Arrivals
A Narita layover is worth leaving the airport for from about 6 hours, for Narita town, or 7 hours for central Tokyo.
Narita International Airport (NRT) is in Chiba, east of Tokyo, about an hour from the centre on the fastest train. The trains leave from two stations under the terminals: Narita Airport Terminal 1, a 5-minute walk from Terminal 1, and Terminal 2·3, a 5-minute walk from Terminal 2 and 10 minutes from Terminal 3.
- Bags. On one ticket, your checked bags go through to your next flight, so you leave with your hand luggage only. On separate tickets you collect them after customs: leave them in a coin locker, ¥400 to ¥800 a day by size, or at a staffed counter before you set off.
- Tickets. The Skyliner needs a reserved-seat ticket, sold at the Skyliner counters in both airport stations. For Narita town or the subway in Tokyo, a Welcome Suica card saves buying a ticket each time: it’s sold at JR East’s machines and travel centres in both stations, and the balance can’t be refunded, so load only what you’ll use.
- Phone. Free Wi-Fi (FreeWiFi-NARITA) covers every terminal. An eSIM set up before you fly keeps maps working in town; SIM cards are also sold at counters in the terminals.
Left luggage, showers and rooms: at the airport.
eSIM
Data before you land
Set up a Japan eSIM before you fly and your maps and train times work as soon as you land, without queueing at the airport's SIM counters.
Get an eSIM from Airalo (opens in a new tab)Get a Saily eSIM (opens in a new tab)
Border
US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian passports need no visa for Japan, and if you change planes airside you don’t pass immigration at all.
Not needed when you stay airside.
- US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian passports. No visa for a stay of up to 90 days. That covers every EU country, and Switzerland, Norway and Iceland too.
- India and other visa passports. Indian passports need a Japanese visa to leave the airport, applied for before you fly. Japan’s eVISA takes applications from India through an accredited agency.
- Staying airside. Changing between international flights, you stay airside without immigration, but you go through security again. The airside closes from midnight to 6am: on a connection through the night you must enter Japan, so check that your passport allows it.
- Time. Narita publishes no queue times, so allow about an hour from landing to sitting on a train. A slow queue costs you time in town, not your flight: the time you must head back stays the same.
- Before you land. Visit Japan Web, a free government service, lets you fill in the immigration and customs forms online in advance.
Who needs which visa: visa and transit rules.
Into Tokyo
The Skyliner is the quickest way into Tokyo: 41 minutes to Ueno for ¥2,580, with a reserved seat.
Not needed when you stay airside.
| Ride | Into town | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Keisei Skyliner, best for most | 41 minutes to Keisei Ueno, 36 to Nippori | ¥2,580 |
| Narita Express (N’EX) | 53 minutes to Tokyo Station, then on to Shinagawa, Shibuya and Shinjuku | ¥3,140 to Tokyo, or ¥5,200 return on a foreign passport |
| Keisei Main Line, for Narita town | About 8 minutes to Keisei Narita | A few hundred yen (our estimate) |
After customs, follow the signs for the trains down to the station under your terminal. From about 10am the Skyliner leaves every 20 minutes, but early in the day it’s sparse: the first from Terminal 2·3 is at 7:27am on weekdays (7:34am at weekends), then 8:16am and 9:11am. Landing early, buy your ticket for the next one and expect a wait, or go to Narita town, where trains start at 5:20am.
Every way in, the last trains and taxis: getting into the city.
What to do
With 6 hours, Narita town is the place; with 7 or more, Ueno and Asakusa are the parts of Tokyo closest to the Skyliner.
Not needed when you stay airside.
The fastest plan for a short layover
- Take a Keisei Main Line train from Terminal 2·3 to Keisei Narita, about 8 minutes; one leaves every 20 to 30 minutes in the day.
- Walk about 10 minutes down Omotesando, a street of about 150 shops and restaurants, to the temple.
- Spend about an hour at Naritasan Shinshoji. The Great Main Hall is open to anyone from 6am, and anyone can sit in on the goma fire ritual, held there several times a day.
- Walk back and leave Keisei Narita 2 hours 35 minutes before your flight.
It needs about 6 hours, which leaves about 1.5 hours in town.
Would you rather have a guide? The airport’s free Transit & Stay programme sends two volunteer guides with you to Naritasan and Omotesando. Tours start between 9am and 11am, you book at least 6 days ahead, and you need a layover of at least 6.5 hours. The guide is free, but you pay your own train fare, food and entries. GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab) and Viator (opens in a new tab) list private tours that meet you at Narita. Viator’s private Tokyo layover tours start from about US$128 for 3 hours (seen November 2026).
Watch the calendar
- Mondays. The Tokyo National Museum in Ueno is closed; when a Monday is a public holiday, it opens and closes on the Tuesday instead. On those days, go to Asakusa or Narita town.
- Public holidays. On Monday 23 November 2026, Labour Thanksgiving Day, the trains run their Saturday and holiday timetable.
- December. The Tokyo National Museum is closed on 15 December and from 26 to 31 December, and from 22 to 25 December only two of its buildings are open. On 13 December Naritasan cancels its 6am goma.
- New Year. From 29 December to 3 January many shops and offices close. Naritasan is very crowded with New Year visitors from midnight on 1 January, and the trains run special timetables, so check Keisei’s before you rely on the last train.
- Golden Week and Obon. Expect crowded trains and a busy airport from 29 April to 5 May and in mid-August.
Timed plans from 6 to 24 hours, including the free tour and a night at the airport: itineraries.
Transit tour
Private layover tours from Narita
A private guide meets you after customs, takes you to Naritasan or into Tokyo and brings you back in time for your flight. Check how long each tour runs against your layover.
See tours on GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab)See tours on Viator (opens in a new tab)
Head back
Be back at Narita 90 minutes before departure, with your onward boarding pass.
Not needed when you stay airside.
- Time. Leave Keisei Narita 2 hours 35 minutes before your flight, Keisei Ueno 2 hours 55 minutes before and Asakusa 3 hours 10 minutes before. That covers the walk to the platform, the wait, the ride and 90 minutes at the airport. So 6 hours is the realistic minimum for Narita town, with about 1.5 hours there, and 7 hours for Tokyo, with about 2; 10 hours gives about 5 hours in Tokyo.
- Why 90 minutes is enough. With your boarding pass already issued and no bag to drop, you need only departure immigration and security. Narita’s advice to arrive 2 hours ahead is for checking in; on separate tickets, where you check in again, follow it.
- Your terminal. The Skyliner stops at Terminal 1 and then Terminal 2·3. Flying from Terminal 3, allow 10 minutes to walk from the station.
- Busy periods. At New Year, Golden Week and Obon, leave town a little earlier: the trains and the airport are crowded.
- Late at night. Narita has no flights from midnight to 6am, so the last Skyliner only matters for a flight after about 11:15pm. It leaves Keisei Ueno at 8:20pm on weekdays and 8:17pm at weekends: for a flight that late, catch it and wait at the airport. Later Keisei trains run until 11pm, but they’re slower or need a reserved seat, and after them only a taxi is left, at about ¥29,000 or more plus tolls. From Narita town the trains run back until 11:48pm (11:56pm at weekends), later than any flight needs.
Time in town at each layover length: how much time you’ll have.
Departures
Best for your layoverStaying at the airport instead: you can shower or nap airside by day, but at night you rest landside, after immigration.
- Showers and nap rooms, airside. Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 each have a day room after security: on the 3rd floor of Terminal 1’s Central Building, 7am to 9pm, and at Terminal 2 Satellite, 7am to 9:30pm. Use the one in your departure terminal. Showers cost from ¥1,500 for 30 minutes and single nap rooms from ¥3,000 for an hour (seen November 2026). The nap rooms can be booked; the showers can’t.
- The nine hours capsule hotel, landside. In Terminal 2’s basement, open 24 hours: day use costs ¥1,500 for the first hour, then ¥500 an hour (seen November 2026). For a night, book ahead on its own website: it can be full.
- All night, landside. Seating areas on several floors of every terminal stay open around the clock, with 24-hour convenience stores.
Rooms, lounges and showers: at the airport.