I will be flying into Narita & want to bypass Tokyo....
Are there high speed trains from the Narita Airport?
Should i purchase train tickets in advance?
Does it pay to fly from Narita to Kyoto?

"NYCutler" <nycutler@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20031102162100.26109.00000202@mb-m16.aol.com...
> I will be flying into Narita & want to bypass Tokyo....
> Are there high speed trains from the Narita Airport?
>
No direct service. Your best bet is to take Narita Express to Tokyo station
and change for Shinkansen to Kyoto. 1 hour plus 2.5 hours travel time.
>
> Should i purchase train tickets in advance?
>
Get a JR Pass. Simply reserve seat for next Narita Express when you redeem
your voucher for the Pass. They can also reserve seat for Shinkansen to
Kyoto at the same time.
>
> Does it pay to fly from Narita to Kyoto?
>
Not really. Most flights (only 3-4 a day)from NRT go to Kansai, and you
still have 90 min train journey to Kyoto.

Alec

"NYCutler" <nycutler@aol.com> wrote:

> I will be flying into Narita & want to bypass Tokyo....
> Are there high speed trains from the Narita Airport?
> Should i purchase train tickets in advance?
> Does it pay to fly from Narita to Kyoto?

There is no way of bypassing Tokyo if you are travelling from Narita Airport
to Kyoto by train. I would recommend taking the non-stop JR Narita Express
to Tokyo station and then changing there to the shinkansen to Kyoto. (The
shinkansen does not run directly from Narita Airport.)
If you are planning on making the return trip as well, then the one-week
Japan Rail Pass will save you money.

There is no airport at Kyoto, and there are very few domestic flights from
Narita anyway, so flying is not a sensible option in this case.

--
Dave Fossett
Saitama, Japan

Quoting nycutler@aol.com (NYCutler) regarding Narita Airport to Kyoto in a
message dated 02 Nov 2003 21:21:00 GMT:

>I will be flying into Narita & want to bypass Tokyo....
>Are there high speed trains from the Narita Airport?
>Should i purchase train tickets in advance?
>Does it pay to fly from Narita to Kyoto?

As Dave and the others have said, it's better to get a JR Rail pass and book
the Narita Express to Tokyo station, picking up a Shinkansen there. If you get
a JR Rail pass, be sure to reserve the "Hikari" Shinkansen since you can't use
a JR Rail pass with a "Nozomi" Shinkansen. And also, remember that there are
fewer "Hikari" Shinkansen trains now than 2 months ago (there are more Nozomi's
now). But the JR Rail Tourist office down in the basement of NRT should be
more than happy to help you (they helped me).



__________________________________

Regards,
Arnold.

(E-mail address altered, to prevent spamming. :-|
Remove all asterisks and the *hates*spam* to get true address.)

NYCutler wrote:
> I will be flying into Narita & want to bypass Tokyo....
> Are there high speed trains from the Narita Airport?
> Should i purchase train tickets in advance?
> Does it pay to fly from Narita to Kyoto?

You will almost deffinitely have to go through Tokyo. The only option
is, as you mentioned, to fly from Narita to Kansai; I've only tried the
'Tokyo-to-Kansai' flight twice, and both times were from Haneda, Tokyo's
other airport. Check to make sure the flight you're looking at is in
fact from Tokyo Narita, not Haneda; just easier that way.

But if you're going to all that trouble, take a train to Tokyo and then
bullet train to Kyoto. More scenic and isn't going to take all that much
longer. If you've got lots of luggage and don't mind the expense, have
the bags sent from Narita directly to your end destination.

Out of curiosity, if your destination is Kyoto why fly into Narita in
the first place?

John W.

nycutler@aol.com (NYCutler) wrote in message news:<20031102162100.26109.00000202@mb-m16.aol.com>...
> I will be flying into Narita & want to bypass Tokyo....

If you want to bypass Tokyo and go to Tokyo, don't land on the Narita
airport, land on the Kansai airport instead. From the Kansai airport
then take a train to Kyoto.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2033.html

It should be noted that JR West also provide its own passes, they're
only valid for trains run by JR West company though, but it probably
will come in handy if you're planning to use a lot of JR West trains.

http://www.westjr.co.jp/english/engl...n04/index.html

http://www.jtbusa.com/enhome/jrpassw.asp

http://www.jtbi.ca/jtbi_html/html/jt...itle_west2.htm

http://www.ttasfo.com/pages/tokyu_jr_west.html

http://www.accessjapan.co.uk/RailPass/AJPJRWestPass.htm

mag3 <mag3*hates*spam*@newsguy.com> wrote in message news:<b7ibqv09v4a8m7u702nrj0kahs7595fes1@4ax.com>. ..
> And also, remember that there are fewer "Hikari" Shinkansen trains
> now than 2 months ago (there are more Nozomi's now).

Around 2 "Hikari"s for each hour, while not much in comparison of the
past which is 6 "Hikari"s for each hour, it would suffice for the
average tourist.

The old Nozomi : Hikari : Kodama ratio = 3:6:3

The new Nozomi : Hikari : Kodama ratio = 7:2:3

"EAC" <digicross@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6482ad0.0311030127.498e0a03@posting.google.co m...
> nycutler@aol.com (NYCutler) wrote in message
news:<20031102162100.26109.00000202@mb-m16.aol.com>...
> > I will be flying into Narita & want to bypass Tokyo....
>
> If you want to bypass Tokyo and go to Tokyo, don't land on the Narita
> airport, land on the Kansai airport instead. From the Kansai airport
> then take a train to Kyoto.
>
> http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2033.html
>
> It should be noted that JR West also provide its own passes, they're
> only valid for trains run by JR West company though, but it probably
> will come in handy if you're planning to use a lot of JR West trains.
>
But it's of limited use for someone going to Kyoto as it only covers the
rail network west of Osaka to Hakata. Better buy is Kansai Area Pass for
2,000 yen a day, which covers all non-express trains between Kyoto and
Himeji (one-way fare between the two alone is nearly 2,200 yen). You can buy
the pass once in Japan at major stations.

Alec
>
http://www.westjr.co.jp/english/engl...n04/index.html
>
> http://www.jtbusa.com/enhome/jrpassw.asp
>
> http://www.jtbi.ca/jtbi_html/html/jt...itle_west2.htm
>
> http://www.ttasfo.com/pages/tokyu_jr_west.html
>
> http://www.accessjapan.co.uk/RailPass/AJPJRWestPass.htm

Alec wrote:
> "EAC" <digicross@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:6482ad0.0311030127.498e0a03@posting.google.co m...
>
>>nycutler@aol.com (NYCutler) wrote in message
>
> news:<20031102162100.26109.00000202@mb-m16.aol.com>...
>
>>>I will be flying into Narita & want to bypass Tokyo....
>>
>>If you want to bypass Tokyo and go to Tokyo, don't land on the Narita
>>airport, land on the Kansai airport instead. From the Kansai airport
>>then take a train to Kyoto.
>>
>>http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2033.html
>>
>>It should be noted that JR West also provide its own passes, they're
>>only valid for trains run by JR West company though, but it probably
>>will come in handy if you're planning to use a lot of JR West trains.
>>
>
> But it's of limited use for someone going to Kyoto as it only covers the
> rail network west of Osaka to Hakata.

It covers Kyoto as well. The comprehensive JR West pass covers
everything under JR West control.

John W.