VELTRA TOURS
 

I am looking for tours in Japan. Has anyone booked VELTRA Tours before? Any comments would be appreciated.

I am also looking for transportation from Shinjuku to Yokohama Port. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Thanks!

Also, have anyone took the N'EX to Shinjuku Station?

Never heard of them - both my trips to Japan I have traveled independently.

Have you found hyperdia.com for train schedules? And japan-guide.com for info for tourists visiting Japan?

According to google maps to reach Yokohama Port you take a train to Motomachi-Chukagai station and walk 1.8 kms. I might take a taxi for the last bit. Why are you asking? If you are taking a cruise there should be some transport laid on.

I thought your question regarding Narita to Shinjuku had already been answered.

thursdaysd, thanks for the info.
Taking the train or the Limobus would be the options to go from Narita to Shinjuku. Just wondering if anyone had taken the train, was it crowded, was the station confusing etc.

The "reservation" is confusing, especially about the seating. You can seat on any empty seat but if people showed up with the reserved seat, you must give up the seat? Are all seats reserved like a plane? Can you book ahead or just pay and go like any metro. The N'EX web page did not say anything about reserved seat, or extra cost for reserving a seat.

I have taken the N'Ex a couple of times. As far as I remember, taking it FROM Narita I just bought a ticket at the airport. Taking it TO Narita last trip, I may have bought a day ahead. Very nice train. I don't remember whether I reserved a seat, but if reservations were available I would have done so.

Didn't your last thread advise avoiding Shinjuku station? Why are you second guessing the unanimous advice to take the limousine bus?

Thanks for the reply.

The cost difference between the two is minimal. The train being slightly higher, just a few yens more expensive.

LimoBus took almost 2 hours, leaving every hour from the airport, makes many stops at many hotels. We are staying at the Keio Plaza Hotel which is the last stop.

The Train leaves every half hour, 82 minutes to the Shinjuku station. The hotel is 2 to 3 blocks (maximum 10 minutes walk) from the station.

Depending how the immigration goes, we may ended up waiting as much as a full hour for the next bus, plus the 2 hr ride time, meaning 3 hours from time of arrival to hotel (max), 2 hours (min).

Taking the train would be 2 hrs (max) and could be as little as 1.5 hours.

The question now is the walk from the station to the hotel. Is the street going to be so crowded that moving about with luggage in tow an issue?

The reason for this post is about Veltra Tour. They offer a shared ride from Tokyo to Yokohama port. Just wanted to know if anyone had any experience with Veltra Tours, are they reputable, reliable etc. On-line reviews can be rigged, and I trust the people at the forum here, especially longtime registered users.

Viatour is the one that I have used in the past and I have no issues with them. but they do not offer shared ride to Yokohama port, and the non share cost is very expensive.

Unfortunately, the nature of forums like this is that it's rarer for those who book tours to use them, since the tour companies organise their itineraries and most everything else, they don't need to get involved in research and planning, so rarely make their way here. Most (though not all) of us who post regularly here tend to organise our trips independently, hence the lack of responses on Veltra or Viatour for Japan. It's not to say they aren't great, just that this may not be the place to find much or any feedback on them.

The train plus taxi is almost certainly less expensive than either a shared or private ride.

I have never used Viatour, but my understanding is that they simply sell other company's tours, presumably with a markup.

If you are going to take the train to Shinjuku you may find this helpful:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/stations/e866.html

Having stayed in Tokyo where Shinjuku was our nearest station, I would warn that the idea that your hotel is a maximum 10 minutes walk from the station is unrealistic. The whole station and the immediate area is very confusing. I'd take a taxi from the station to your hotel, as I expect you will be jet lagged or I'd take the limo bus (that's what we did).

What Thursdays says about Viatour is correct - it is just a reseller. If you had a good experience with Viatour once, that's nice, but it has n bearing on what your next experience will be like. Personally, I'd rather use a local company.

Shinjuku station is the busiest station in the world. Navigating it without error requires a three-year interactive tutorial that must be accessed for 8 hours daily. Getting lost in it is a point of pride - "I survived seeking an exit from Shinjuku station."

Tour companies:
We used JTB Sunrise tours for two day trips in Tokyo, and we met an American lady and nephew using them for an extended semi-independent trip, and they were pleased. It's a quasi-government organization, so you will find the quality decent, if you are so inclined to take a tour.

Limo versus train:
Maybe you can make a game time decision about taking the limo. If the time for departure is approaching, then it may be your best bet. It is amusing watching the luggage guys remove the luggage at each stop, and then "bow" at the bus as it departs. The trains are much more stressful. Personally, even if the limo is departing in, say 50 minutes, I would use the time to go to the ATM, and maybe take a walk around the airport and people watch.

Thanks you everyone for the great info.

Here is some advise I got from elsewhere:

Cheapest: Take the regular Keisei Line. Costs just 1,230 yen, but taking this train at peak times can mean a sudden immersive experience in Tokyo’s rush hour.

Easiest: Narita Express—N’EX—is a chilled way of getting from Narita to Shinjuku Station. It’s a direct 90-minute ride that costs 3,190 yen one way (a round trip works out cheaper at 4,000 yen). You can get a limousine bus for roughly the same price as a one-way N’EX ticket, but we find the train to be more comfortable.

What do you think?

In general I much prefer trains to buses, but the limousine bus I took from KIX to Kyoto was very nice. I have not seen Shinjuku station but if it is more chaotic than Kyoto station, which sounds likely, I would take the bus. Especially if it stops outside your hotel! That's a no-brainer.

You got unanimous advice on your other thread. Why are you fighting it?

The Keisei ine is a commuter line. Not good for a jet lagged newbie with luggage,

"LimoBus took almost 2 hours, leaving every hour from the airport, makes many stops at many hotels. We are staying at the Keio Plaza Hotel which is the last stop."

I get you. This is why after a transpacific flight from ORD we decided to pay more for the comfort of a private taxi and we were happy doing so. Hey you are on vacation so if this is what it takes to enjoy it then so be it. Its your money. I mean its not like it is 1 k. Its about $120.00 more that the limo-bus given todays exchange rate vs. what we paid in 2014 what the USD was not as strong.

You need to look at maps.

The Keisei trains are no good for Shinjuku. They go to Ueno station, which is completely on the other side of Tokyo from Shinjuku. One Keisei line can get you to Shinagawa, which is still a far cry from Shinjuku, and it will take a LONG time. Take the N'Ex.

A friend of mine opted to take a car service from the airport to the Shinjuku area a couple of years ago (so when the exchange rate was very favorable) and the price for the ride was $250. While no one has ever called me "cheap" that price difference was too much for me. We opted for the limo bus. It was comfortable and it wasn't 2 hours. Of course, our hotel was the first stop.

It's your money, your trip, do what you want.

Car service vs. taxi different perhaps?

The N'Ex requires seat reservations. One reason is that coming from Narita it splits into 3 pieces: one bit goes to Tokyo, another to Shinjuku, and the remainder to Ofuna (via Yokohama). Your seat reservation will put you in a car that is actually going to your destination.

Getting from Shinjuku station to your hotel can be difficult if you are not familiar with it, have more luggage than a rollaboard, or your hotel does not have a shuttle bus. I'd recommend the limmo bus first time.

To get to the cruise port, you can take a direct train from Shinjuku to Yokohama, then a taxi (about $15) to the door of the Osanbashi port terminal. The nearest subway (Nihon Odori) or bus stop (Osanbashi) are half a mile from the actual terminal building, and it is up a long steep slope (though I am told you can take the lower road and find an elevator).

Larry, her research found that the car service and the taxi prices were virtually the same.

Three yrs. ago the exchange was around 110 yen to 1 USD when we were there. Now its around 114 yen. However we paid approx. $180-190 for our private car and I found a quote yesterday for $256.00 USD. One has to assume their prices skyrocketed.

OTOH in another thread from Eschew I put it links from taxi estimates I found which were about half of the quote I got yesterday.

Let me clarify something. The links I mentioned were from Shinjuku to the cruise ship port in Yokohama. I recall that when we took a taxi for this route in 2014 it was about $30.00-$40.00 less than our car from NRT to Shinjuku.

I don't understand why the NRT-Shinjuku fare per car or taxi is so much more in three yrs. especially with the USD being so much stronger now.

Thanks everyone, for the input. There are so much inconsistency with the pricing that it is head scratching silly.

Someotherguy's explanation about the seat reservations make so much sense and yet their web page is quite cryptic about the seat reservation, and people had seat reservation is not needed.

Car service quote had ranged from $250 to $350, with share ride around 50 to 65 per person, making the differences not all that much. Someone else elsewhere even suggested I can get in town for as little as $9 per person. After reading through the first couple line of how to do it, I stopped reading the rest,which is another paragraph long.

In my mind, I am looking for "easy" and value. Don't mind paying the extra, as long as I think the value is there.

Limobus at $60 for 2, cab fare at 180, private car at 250, it's a toss up.

The good news in all these is there are plenty of choices, and worst case $$ scenario, take the cab and call it a day unless you got stuck in traffic.

Typo above as the exchange in 2014 was more like 100-1 so 114-1 is quite bit more.

Yes its all very unclear as to the cost so would would post what you ended up doing and what the total was?

Thank you and have fun!!

>>Limobus at $60 for 2, cab fare at 180, private car at 250, it's a toss up.

It is not a toss up if you really are looking for value as you wrote.

If there is a $9 option then it is too cheap to of any value.

Adding to someotherguy's great comments about the N'Ex: even if your hotel has a shuttle from Shinjuku station it is not going to be easy to find the shuttle stop.

Shinjuku station is the busiest railway station in world with 3 million pax each day.

I think all 3 million of them were there when I arrived on the N'Ex on my first trip to Japan. I had to find the shuttle to the Hilton. I was so tired from the trip and confused by the area map at the station that I was about ready to cry. I didn't realize that the map was not north-up but oriented to the direction I was facing. I walked outside and figure out that I was a the south exit and so was able to walk to the west side of the station where the shuttle was at. IIRC, I couldn't find the shuttle stop and just walked west searching for the hotel. The trip was all good after that.