Trip highlights
- 1Senso-ji at dawn before the crowds
- 2Tsukiji outer market breakfast
- 3teamLab Borderless digital art
- 4Nikko day trip
- 5Yakitori under the Shinjuku tracks
Daily spend
Where you're going
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In pictures
Photos: Unsplash
Day-by-day plan
Arrival & Shinjuku Nights
Thursday, April 1
Est. spend
$75
per person
🌅 Morning
Arrive at Narita or Haneda Airport
Narita International Airport
Clear customs, pick up your Suica card and pocket Wi-Fi at the airport counters before heading to the city.
Buy the N'EX train-and-metro combo ticket at the JR desk — saves money vs buying separately.
Check in and walk Shinjuku
Shinjuku, Tokyo
Drop bags, then walk west of the station to see Tokyo City Hall (free observation deck) and east for Kabukicho's daytime energy.
Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observation deck is free and opens at 9am — better views than Skytree for zero cost.
☀️ Afternoon
Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane) lunch
1 Chome-2-11 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku
Tiny alley crammed with yakitori stalls operating since the 1940s. Sit at the counter, order beer and grilled chicken skewers.
Go at 12:30pm to beat the lunch rush. Smoke gets thick by evening.
Golden Gai exploration
Kabukicho, Shinjuku
Six narrow alleys packed with 200 tiny bars, each with its own theme. Wander and look — no pressure to enter.
🌙 Evening
Ramen Ichiran for dinner
3-34-11 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku
Single-serve ramen booths where you eat alone facing a curtain. Order on the vending machine at the entrance — tonkotsu is the move.
Ask for extra noodles (kaedama) before you finish your broth — it's free for your first batch.
Shinjuku Kabukicho at night
Kabukicho, Shinjuku
Walk Robot Restaurant's block, the Don Quijote maze store, and the neon canyons. Tokyo at its most cinematic.
🍽️ Meals
Convenience store breakfast
Japanese · $5 · 7-Eleven onigiri and coffee — genuinely good, locals eat this daily.
Omoide Yokocho
Japanese · $18
Ichiran Ramen
Japanese · $14
Old Tokyo — Asakusa & Ueno
Friday, April 2
Est. spend
$90
per person
🌅 Morning
Senso-ji Temple at dawn
2-3-1 Asakusa, Taito-ku
Tokyo's oldest temple is at its best before 8am — no crowds, incense smoke drifting, the gate lantern lit against the morning sky.
Go before 7:30am. By 9am it's packed with tour groups. The temple itself is free.
Nakamise-dori shopping street
Nakamise-dori, Asakusa
Walk the famous approach to the temple lined with souvenir stalls. Best for ningyo-yaki cakes, paper fans, and folded umbrellas.
Tsukiji Outer Market breakfast
4-16-2 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku
The outer market is still very much alive — fresh tamagoyaki omelettes, tuna sashimi for breakfast, and the best dashi broth in the city.
Eat tamagoyaki at Tamahide stand. Arrive hungry — multiple stalls, small portions, eat as you walk.
☀️ Afternoon
Tokyo National Museum, Ueno
13-9 Uenokoen, Taito-ku
The largest art museum in Japan — samurai armour, Buddhist sculpture, ukiyo-e prints. The Heiseikan gallery alone is worth the entry.
Closed Mondays. The Japanese Gallery (Honkan) building is the highlight.
Ueno Park walk
Uenokoen, Taito-ku
In spring this is the most famous cherry blossom spot in Tokyo. In any season it connects the museum, zoo, and lake in a pleasant loop.
🌙 Evening
Akihabara electric town at dusk
Akihabara, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo's electronics and anime district is most atmospheric as the neon lights up. Multi-floor arcades, retro game shops, and the odd maid café if curious.
Super Potato (5F, 1-11-2 Sotokanda) is the best retro game store in Tokyo.
🍽️ Meals
Tsukiji market breakfast
Japanese · $20 · Sushi, tamagoyaki, broth — the real deal
Ueno park bento
Japanese · $12 · Pick up from any convenience store near the park entrance
Tonkatsu Maisen, Aoyama
Japanese · $22 · Japan's most famous tonkatsu. Queue is worth it.
Modern Tokyo — Shibuya & Harajuku
Saturday, April 3
Est. spend
$105
per person
🌅 Morning
Meiji Shrine, Harajuku
1-1 Yoyogikamizonocho, Shibuya-ku
Forested Shinto shrine in the heart of the city. The 12-metre torii gate, gravel paths through camphor forest, and morning birdsong make this feel far from urban Tokyo.
Morning is quietest. Weddings happen on weekends — you may see one.
Takeshita Street, Harajuku
Takeshita Street, Harajuku
Harajuku's teen fashion street — crepes, vintage shops, and fashion that doesn't exist anywhere else on earth.
☀️ Afternoon
Omotesando Hills shopping
4-12-10 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
Tokyo's Champs-Élysées equivalent — tree-lined boulevard with flagship architecture stores by Tadao Ando and Herzog & de Meuron. Window-shopping is free.
teamLab Borderless
Azabudai Hills (check teamlab.art for current location)
The world's most famous digital art museum — immersive rooms of flowing light and sound. Book weeks ahead; the Forest of Resonating Lamps alone is worth it.
Book online — sells out. Wear shoes you can slip off easily; many rooms are padded floor.
🌙 Evening
Shibuya Crossing at night
2-2-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku
The world's busiest pedestrian crossing. Watch from Starbucks at the scramble (2F window seats) then descend into the choreography yourself.
Scramble Square's rooftop observation deck gives the famous aerial view — ¥2,000 and worth it at dusk.
Izakaya dinner, Nonbei Yokocho
Nonbei Yokocho, Shibuya
Hidden alley in Shibuya with 30+ small bars and izakayas. Sit at a tiny counter, order edamame, karaage, and highballs.
Point at what other tables are eating if language is a barrier — always works.
🍽️ Meals
Maison Kayser croissant
French/Japanese · $8 · Best croissants in Tokyo, Omotesando branch
Harajuku crepe
Japanese · $10 · Marion Crepes is the original — custard and strawberry
Nonbei Yokocho izakaya
Japanese · $35
Day Trip to Nikko
Sunday, April 4
Est. spend
$155
per person
🌅 Morning
Shinkansen to Nikko via Utsunomiya
Tokyo Station → Nikko Station
Take the Tohoku Shinkansen from Tokyo to Utsunomiya, then the Nikko line to Nikko station. Total journey about 2 hours.
The JR Pass covers the Shinkansen but not the Nikko line — buy the latter separately (¥760 one way).
Tosho-gu Shrine complex
2301 Sannai, Nikko, Tochigi
Japan's most elaborate shrine, built for the first Tokugawa shogun. The Yomeimon Gate (Gate of Sunsets) is almost absurdly ornate.
Entrance covers most shrines. The sleeping cat carving above the gate to Ieyasu's tomb is tiny — look carefully.
☀️ Afternoon
Kegon Falls
Chugushi, Nikko, Tochigi
97-metre waterfall from Lake Chuzenji — spectacular in any weather. Take the bus from Nikko Station (40 min) or a taxi.
Pay ¥570 for the elevator to the lower viewing platform — much better angle than the free top view.
Shinkyo Sacred Bridge
Kamihatsuishi-machi, Nikko, Tochigi
Lacquered red bridge over the Daiya River, considered one of Japan's three finest bridges. The river gorge below is the real view.
🌙 Evening
Return to Tokyo and Ebisu dinner
Ebisu, Shibuya-ku
Back in Tokyo, head to Ebisu neighbourhood for a quieter, more local dinner experience than Shinjuku or Shibuya.
Yebisu Garden Place has good mid-range restaurants and a Mitsukoshi department store basement food hall.
🍽️ Meals
Tokyo Station convenience store
Japanese · $6 · Gran Sta basement has excellent take-away
Nikko yuba (tofu skin) lunch
Japanese · $18 · Nikko's local specialty — silky tofu skin in broth
Ebisu restaurant
Japanese · $30
Art, Design & Roppongi
Monday, April 5
Est. spend
$150
per person
🌅 Morning
Mori Art Museum, Roppongi Hills
53F Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi
Contemporary art 53 floors up — the city view from the museum gallery is as much the attraction as whatever's showing.
Combined ticket includes Tokyo City View observation deck. Go on a clear morning.
☀️ Afternoon
teamLab Planets, Toyosu
6-1-16 Toyosu, Koto-ku
Smaller than Borderless but more intense — you wade knee-deep through mirrored flower rooms and lie on the floor in crystal light installations.
Book in advance. Bring a bag for your shoes. The water room has warm water — don't worry about cold.
Odaiba waterfront walk
Odaiba, Minato-ku
Futuristic artificial island with a replica Statue of Liberty, beach, and view of Rainbow Bridge. Kitsch in the best way.
🌙 Evening
Roppongi nightlife
Roppongi, Minato-ku
Roppongi has a mixed reputation but the area around Ark Hills and Azabu-Juban is genuinely good for cocktail bars and restaurants.
Bar Trench (Ebisu) for serious cocktails; Gen Yamamoto (Azabu-Juban) for Japanese seasonal cocktail experience.
🍽️ Meals
Konbini breakfast at hotel
Japanese · $6
Toyosu market sushi
Japanese · $40 · Outer market of the new Toyosu fish market — Sushi Dai is famous but the queue is 3-4 hours. Alternatives nearby are equally good.
Roppongi dinner
Japanese · $45
Shimokitazawa & Quiet Tokyo
Tuesday, April 6
Est. spend
$80
per person
🌅 Morning
Shimokitazawa vintage market
Shimokitazawa, Setagaya-ku
Tokyo's coolest neighbourhood — independent coffee shops, vintage clothing, live music venues, and no chain stores. A completely different Tokyo.
Wake up late today — Shimokita doesn't get going until 11am. Second-hand stores like New York Joe Exchange are excellent.
Bear Pond Espresso coffee
2-36-12 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku
Tiny, legendary coffee shop that's been called the best espresso in Tokyo. They sometimes close early when they run out of beans.
Cash only. Order the T-AM if it's on the menu — thick, cold, intense.
☀️ Afternoon
Yanaka neighbourhood walk
Yanaka, Taito-ku
Tokyo's best-preserved old neighbourhood — low wooden shophouses, a cemetery walk, temple cats, and streets that survived the firebombing and earthquake.
Yanaka Ginza shopping street ends with a great view over the rooftops at 'Sunset Steps'. Arrive around 4pm.
Nezu Shrine
1-28-9 Nezu, Bunkyo-ku
Less famous than Fushimi Inari but Tokyo's equivalent — hundreds of torii gates climbing a forested hillside, azalea gardens in season.
🌙 Evening
Koenji vinyl shopping and dinner
Koenji, Suginami-ku
Tokyo's music neighbourhood — independent record stores, live venues, and excellent cheap izakayas. Very local, almost no tourists.
Dig through Disk Union Koenji for used Japanese pressings. For dinner, any of the standing ramen bars on the south exit are excellent.
🍽️ Meals
Bear Pond Espresso
Coffee/Japanese · $10 · Coffee + morning pastry
Yanaka Ginza street food
Japanese · $12 · Menchi-katsu (fried mince cutlet) at Nakamura butcher — Tokyo institution
Koenji izakaya
Japanese · $30
Final Morning & Departure
Wednesday, April 7
Est. spend
$80
per person
🌅 Morning
Yoyogi Park morning walk
Yoyogi Park, Shibuya-ku
On Sunday mornings, Yoyogi Park fills with rockabilly dancers, cosplay groups, and musicians. Any morning it's good for a quiet walk and people-watching.
Final ramen or sushi
Shinjuku
One last bowl before you go. Fuunji (Shinjuku) for tsukemen or Sushi Yoshitake if celebrating.
Buy omiyage (souvenirs) in any department store basement food hall — better quality and better price than airport shops.
☀️ Afternoon
Depart to airport
Narita or Haneda Airport
Allow 2 hours to Narita, 1 hour to Haneda. Suica card works on both airport express trains.
Load any remaining Suica balance — it can be used in convenience stores, vending machines, and even some taxis.
🍽️ Meals
Final ramen
Japanese · $16 · Fuunji tsukemen — thick dipping noodles, incredible
Airport lunch
Japanese · $15 · Narita T2 has excellent ramen and tonkatsu options past security
Before you go
📅 Best time to visit
Late March–early April (cherry blossoms) or mid-October–November (autumn foliage). Avoid August — extremely humid and crowded.
🛂 Visas
Most passport holders get 90-day visa-free entry on arrival. Check japan-guide.com for your nationality. No prior application needed for most countries.
💱 Currency
Japan is overwhelmingly cash-based. ATMs at 7-Eleven and Japan Post banks reliably accept foreign cards. Get ¥50,000 out at the airport and top up as needed. IC cards (Suica) work on metro and convenience stores.
🆘 Emergency numbers
police: 110
ambulance: 119
💬 Things you won't find in a guidebook
- Bow slightly when thanking people — small gesture, well received.
- Never eat or drink while walking. It's considered rude. Find a spot and stop.
- Trash cans are almost nonexistent — you're expected to carry rubbish back to your hotel or konbini.
- Quiet on the metro — no phone calls, headphones in, voices low.
- IC card (Suica) is the smoothest way to pay for everything in Tokyo.
- Google Maps works perfectly for Tokyo transit — trust it completely.
- Tipping is not done in Japan and can cause confusion or offense.
One thing worth not skipping
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