Tokyo vs. Yokahama hotel

[Almondtree]

Our cruise leaves from Yokahama which appears to be the port for Tokyo.  We want to come in a couple days early and wonder if we should stay in a hotel in Tokyo or Yokahama.  We do want to tour around Tokyo but wonder which city is most practical as it looks like we can easily get from one to the other.  Any help will be appreciated.

[terry&mike]

Since Tokyo is where you want to visit, I would stay in a centrally located hotel in Tokyo, near great transportation links (Shinjuku, Shibuya, etc), and make your way to Yokohama on cruise boarding day. This way you are transferring one time from Tokyo to Yokohama, rather than transferring every day between the two which takes more than an hour each way. 

[Tara Jane]

I would do the opposite, one journey from airport to yokohama. Settle into the hotel then you are free to come and go as often as you want, a short journey into Tokyo, and Tokyo being huge it can take just as long to travel from one side to the other as from Yokohama to Tokyo itself.   Price wise hotels are generally cheaper in the Yokohama region too.  Restaurants also. Kamakura is worth a visit and again its very close to Yokohama.

The Airport limousine bus will take you from the airport to YCAT or a few different hotels in Yokohama for around 3500 yen.

If you are over 65 the fare is 2000 yen but to YCAT only.   A short taxi ride to your hotel and on cruise day another short taxi ride to the ship.

Whatever you choose to do enjoy your time in Tokyo.  A trip up the metropolitan government bulding is worthwhile, it is free, open til quite late each night, and there are two different towers.   Better views than the skytree and tokyo tower in our opinion.

Edited April 20, 2019 by Tara Jane

[Tara Jane]

Yokohama to Tokyo train 31 mins   0 transfer and 470 yen.  Not more than an hour as stated above.  Of course that does depend where in Yokohama you stay.   We are staying next week in Totsuka a suburb of Yokohama hotel is  right at the JR station as we are visiting friends nearby.  Direct train from airport to Totsuka, then day of boarding easy train to ship.  Wherever you choose to stay be it Tokyo or Yokohama find a hotel very close to a station.

 

www.hyperdia.com   for train information. 

 example depart Yokohama platform 7 at 8:03 am arrives at Tokyo 8:34 am

 

TOKYO 
[ Arrival track No.8 ] 
Add to fa

Route1

Take time: 31 Minutes  Transfer: 0 Times  Distance: 28.8 km  
Total:¥ 470(TicketFare:¥ 470  Seat Fee:¥ 0)  Commuting ticket(1mon:¥ 13,900  3mon:¥ 39,610  6mon:¥ 66,700)

Commuting ticket

Time	Route		Fare	Seat Fee	UsefulLink
						08:03		YOKOHAMA  [ Departure track No.7 ]  Station timetable | Add to favorite			Map Hotel Rent-a-car Restaurant
[31 Min]		JR Tokaido Line  for UENO Train timetable | Interval timetable	¥470	Green seat: ¥770Unreserved seat: ¥0
08:34		TOKYO  [ Arrival track No.8 ]  Add to favorite			Map Hotel Rent-a-car Restaura

vorite

 

Edited April 20, 2019 by Tara Jane

[Almondtree]

Thanks to both of you.

[Northern Aurora]

We have stayed at hotels in both Yokohama and Tokyo.  My initial response would be to stay in Yokohama, which is what we intend to do during a future trip, but I would make my decision on exactly what the OP wishes to do and see in Tokyo.

[tsutt35]

We have cruised out of Yokohama a few times and visit Japan regularly (just had my 20th visit).

The Keisei train from Narita to Ueno is direct and takes around 40 minutes. 

http://www.keisei.co.jp/keisei/tetudou/skyliner/us/index.php

 

Personally, I love staying in Ueno in Tokyo and the train to Yokohama from there is easy.

 

We stay in either of two hotels that cost about AUD$120 a night

Tougananeya Hotel which I tend to book direct through them (5-10 min walk from train station). I'm booked there for July and December this year.

http://www.tougane-h.com/e/

or

APA Hotel Keisei  Ueno Ekimae which I tend to book through booking.com (2 minute walk from train station)

 

We stayed in Yokohama once, just beside the baseball stadium, but I prefer Ueno.

 

To get to the cruise terminal from Ueno you have two options depending on how close you want to get to the port. We have used the train to Kannai and walked to the port but going to Nihon-Odori brings you closer.

 

I have put pictures of the maps and train routes. Both require one swap of train but it isn't difficult. I have a hobby of writing a travel blog of our trips. There is some information on what we have done in both places (in cruises and land adventures) if you are interested.

https://tanyastravelblog.wordpress.com

 

[Miaminice]

Tokyo for sure! The trip to Yokohama is only 39 minutes and Tokyo offers much more to see...

 

we are currently on a cruise in Japan. Here’s where you can follow the cruise:

 

[Almondtree]

Thanks to both of you.  Miaminice, I look forward to reading about your journey.

[Donald]

Yokohama means "Broad Beach" in Japanese. Broad as in wide.

 

Yokohama is officially the largest city in Japan.

One would think it would be Tokyo (at 42 Million).
But Tokyo is no longer officially a Japanese city.

It is an "administrative district", with it's own Governor.

Yokohama is unofficially a suburb of Tokyo.

 

Osanbashi Cruise Terminal in Yokohama is the Terminal for the Port of Yokohama.

 

Harumi Cruise Terminal in Tokyo Bay is the Terminal for the Port of Tokyo.

 

Most cruise ships today cannot fit under the Rainbow Bridge at the entrance of Tokyo Bay,  and therefore cannot call at Harumi Terminal. A new Tokyo Cruise Terminal is currently being built on the South side of the Rainbow Bridge, to allow larger cruise ships to get closer to Tokyo.

 

Yokahama means "Leisure Time Beach" in Japanese.

Sounds good, but no such place exists in Japan.

[ReturnCruiser]

On 4/21/2019 at 11:53 PM, Miaminice said:

"Tokyo for sure! The trip to Yokohama is only 39 minutes and Tokyo offers much more to see..."

 

We just returned from a month in Japan. There's many sights to see in Tokyo. How much time you have for a Tokyo stay might influence your decision.  At the end of our Princess cruise, we traveled by train from Yokohama to Tokyo during a weekday morning. In this direction and time, the trains were packed - those standing couldn't fall over as there wasn't room to fall. This also was an issue those for carrying large luggage pieces onto an unreserved (and crowded) train car.  We only had one large bag, but shipped it to our destination hotel from Yokohama. Information about our trip is in the below blog.

Bob

 

[Floridiana]

I saw a counter in the Osanbashi Cruise Terminal in Yokohama to send luggage to a hotel. Make sure your ship uses this terminal, ours was a different terminal for embarkation and changed information where we would disembark several times. Finally it was at Osanbashi.

 

Do NOT try to travel with your large suitcases on public transportation. The luggage forwarding system works well. We used it from hotel to hotel. Trains und subways were often packed at commuter and at other times. 

[ROCruiser]

If you have more than a couple of days, yes, Tokyo, for visiting various sights close by. But if you have only one or two nights, I would stay in Yokohama to avoid having to transport luggage twice. As Tara Jane stated, there are Limousine buses that go directly from the airport to Yokohama. There is a bus route instead of going to YCAT, it ends at Hotel New Grand but you have to ask specifically for that route otherwise they will sell you the YCAT buses. It's very convenient if staying near the pier (Hotel New Grand, Hotel Monterey, Star Hotel,, etc. )or near Chinatown area. 

[inmyfootsteps]

We will be staying at the Hotel Monterey in November. Any idea how to transfer to this hotel from Hanade airport and not Narita airport?

[ROCruiser]

2 hours ago, inmyfootsteps said:

We will be staying at the Hotel Monterey in November. Any idea how to transfer to this hotel from Hanade airport and not Narita airport?

Our bus from Narita to Hotel New Grand made only two stops on the way to Yokohama, at the two terminals in Haneda, so they should sell bus tickets to Hotel New Grand from Haneda also. Ask the staff at the Airport Limousine Bus counter and specifically for tickets to Hotel New Grand and not YCAT. Bus will drop off at the front door of HNG, then you just need to walk a block to Hotel Monterey.

[inmyfootsteps]

Thank you , much appreciated for your response.