Narita Airport to central Tokyo: Skyliner, N’EX or the bus?

How to buy and ride the Skyliner

All Skyliner seats are reserved. The fastest trains take 36 min to Nippori and 41 min to Keisei Ueno; in the daytime one runs about every 20 min, and on weekdays the first leaves Terminal 1 at 7:23 and the last at 23:00. At Nippori you can change to the JR Yamanote Line; around Ueno Station there are JR lines and the Ginza and Hibiya subway lines.

The visitor discount tickets are for non-Japanese travellers only; you show your passport when you exchange them. Stations sell only the full-price one-way ticket, so buy the discount ticket online or from a travel agency first, for example the Skyliner discount ticket on Klook, and exchange it on arrival at Narita Airport Station (Terminal 1) or Airport Terminal 2 Station. Round-trip tickets can only be exchanged at these two stations.

If you will ride the subway a lot in Tokyo, buy the Skyliner + Tokyo Subway Ticket set; it is valid for 6 months, and stations sell it for cash only. Keisei also announced on 22 October 2026 that its online Skyliner Ticketless service has paused overseas-issued Visa and Mastercard, with no date for the restart; station ticket windows still take cards.

The same Narita Sky Access line also has the Access Express, which needs no limited express ticket: ¥1,280 to Nippori or Keisei Ueno, but most trains run through onto the Toei Asakusa Line, so for Ueno you change at Aoto, about 57 min. To Asakusa it is ¥1,380 and to Nihombashi ¥1,420, a little over 70 min.

JR N’EX: no change of train to Tokyo Station, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Yokohama

N’EX (Narita Express) is all reserved seats. One-way fares: ¥3,140 to Tokyo Station, ¥3,330 to Shinagawa, Shibuya and Shinjuku, ¥4,480 to Yokohama. These are the prices after JR East’s fare change in March 2026, the same all year. The fastest trains reach Tokyo Station in 53 min, most take 55 to 62 min; Shinjuku is about 85 min and Yokohama about 90 min. In the daytime a train leaves about every 30 min, after 6 pm about once an hour; in the November 2026 timetable the first leaves Narita Airport at 7:37 and the last at 21:44.

Holders of a foreign passport can buy the N’EX TOKYO Round Trip Ticket: ¥5,200 adult, ¥2,600 child, for one ride from the airport into the Tokyo area and one back within 14 days, so ¥2,600 a ride. A regular round trip to Shinjuku costs ¥6,660, so you save ¥1,460. The ticket also covers onward JR trains in the Tokyo area, for example the Yamanote Line from Tokyo Station, without leaving the gates to buy another ticket.

You pick up the round-trip ticket only at the JR ticket offices or passport-reading ticket machines at Narita Airport Station and Airport Terminal 2 Station, in person with your passport; nobody can buy it for you. Reserve it first on JR East’s online booking, or search Klook and KKday for N’EX and other Narita Airport tickets.

Buses: the cheapest, or straight to your hotel with heavy bags

Airport Bus TYO-NRT is the cheapest way in: ¥1,500 to Tokyo Station or Ginza Station (child ¥750), up from ¥1,300 in August 2024; late-night and early-morning buses cost ¥3,000. The fastest trip to Tokyo Station takes 65 min and there are about 197 buses a day in both directions, so no booking is needed, but traffic can make it much longer: not the one to take when you are short of time.

Airport Limousine buses go to Shinjuku Station and the big Shinjuku hotels for ¥3,600, about 105 min, and to Tokyo Station Yaesu North Exit for ¥3,100, about 95 to 105 min. The driver loads your bags and you get off at the hotel door. There is also a Limousine & Subway Pass: one bus ride plus 24 hours of subway for ¥4,200, two bus rides plus 48 hours for ¥7,500 or 72 hours for ¥8,000.

Taxis and private transfers

Narita Airport has flat-rate taxis, no booking needed; prices exclude expressway tolls, and there is a surcharge from 22:00 to 5:00. To Chiyoda, Chuo and Taito wards (Tokyo Station, Ginza, Ueno, Asakusa) from ¥29,000; to Shinjuku, Shibuya and Minato wards from ¥31,500.

For a family with big bags, compare Welcome Pickups and Klook airport transfers: priced per car, with the driver waiting with a name sign in the arrivals hall.

Haneda is much closer to the city, and on Keikyu or the monorail you can just tap in with Suica or PASMO. Tokyo Monorail e-tickets are also on Klook. Airport Limousine has a Haneda version of the Limousine & Subway Pass too: one bus ride plus 24 hours of subway for ¥2,300.