I am planning to overnight in Narita on my way to Singapore in the mid-June time frame, arriving around 2.30 PM and leaving around 11 AM the next morning. I have reviewed info such as that found on Mike Newman's Narita layover page, and still have some questions:

1) The hotels I have seen so far (Hilton, Tokyu, etc.) are not located right in, but near the town of Narita and in many cases appear somewhat "isolated", meaning that walking out and around is not a realistic option. I am wondering if there would be anything decent in the town itself, allowing for an easy walk down to the central streets, Narita shrine park, etc. For example a chain hotel or business hotel - I am not sure I would be up for something too "spartan" though (no hostals). I did not seem to find anything so far.

2) Failing that, many of these hotels while a little out appear to offer shuttle bus service to the centre of Narita and/or Aeon mall and back. I would be interested in any feedback from past users as to the suitability of such i.e. was this service reliable and convenient enough that it really becomes a non-issue

3) I realize that I have enough time to go into Tokyo and overnight there (I've actually done this in the past) , but I am planning to spend a few days there on the return leg anyways. However, I suppose there would be the option of for example going instead to Chiba City or ? and I would be interested to hear about any such recommendations.

Best regards

kanadajin

We stayed at the Holiday Inn for one night before heading into Tokyo. There really is nothing to see around the hotel itself -- it is very close to the airport. While the Holiday Inn doesn't have its own shuttle, there is a Circle Bus to town that stops at several different hotels en route.

As far as Narita Town -- we really enjoyed our visit. The temple grounds are absolutely beautiful. There are many pathways in the park that meander through the woods alongside babbling brooks and serene lakes -- plus an assortment of temples, pagodas, bamboo forest, flower gardens, burial grounds, etc. The more we explored, the more we found.

The street leading to the temple is rather touristy, one shop after another selling a wide variety of Japanese items -- foods, clothing, knick-knacks, etc. But we enjoyed that too!

If you can make the time, I'd recommend an afternoon trip into Narita. It is quite a contrast to the frenzy of Tokyo and quite a relaxing introduction to Japan.

we took the train to narita town twice from the airport... i am sure there must be one or two small hotels within the town although i did not see any....try looking on the airport website...

kimjapan may have answers for you as well....

The list of airport hotels

http://tokyo.hotelguide.net/hl1ap.htm

The recommended Narita ryokan

http://www.naritakanko.jp/kirinoya/

Aloha!

Thank you to all three of you for these very informative replies.

OJudy, your description of Narita town is very enticing indeed, and you now have me convinced that I MUST (!) stay nearby so that I can explore it.

rhkkmk, as a silent bystander to this forum I have taken advantage of some of Kimjapan's recommendations in the past and she was bang on with her suggestions. As you say perhaps she will have something to add.

hawaiiantraveler, I thought you might jump in - thanks for the weblinks. I did not see these specific ones before and have started to go through them - very useful information.

I'll have to look more into this, and may chime in again with further questions or comments.

Thanks again for the kind replies.
kanadajin

i stayed at the narita tokyu this past jan. very nice lobby and restaurant area, but the rooms were typical business hotel size rooms with simple furnishings.

the hotel has a free shuttle from and to the airiport. i reco going to the aeon mall for dinner and shopping. the hotel shuttle will take you into town, and the mall. you can wait for the next pickup, but i took the taxi back, around 700yen.

the mall has alot of restaurants, and the justco dept store with a very nice food market where you can stock up on items to eat on your trip to singapore.

Arigatou gozaimasu kuranosuke

The Excel Tokyu is the one I am leaning towards at this time, therefore I really appreciate your comment on the hotel and the shuttle service into town.

The taxi fare sounds quite reasonable - thanks for sharing the fare information. I had heard from somewhere that it was "expensive". This maybe more the case to go to other hotels further away from Narita-shi than the Excel Tokyu. But now I see that it could easily be an alternative, especially on the way back to the Tokyu, as you say.

This travel forum is as useful and reliable as always!

Mata ne
kanadajin

The Holiday Inn near the airport is nice. We did an overnight there about 4 years back.

There is a city bus, very convenient stop near the hotel, which we took into Narita town. Town is very nice, lots of temples, and shopping, restaurants, and good walking. We were there on a weekend, and there was a lot of activity at the temples.

Personally, we liked the atmosphere in Narita town...small town with all the conveniences and it seemed safe to walk around.

Yeah, I agree, save Tokyo for your return stop over, which you are planning to do.

3) you asked about Chiba

I would consider going to Chiba for a Chiba Lotte Marines night game (pro baseball), if available.

kanadajin, doo itashimashite. btw, the gift/sundry shop opposite the entrance to the hotel has a great omiyage gift. its green tea cream cookies. delicious.

magical, I will definitely look also into the Holiday Inn, as OJudy seems to have stayed there as well. The city bus option is interesting, do you recall if the service was relatively frequent ? (especially for an evening after-dinner return to the hotel?)

mrwrfl, I know that baseball is BIG in Japan, however I seem to have this aversion to team sports in general (football, hockey, etc.) so unfortunately such an event would probably not lure me to go. I do appreciate the thought, though, since I had noted that going to Chiba would have also been realistic. To each his/her own, I suppose ...

kuranosuke, those green tea cream cookies sound to-die-for, especially considering that my middle name is cookie-monster!

kanadajin

City bus service is frequent enough, as I recall. Can't remember how late the buses run at night.

I remember, though, that plenty of taxis were available, and depending on how many people are sharing, the cost is quite affordable. So, for example, late night return by taxi is possible...Holiday Inn was not too far from town. Be sure to get a card from the hotel with the name of the hotel written in Japanese, show it to the driver, and you are back at the hotel in no time.

Holiday Inn also has shuttle service to the airport.

Hello again,

I just wanted to provide a little feedback - my Narita-shi overnight worked out extremely well. In the end, I opted for the Excel Tokyu hotel, booked through the Pan Pacific website for an unbeatable low rate (much lower than the Excel website rate), and which was exactly as described by kuranosuke. I was very happy with my choice. The breakfast buffet (included) was also quite good with a wide variety of choices, all in a beautiful setting.

I also took the free shuttle bus into town and visited the Shinsho-ji temple and park - WOW, this far exceeded my expectations, and OJudy's very enticing description (above) which prompted me to go is every bit accurate. I simply did not realize the sheer size of the park and variety of temples, lakes/brooks, small museums, etc. I ended up having dinner back on the main road leading to the temple at a small place called Ramen Bayashi, which I can recommend and where I had a delicious pork-based dish.

Again, thanks to all of you for your valuable input - to think I could have missed this otherwise !

kanadajin

kanadajin, domo for the followup report. did you get a chance to taste the green tea cream cookies? i'm a ramen fan, so i'll look for ramen bayashi on my next visit to narita town.

kuranosuke, in the "heat" of the action and my semi jet-lagged state, I managed to completely forget about the green tea cream cookies !!! It dawned on me only much later during the trip .... but it was already too late. I now have a very good reason to go back LOL.

The Ramen Bayashi restaurant is located right on Omotesando dori (the main street going towards the temple), not too far from the train station end of the street and across from the kohi-kan coffee shop. It is on the right hand side of the street as you walk towards the temple. What I had there really "hit-the-spot" at the time as well as being very reasonably priced. I would go back in a heartbeat.

ありがとう　ございました
kanadajin

you are welcome.