January 9th, 2006 | The lowdown by Peter Sidell

Airport Escape: Narita and Haneda.

Yokohama is very close to Haneda airport, mostly for domestic flights, and quite a way from Narita International.

To get to Haneda you've a couple of choices. The cheap way is a train on the private Keikyu line from Yokohama station, but it's slower (about fifty minutes) and infrequent. The quick way (about twenty-five minutes) is a limousine bus from YCAT (Yokohama City Air Terminal) near the station's east exit. At Y560 one way it's only about Y200 more than the train, and buses run every ten minutes.

There are three options for Narita. The cheap one (about Y1900) is the normal 'Airport Narita' train on the JR Yokosuka/Sobu line. This runs every hour and takes around two hours. Or, you can save half an hour and have a bigger, more comfortable seat by lavishing Y4200 on the JR Narita Express, also every hour (every half hour in the early afternoon). The limousine bus from YCAT takes an hour and a half too, and costs Y3500 one way, Y6300 return. It runs every twenty minutes, more frequently at peak times.