Problem in YOKOHAMA.....Please Help@

Hello
I am arriving in Yokohama from a cruise ship early in the morning and we have to disembark with all our luggage....2 suitcases and also any hand luggage.
We have to check in at Tokyo airport for the journey back to London (check in time 7pm)
1) Please advise me if there is anywhere we can put our luggage in YOKOHAMA near the cruise terminal during the day before we go to Tokyo airport.
2) How do we get to Tokyo airport from Yokohama and which transport do we use?
3) If we get a taxi what is the cost of the single fare from Yokohama to the airport.
4) What time should we leave Yokohama approx. for our check in time of 7pm at Tokyo airport?
5) During the the short time in Yokohama what suggestions do you have?....where should we go during the day to make the most of our time in Yokohama?
6) I really appreciate your answers and if you also have any general information about Yokohama (1 day) and what to do in  Tokyo (3 days) please advise me.....I am very interested in your comments as this is a 'once in a lifetime' trip.
Thank you very much in anticipation of all your replies.
Tartanjimmy from Scotland

Hi Jimmy, I am not living in Japan but I visit there several times a year and was in Yokohama just last month.

Once you disembark from the cruise ship, I would recommend heading to Yokohama Train Station because one of the easiest ways to get to Tokyo Airport is by train. All train stations have baggage lockers of different sizes and for around 800 yen will get you the larger sized lockers which you can put large suitcases in along with some smaller baggage. Usually you can find many different sized lockers and the smaller ones are cheaper. Then when you have finished touring Yokohama City just take a cab to the train station and take a train to the Airport.

I would recommend taking a train to the Airport. There are two airports in Tokyo, not sure which one you wish to go to. The ticket office at the train station will tell you the route to take to get to the airport.

I'm not sure of the cost of a taxi to go to the airport but since taxi fares in Japan are pretty expensive, I would imagine the cost would be extremely high. Yokohama is a city where many commuters live who work in Tokyo and they will all take the train. Taxi fares will be very high.

If you take a train at about 5pm you should be fine. I think it took us about 40 minutes to get to Haneda Airport and I think it is around an hour to get to Narita Airport. These are the two airports in Tokyo. Both airports have lots of shops and places to eat so it is no problems to arrive there early as there are things to do.

Yokohama is a really wonderful city, I am actually contemplating buying a flat there for vacations. Some of the interesting places are Chinatown, Yokohama Port Museum, Motomachi Street which has a parallel street running alongside it with interesting shops and restaurants, Marine Tower, beside the Marine Tower is a department store called Barney's New York and at the top floor is a nice craft shop with a great cafe where you can get a snack and drink and have a nice view of the bay. If you have time you should visit the Shoji-ji Temple.

As for Tokyo, some of the best places to visit are Asakusa which you can reach by train. Asakusa has something like an indoor (and outdoor) parade full of shops selling all kinds of locally made items and souvenirs. You can even buy a kimono for 1,000 Yen. And very close to it is the Sensoji Temple. In fact all around that area are small old streets selling traditional things, really worth visiting Asakusa.

There are really so many other places to visit in Tokyo, such as Shibuya Intersection and even the Character Street beneath Tokyo Main Train Station which has specialized shops such as Pokemon, Hello Kitty, Tomica, Studio Ghibli and so many others, so if you are buying for grandchildren back home it's a great place to shop.

I'll stop now as I am sure others will want to make some recommendations of places to visit in Tokyo.

Hi Hansson
Thank you very much for your reply your valued information is great....in actual fact ....FANTASTIC.
Thank you for taking the time to reply...it is very much appreciated.
I hope you have a brilliant week and that you eventually find a good flat in Yokohama.
Tartanjimmy

Hi Jimmy
About the luggages, there are luggage compartment in the Yokohama train station, however you need to pay the charges for about 200-400 Japanese yen for one compartment ( I don't know how big is your luggage.)

Which Tokyo airport are you going? (the Haneda airport or Narita airport)
The Haneda airport is within the Tokyo City and the Narita airport is quite from Tokyo City ( Located at Chiba perfecture, Narita City) If you are going to Haneda airport, there are direct train from Yokohama station. You can just takes KEIKYU LINE and it takes you about 20 to 25 mins to reach Haneda Airport. Please check with the train station personnel for train time table.Charges is about 478 Japanese Yen, 3 trains in every hours

For Narita airport, you can takes a Limousine Bus from Yokohama Station, from the YCAT terminal, about 3600 Japanese Yen, The bus departs every 30 minutes

I don't know how many hours do you have, but I would suggest you better not to go too far if you are not familiar with Tokyo and Yokohama.
If you want to move around Yokohama, after you put your luggages in the luggage compartment, you can take a train to " Sakuragicho" station, there is a amusement park which you will be able to have a view at the skycraper in Yokohama and the city view if you walks around the Yamashita Park, Chinatown nearby Yamashita park. If you have a 3 or 4 hours short time.

Or if you have 8 or 12 hours, then you can take a train toward Oshiage or Aoto terminal station from Yokohama with Keikyu Line connecting to Keisei Line.
On the way, you can drop at the following train station for the tourist attraction:
1)  Shinagawa station-  Giant Aquarium park
2)  Higashi Ginza-  Most expensive shopping, you can also walk from  this station to the Imperial Palace toward Yurakucho Station.
3)  Nihonbashi- The stock transaction area in Tokyo. train station
4)  Asakusa -    fanous tourist attraction Sensoji Temple, nakatori is a shopping lane in front of the temple where you can buy some Japanese gift

In order to come back to Yokohama station, remember to walk back to the same station when you alight from, because you can takes the train back to Yokohama station. Also, if you are coming back in the eveing around 5pm to 7pm, the train and train station will have a lot of peope coming back from Tokyo to Yokohama, if possible try to avoid taking the evening train.

If possible, try not to take a taxi, because it is expensive, also sometime you may catch up with a traffic jam.your may miss your flight.

Anyway, if you have problem with the train coming to Yokohama, You can takes a taxi to Shinagawa station, then you take a train to Yokohama, Shinagawa is a train station which we use to tramsit train to Yokohama using Keikyu line and JR LIne.

Alway reserved some spare time, for unexpected event happening on the way back to Yokohama.
Before moving around from Yokohama, go to the Tourist helpdesk to get some information, so that you can plan where you are going and how you are coming back.

I hope this help you.

Hi



Hi Stanleypan
Thank you for all your information and the time you have spent replying...it is GREAT and very much appreciated!

It is extremely interesting and  very helpful.

I hope you have a great week
Tartanjimmy

You are welcome.
Hope everything is fine while you are having your tour in Japan.