Taking the Narita Friendly Airport Limousine Bus to Tokyo
I’ve never been to Narita before.
It’ll be a first for both of us.
Friendly Airport Limousine tl;dr
- Far From Tokyo
- Not My First Choice
- 3200 Yen Adult Ticket
Imagine if you will, you fly into a country and realize you don’t know how to get from the airport to your local destination. There’s a cab but you know it’s going to be expensive. What are your options?
It really depends on your situation…
And that was the situation we were in when we landed in Narita. Each party thinking that the other had already planned something but ended up not. And this is where Friendly Airport Limousine enters the picture!
Getting to Tokyo
As Nadia and I sat there trying to figure out how to get into Tokyo, we saw the bus drive by. Looking into it, turns out that the bus actually went to the ANA Intercontinental Hotel we were trying to get to in Roppongi Hills. Who knew?
Anticipating a long drive ahead of us, Nadia and I loaded up on both snacks and drinks from the vending machine conveniently located nearby. I’m still on the fence on how I feel about Pocari Sweat but it did do it’s job and quenched my thirst.
Grass Is Greener?
Sitting on the bus toward Tokyo, given the time of the day, we came into traffic repeatedly. As we stopped and went, I could see a train in the distance parallelling our direction which made we wonder whether the bus was the best option; weighing convenience vs expediency.
Actually, I’m not even sure if the train was going where we were going, but if it did, I can’t imagine that we would be lucky enough for it to stop at our hotel despite it flying by while we sat in traffic. On the flipside, despite being in traffic, there is something to be said to being dropped off at the doorstep of our hotel.
Almost There
Long story short, we eventually made our way after getting through traffic. After all the turns and multiple hotel stops, Nadia and I finally got off the bus in front of the ANA Intercontinental lower lobby. This method wasn’t the fastest but it was relatively painless.
I imagined that if didn’t take the bus, I’d probably would have needed to lug all our gear through stations and a couple of blocks to get to the hotel (turns out that’s what would have happened).
What is It
Friendly Airport Limousine is a method of transportation for those who value convenience. The value can be found and maximized if you are staying at or near one of it’s hotel stops. I want to say that it will of course come at the cost of potential traffic time and actual cost.
While the cost of a ticket is slightly more expensive, you’d have to decide whether you can afford delays. All things the same, I’d still prefer to take the train but given our amount of luggage, the bus worked out for the best.
Where is It
Narita International Airport can be found a long 60 kilometers away from Tokyo in faraway city of Narita in Chiba Prefecture. Outside arrivals, we found the bus stop waiting to process tickets to jump on one of the multiple busses to whisk you into town.
Don’t forget your refreshments before taking the bus, it’s a long ride into to town!
Friendly Airport Limousine @ Narita International Airport
