Have you just decided to stay in Ueno or Asakusa? Or are you still trying to choose between them?
In Asakusa, the night brings Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) and the main hall, lit up. In Ueno, there’s a big park you can walk into from 5:00 in the morning.
Ueno and Asakusa each have several stations. Even under the same name, “Ueno” or “Asakusa,” each company or line has its own separate station.
So check the station nearest your accommodation with its line name, like “Keisei Ueno” or “Asakusa on the Ginza Line.” Check the station you’ll use to get to and from the airport separately.
Times, fares and opening hours can change, so before you go, check the official information listed at the end of this article (as of October 2026).
Ueno or Asakusa: which one to stay in
Here’s what decides it.
- If you want to walk around at night and in the morning, Asakusa: Sensoji Temple, lit up until around 23:00, and the main hall, which opens at 6:00 (6:30 in winter), are within walking distance of your accommodation
- If you want the park in the morning and the museums, and to get from Narita on the Keisei Skyliner without a transfer, Ueno: it’s the station where the Skyliner arrives, the park opens at 5:00, and the museums at 9:30
- You can get between Ueno and Asakusa on the Ginza Line, so whichever one you stay in, you can head out to the other
In Ueno, Keisei and JR have separate stations
The Skyliner from Narita arrives at Keisei Ueno Station. It’s a separate station from JR Ueno Station.
Keisei Ueno Station has just one ticket gate, on the first basement floor (as of March 2020). Its exits are the front exit and the pond-side exit.
JR Ueno Station has several ticket gates, so write down the name of the gate nearest your accommodation, right down to its English spelling.
| JR Ueno ticket gate | English | Floor |
|---|---|---|
| 中央改札 | Central Gate | 1F |
| 不忍改札 | Shinobazu Gate | |
| 公園改札 | Park Gate | 3F |
| 入谷改札 | Iriya Gate | 3F |
The front exit at Keisei Ueno and the main entrance at JR Ueno are both called “Main Exit” in English.
The Park Gate in the table is on 3F, and it lets you out on the Ueno Park side. From JR Ueno Station, the park is a 2-minute walk; from Keisei Ueno Station, a 1-minute walk.
In Asakusa, each line has its own station
Asakusa has stations on the Tobu line, the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, the Tsukuba Express and the Toei Asakusa Line. From the Toei Asakusa Line station, Sensoji Temple is a 5-minute walk from “Exit A4.”
If your accommodation’s directions say “Asakusa Station,” check which line’s Asakusa Station they mean.
Asakusa Station on the Ginza Line has no elevator inside the ticket gates. What it has inside the gates is a stair lift.
Outside the ticket gates, there’s an elevator near the gate on the Kaminarimon side (Sensoji Temple/Kaminarimon Gate), and it takes you up to Exit 1.
If your accommodation is near the Ginza Line, remember the name of this gate, and once you’re through it, you won’t have to look around for the elevator.
The day you arrive — from the airport
From Narita, by Skyliner to Ueno
All seats on the Skyliner are reserved. It’s 2,580 yen (ticket) for adults. Once you have your ticket, you can ride all the way to Ueno in a seat.
From Narita Airport to Keisei Ueno, trains run roughly every 20 minutes during the day. The last one leaves at 23:00.
Even on a day you land at Narita late, if you can catch the 23:00 train, you’ll get to Ueno without a transfer.
To Asakusa, by airport bus
In Asakusa, the airport bus (Limousine Bus) stops in front of one hotel. From Narita it’s 3,100 yen for adults, and from Haneda 1,300 yen for adults, with 5 buses a day on each route. The last bus leaves Narita in the 18:00 hour, and Haneda between about 18:45 and 19:00.
In the timetable, every bus had a column for reservations, and some were sold out. Check whether your accommodation is a stop, and the buses on the day you travel, in the bus company’s official timetable.
From Haneda, by train
From Haneda, Keikyu operates through to the Toei Asakusa Line. In Keikyu’s table, it’s 34 minutes from Haneda Airport Terminal 3 to Asakusa Station, and 37 minutes from Terminals 1 and 2.
From Haneda to Ueno, it’s about 40 minutes by Haneda Airport’s estimate. Keikyu’s information shows changing to JR at Shinagawa.
Luggage — drop it at your accommodation before the museum
From August 1, 2026, you can no longer bring suitcases into the Tokyo National Museum. On the day you arrive in Ueno, leave your luggage at your accommodation first, and you can get around the museums and the park traveling light.
In some cases, the place you’re staying will hold your luggage for you. There are also websites for finding luggage storage. Both JR Ueno Station and Keisei Ueno Station have coin lockers.
We’ve covered how to send your luggage ahead from the airport to your accommodation in the “Where to Stay in Tokyo on Your First Trip” article.
Heading back at night — the Ginza Line runs past midnight on weekdays
You can get between Ueno and Asakusa on the Ginza Line. On weekdays, the last train from Ueno to Asakusa is at 0:19, and from Asakusa to Ueno at 0:14.
Whether you stay out late in Ueno or in Asakusa, on weekdays you can get back to your station on the Ginza Line until just past midnight. Check the last train in the direction of your accommodation ahead of time.
To the airport in the morning
To Narita, the Skyliner leaves Keisei Ueno from 5:40 in the morning. If your accommodation is near Keisei Ueno, it’s easier to catch even the first one of the day.
The airport buses from in front of the hotel in Asakusa run from the morning until early afternoon.
To Haneda, there are also trains with through service to Keikyu, from Asakusa Station on the Toei Asakusa Line. On a day you leave early, check your station and departure time the day before.
Places you can walk to on the nights and mornings of your stay
Asakusa — Sensoji Temple at night, and the main hall in the morning
Sensoji Temple is lit up every day from sunset until around 23:00. The buildings lit up are the main hall, the five-story pagoda, Hozomon Gate and Kaminarimon.
After dinner, you can walk from your accommodation to see Kaminarimon and the five-story pagoda lit up.
The main hall opens at 6:00 (from 6:30, October to March). You can pay your respects before breakfast, then start your day. The temple grounds are flat, and there’s an elevator on the left side as you face the main hall.
The Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center (a 1-minute walk from Exit 2 of Asakusa Station on the Ginza Line) lets you go up to its observation terrace on 8F until 22:00. The tourist information desk is open until 20:00, and you can ask in English, Chinese and Korean too.
Ueno — the park in the morning, and the museums on Friday and Saturday nights
Ueno Park is open from 5:00 to 23:00.
The Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Western Art are open until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays (closed on Mondays).
Take a morning walk in the park, then head to a museum that opens at 9:30. On a Friday or Saturday, you can take your time even if you go in the evening.
From Tokyo Station and Shinjuku Station to Ueno and Asakusa
| Destination | From | How to get there | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ueno | Tokyo Station | Yamanote Line | 8 min |
| Ueno | Shinjuku Station | Yamanote Line | 24 min |
| Asakusa | Tokyo Station | Yamanote Line, change to the Ginza Line at Kanda | 20 min |
| Asakusa | Shinjuku Station | Chuo Line, change to the Ginza Line at Kanda | 35 min |
To walk around at night and in the morning, Asakusa; for the park in the morning and the museums, Ueno. If you stay here, you can enjoy Sensoji Temple lit up at night and the park in the morning closer than anyone else.
For now, just this
- Check the station nearest your accommodation with its line name. In Ueno, Keisei and JR are separate; in Asakusa, the 4 lines are separate
- For the museums, leave your suitcase at your accommodation first
- On late nights, the last Ginza Line train in the direction of your accommodation (weekdays: from Ueno at 0:19, from Asakusa at 0:14)
