouldn't count on the bookstores for reading material, the English language selection is not particularly wide, though they do stock some US newspapers and magazines (Time, Newsweek etc).
There are your standard arcade machines, the toilets are typically Japanese clean and high tech and it's not difficult to find your way around even if you don't read Kanji.
The checkout staff have been very helpful to me at least and I've never had any problems - even when trying to go to Australia without a visa and about 50kgs of luggage! They all speak English (to varying degrees but someone is always on hand to interpret if necessary) and the queues to check in move fast and efficiently.
I think they have abolished the airport tax too, or at least included it in most ticket prices as I didn't have to pay anything the last time I was there (the first time it was pretty irritating as I hadn't kept any change to pay the 6000yen).
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I don't know why on earth ciao have decided to place an airport in the "tourist attractions" section. Beats me! The Keisei line is only suitable if you don't have a lot of luggage as it involves changing trains and walking up and down lots of steps. The JR line stops really early in the evening, be warned too.
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Mar 4th, 2001
very helpful by (42%):
helpful by (50%):
somewhat helpful by (8%):
