How do I get from the airport to Nagoya?

Chubu Centrair International Airport sits on an artificial island in Ise Bay, about 35 km south of central Nagoya. The Meitetsu μ-SKY limited express is your best option from the airport. Walk through the arrivals level, follow signs to the Meitetsu platform on the same floor, and buy a ticket from the machines (they have English mode). The train departs roughly every 30 minutes, and the 28-minute ride to Meitetsu Nagoya Station costs 1,250 JPY, about $8 at the current exchange rate. Seats are reserved, the cars tend to be quiet, and there's luggage space near the doors. You'll see the bay recede as the train crosses the long airport bridge, then flat Aichi Prefecture farmland for most of the ride. The μ-SKY makes limited stops before Nagoya, with Kanayama as the main transfer point, so there's no local-station crawl through the suburbs.

If the μ-SKY timing doesn't line up, the regular Meitetsu Limited Express runs more frequently at 890 JPY ($5.65), with about 7 extra minutes on the journey. No reserved seats on this service, so it fills up during weekday rush hours between 7:30am and 9:00am. The airport also runs limousine buses to hotels in the Sakae and Fushimi districts for about 1,300 JPY, taking 50 to 85 minutes depending on highway traffic. The bus is only competitive if your hotel sits on its route and you have heavy luggage you'd rather not haul through station stairs. Mind you, Nagoya's expressways slow to a crawl during morning rush, so early buses sometimes push past 90 minutes.

Late arrivals face a gap. The last μ-SKY leaves Centrair around 9:30pm, and the final regular Meitetsu train departs closer to 11:00pm. After that, taxis queue at the stand outside the arrivals hall, and that's your only realistic option. Expect 14,000 to 18,000 JPY ($89 to $115) for the 40-minute expressway ride to Nagoya Station. The drivers use meters, and the expressway toll is included in the fare. Before you leave the terminal, pick up an IC card, either Manaca or Toica, from the machines near the Meitetsu ticket gate. It costs 2,000 JPY with a 500 JPY refundable deposit and 1,500 JPY of loaded credit. The card works on every subway, bus, and train in the city, and saves you from puzzling over fare charts at each station.

Meitetsu Nagoya Station sits underground, connected directly to JR Nagoya Station and the city subway. When you step off the train, follow signs for the Higashiyama Line or Sakura-dori Line if you're heading toward Sakae, about 2 stops and 210 JPY away. The station complex is warm and busy, full of recorded departure chimes and the low hum of escalators moving commuters in every direction. If you arrive hungry, the underground mall beneath JR Nagoya Station has a row of kissaten and a Sugakiya ramen counter where a bowl of Nagoya-style tonkotsu runs about 390 JPY. That said, save your real appetite. Yabaton in Osu serves the city's definitive miso katsu for about 1,500 JPY a set, and Sekai no Yamachan has tebasaki wings at locations across the city, most open past 10pm.