Doc Holiday: Can we explore Tokyo during a layover?

If you have a long layover in Tokyo, there are a number of private tour companies that can help you make the best of it. 

If you want to make the best of your layover in Tokyo, there are a few private tour options.

Escape's Doc Holiday, Dilvin Yasa, answers your travel-related questions.

We have a 13-hour layover in Tokyo (Haneda Airport). Are there any day tours into Tokyo? Or what would be the best way to get into Tokyo and back?

While there are no official layover tours endorsed by the airport or the tourism board, you have a few private tour options.

Tokyo Private Tour offers seven-hour layover tours around the metropolitan area. Your driver picks you up from Haneda (or Narita) and drops you back after showing you the top sights. These include Ginza, Imperial Palace, Shibuya, Harajuku, Hama Rikyu Garden and more. Tokyo Travel Assist has a similar six-hour tour, which can be customised to suit your needs. Expect to part with around $440 for their tours that run on public transport, and around $660 for private car touring.

A local guide can take you through the city’s highlights swiftly and efficiently, but if you wish to go it alone, you can.

If you wish to go it alone, you can take the Keikyu Airport Line from Haneda airport to Shinagawa Station (15 minutes), or the Tokyo Monorail from the airport to Hamamatsucho Station (about 11 minutes), then jump on the JR Yamanote Line to Tokyo Station (seven minutes). Or take a coach booked through The Limousine Bus; the trip into town is around $10 per person. Of course, taxis are also readily available.

A local guide can take you through the city’s highlights swiftly and efficiently. Consider hiring a private guide through Tours by Locals, Japan Guide Agency or With Locals.

Luggage storage is available at Haneda Airport should you require it. Check details on fees at Haneda Airport. Tokyo Tourism also has a great Haneda guide if you’d like a little more information about your layover adventure and what you can expect.

The Professional Association of Diving Instructors' website has a wealth of information on the top dive spots around Bali.

My daughter and her friend are going to Bali and want to scuba dive. Can you recommend a reliable and safe company?

I can relate to how you feel, but I think visiting the Professional Association of Diving Instructors will allay some of your concerns. You can use the site’s PADI Pro Chek to verify the membership status of all PADI Professional Members and it also has a wealth of information on the top dive spots around Bali, profiles on dive companies they recommend and what your daughter can expect to see while diving.

Encourage them to consider diving in Tulamben, Amed, or around Pemuteran and Menjangan, where the waters are calmer.

Blue Season Bali and Crystal Divers in Sanur, and Blue Corner Dive in multiple locations, including Menjangan, come highly recommended and are well worth looking into as a first port of call.

Originally published as Doc Holiday: Can we explore Tokyo during a layover?