Hi, do we need to buy tickets in advance for the JR Narita express into Tokyo? Are there reserved seats? Is it safe? I am hearing that it can be difficult to carry your own luggage from Narita onto the train into Tokyo Station and into your hotel. Is that true? Thank you in advance.

JR Narita Express trains are very frequent, therefore you don't need to buy tickets in advance.

The trains are reservation only, another reason why you don't want to tie yourself to a particular departure unless you are sure you will make it in time.

The train cars may split after Tokyo, that is why the seats are reservation only, so that you can be assigned seats in the correct car going to your destination.

Safe? Yes.

Difficult? Depending on how heavy your bags are.

What are better solutions to get to Tokyo from Narita?

Limo bus - take a look at japan-guide.com for details and info on other options.

Thank you. I think the idea is to get to the hotel as quick as possible after such a long flight. So the express it is! Thank you.

You did not say where your hotel is. The "Airport Limousine Bus" do stop at a few Tokyo hotels.
Therefore if one of the stops is your hotel, then the Airport Limousine Bus may be very convenient to you.
Airport Limousine Bus-Airport Transport Service Co., Ltd

More options: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2027.html

If you are concerned about your baggage, you can use a takkyubin service - Yamato, for example. They can deliver your bags to your hotel, usually that evening. There is a place in the airports and main train stations, plus many convenience stores can act as a drop off point as well. The Airport Limousine Bus is the priciest option (¥3100 per person) but after a killer flight, can be the most convenient if you are going to one of the big tourist hotels it stops at. If you are both arriving and departing from Narita, there is a cheap round trip ticket to save you money too - but max validity is 14 days. Likewise the Narita Express has a good 14 day round trip ticket too. The cheapest/easiest way would be the 1000 yen bus.

For the N'Ex, all seats must be reserved first. Regardless of how you do it, Japan is comparatively speaking very safe.

* I thought we answered this question a couple of months ago or maybe it was someone else who asked the same question as I answered it then.

* I'm back in Japan right now. Have been here since July 26th and did 5 nights in Tokyo and took the Narita Express to Tokyo Station and with 3 suitcases and a couple of carry-on bags and am one person and was fine with it and then walked the 5 minutes to my hotel after I got out of Tokyo Station.

* As for the NEX being safe, yes it's safe.

* If you don't want to carry luggage, then use the luggage transport service and have it sent to your hotel. I haven't used it from Narita, but I did use it to send one, big suitcase from my Tokyo hotel to my Kyoto hotel and had no problem as I also had no problems last summer.

* As for buying NEX tickets in advance, I don't even know if you can do that. Plus, it's not necessary anyhow. I just walked over to the counter that sold such tickets and was the only one there and bought a ticket and then pushed my luggage cart onto the escalator and there was an escalator, staff member there who stood in front of my luggage cart and went all the way down two, lower levels, I think it was, with me as she was there to make sure that my third suitcase, piled on top of the other two, didn't slide off although I was fine with securing it myself.

Happy Travels!

How best to get to your hotel from Narita depends on where your hotel is located. The luggage issue depends on how much luggage you have and again where your hotel is located. The Limo bus is the easiest if your hotel is on the route as it is door to door. The NEX train may be faster but again it depends on which hotel you are using. Why would you think the NEX is not safe? As noted above a luggage transportation service is available if you are carrying more luggage than you can easily handle. When are you going? My sister just returned last week and found the heat miserable.

We are going in October. The hotels were just booked and the limo bus doesn't stop at our first hotel so it looks like the JR Express is the best option for us . We may consider a luggage service. I was only concerned about falling asleep on the train from the jet lag lol.