Driving from Narita Airport to Nikko

I'm travelling to Japan with my 3 yr old daughter. We will be arriving at Narita Airport. Our travel plan is to go directly to Nikko upon our arrival. I know it takes 1 hour from Narita Airport to Tokyo centre and then another 2 hours to Nikko by train.

I am thinking of renting a car at Narita Airport and go straight to Nikko. I wonder how long it will take to drive from Narita Airport to Nikko.

it's about 3-4hr drive from Terminal 1 (about 210km)
and 5100yen in toll fee.

You can also drive on toll-free roads. When traffic is good, it seems that it can take as little as three hours. But with bad traffic (which I think is often the case), it can be much slower. I personally would go by expressway via Tokyo. Prepare your way through Tokyo. It is very challenging to find the correct way through the labyrinth of expressways.

Many thanks for your reply and info. I would have thought that it will not be a problem to find the right exit for the expressway as the car rented should have GPS device. I also thought that I won't need to travel through Tokyo city centre as I can go directly from Airport.

3 hours do not sound too bad given I don't have to rush for the last train departs from Shinjuku at 5:35pm with my kid.

You can travel around the outskirts of Tokyo, and not have to go right into the city centre.
In that case it is an easy drive, particularly if you have a nabi.

The quickest way goes through central Tokyo, although you will never leave the expressways. Going through the outskirts of Tokyo by toll-free roads can be equally fast if there is little traffic, but if traffic is bad, it is likely to take considerably longer.

I'm thinking of driving from narita to yokohama, stay over for 2 days then drive to hakone before going back to tokyo to return car.

Please advise :

1. How long will it take from narita to yokohama.

2, How long will it take from yokohama to hakone.

3. How much will the toll be.

Since I'm travelling with a young toddler, would need to have the above info. before deciding if i should be rushing to take the train.

Thanks.

I strongly advise against driving from Narita to Yokohama unless you are familiar with Tokyo's expressway network. A train will be much more comfortable and probably faster.

From Yokohama to Hakone, I do not recommend to rent a car, either, due to difficult orientation. It would be easier to take a train from Yokohama to Odawara and rent a car from Odawara.

But with rental car have GPS. So is it still advisable to drive?

Just having a GPS/ car navi doesn't mean that the route will be perfectly clear to you- it's not a fail-safe system, just an aid. There is still plenty of room for confusion.