Tokyo can be intimidating. The city is massive, neighborhoods follow one another without resembling each other, and you never quite know where to start. After years of exploring it, I can tell you one thing: there’s no wrong itinerary. But there are smarter ones.
This guide is designed for a first trip, but also for those coming back who want to get off the beaten path. We start with the classics, because they deserve it, then dig a little deeper.
IkuzoHow many days in Tokyo
Three days is the minimum to scratch the surface: you tick off Asakusa, Shibuya and Shinjuku, cross one alternative neighborhood, sleep. Five days is when the city starts to breathe: you add a park, a sento, an emerging district, a dinner at a counter. Seven to ten days is what I recommend to anyone who really wants to understand Tokyo, because it frees up time for day trips and for days with no plan at all.
For a first trip to Japan, Tokyo deserves a wider frame. If you have just landed, start with your first 24 hours in Japan. And if you are building a full itinerary, my 10-day itinerary gives a realistic frame to combine Tokyo, Kyoto and a mountain escape.
The must-sees
Senso-ji in Asakusa is Tokyo’s oldest temple and probably its most photogenic. Go early in the morning to avoid the crowds, and take the opportunity to explore the small streets around Nakamise-dori. That’s where you’ll find the best freshly grilled senbei.
The Shibuya Crossing is a must, if only for the experience. The best view is from Shibuya Sky. Book online, it’s often sold out. Right next door, the Harajuku district mixes streetwear fashion, crêperies, and the Meiji Jingu shrine, a forest in the middle of the city where the silence will surprise you.
Shinjuku is Tokyo’s beating heart. On the west side, skyscrapers and the free observation deck at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building offer panoramic views. On the east side, it’s the organized chaos of Kabukicho, the neon lights, the izakayas, and an energy you won’t find anywhere else.
Akihabara remains fascinating even if you’re not a manga fan. The electronics shops, retro arcades, and general atmosphere are worth the detour. And if you’re looking for a city viewpoint, Tokyo Skytree offers a 360° panorama, impressive on a clear day. For a more nostalgic silhouette, Tokyo Tower remains the city’s retro icon, especially lit up after dark.
Neighborhoods to explore
This is where Tokyo gets really interesting. Away from the crowds, these neighborhoods show a more authentic face of the city.
👉 To go further, I wrote a full guide to 13 lesser-known Tokyo neighborhoods. That is where I spend my own time when I come back to the city after a few weeks in the countryside.
Yanaka and Nezu form a world apart: narrow lanes, discreet temples, stray cats and artisan shops. Spared by the bombings and the developers alike, this is one of the few corners of Tokyo where you can still feel the shitamachi, the old working-class Tokyo. Walk down the Yanaka Ginza shopping street with a croquette in hand while the Yūyake Dandan stairs catch the evening sun; the nearby Yanaka Cemetery is beautiful in spring under the cherry blossoms.
Ten minutes away on foot, Nezu Shrine lines up its tunnel of small vermilion torii, a pocket-sized, peaceful Fushimi Inari; in late April its thousands of azaleas in bloom make one of the finest sights in the city.
Shimokitazawa is the bohemian neighborhood par excellence. Thrift stores, independent cafés, small concert venues, and a laid-back atmosphere that contrasts with the rest of the city. It’s also one of the best places to dine without breaking the bank.
Koenji is in the same vein, but rawer. It’s Tokyo’s punk and alternative quarter, with tiny bars, vinyl record shops, and an underground music scene that’s still very much alive.
Nakano is my favorite place to decompress in the evening. Four minutes from Shinjuku by train but without the screaming neon, it is a maze of lanes lined with tiny izakaya, a Sun Mall arcade that bustles without ever suffocating, and the famous Nakano Broadway, paradise of retro manga and collectible figures. It is also a great starting point for exploring the neighboring quarters on foot, Shiinamachi, Ogikubo, Higashi-Nakano, which almost touch and reveal themselves lane by lane.
Kagurazaka climbs its old geisha hill above Iidabashi: cobbles, crooked lanes, a few okiya still active and an unexpected density of French restaurants, a legacy of the French lycée that long sat at the top of the slope. It is the neighborhood I like sending readers to for the pleasure of the counterpoint: strolling “little Paris” where Tokyoites come looking for old Japan.
Kiyosumi-Shirakawa and Kuramae are the emerging neighborhoods of the moment. Artisan coffee roasters, contemporary art galleries, and converted warehouses. A calmer, more creative Tokyo in full transformation.
Offbeat Tokyo, my playground
This site is called Offbeat Japan, so let us talk about what Tokyo hides under the varnish. My weakness is its impossible buildings: the Arimaston Building, a concrete building that one man, Keisuke Oka, has been sculpting by hand since 2005 in a quiet street of Mita, or the New Sky Building in Nishi-Shinjuku, a futuristic machine for living from 1970 that time is slowly gnawing at. Both can be admired from the street, for free, and they say more about this city than many museums.
The Nakagin Capsule Tower, icon of Metabolism dismantled in 2022, now exists only in photographs and in a few capsules saved by museums; I tell its story, and it is worth the detour even posthumously. More alive: the Yayoi Kusama Museum, five floors of dots and infinity in a residential lane of Shinjuku that nothing signals. Online tickets only, often weeks ahead, and that is for the better: the limited slots mean it never feels packed.
Parks and gardens
Tokyo is much greener than you’d think. The Japanese gardens here are among the most beautiful in the country, and they offer a welcome break between neighborhoods.
Shinjuku Gyoen is the largest and most varied: a Japanese garden, English garden, and French garden coexist over 58 hectares. It’s one of Tokyo’s best cherry blossom spots, and admission is just ¥500 (~$3.50). Note: alcohol is prohibited.
Koishikawa Korakuen, right next to Tokyo Dome, is one of the oldest gardens in the city. It’s magnificent in autumn with its red maples, and much less crowded than Shinjuku Gyoen.
Rikugien is my favorite. It’s a strolling garden from the Edo period, with a central pond, artificial hills, and a contemplative atmosphere. In autumn, it’s illuminated at night, a rare spectacle.
For a more relaxed walk, Ueno Park combines a large lake, several museums (including the formidable Tokyo National Museum), and Japan’s oldest zoo.
Take a real break: a Tokyo sento
If you’ve spent the day walking and your legs are ready to surrender, do what locals do: head to a neighborhood sento, the public bathhouse. There are still hundreds across Tokyo, often hidden behind a discreet curtain, and they’re an experience in themselves. Takara-yu in Adachi is one of the most beautiful traditional ones, with its koi pond visible from the bath. Entry is around ¥550, towels can be rented for a few hundred yen more, and you walk out feeling like a new person.
Eating in Tokyo
Tokyo has more restaurants than any other city in the world. And contrary to what you might think, you can eat remarkably well here for cheap.
The Tsukiji Outer Market remains essential for fresh seafood. The fish market moved to Toyosu, but the Tsukiji stalls are still there, and that’s where locals continue to go. Arrive before 9am to avoid the rush.
Yokocho (restaurant alleys) are Tokyo’s culinary soul. Every neighborhood has its own: under the Yurakucho tracks for smoky yakitori, in Ebisu for a more relaxed vibe, in Kichijoji for a casual dinner. You sit at the counter, order a beer, and watch the chef work.
Don’t underestimate konbini (convenience stores). Onigiri from 7-Eleven or Lawson are fresh, good, and cost between ¥120 and ¥200 (~$0.80 to $1.40). The egg sandwiches (tamago sando) have become cult favorites for good reason.
If you love cooking, take a stroll down Kappabashi-dori, the kitchen supply street near Asakusa. Japanese knives, ceramic tableware, plastic food samples. It’s as fascinating as the temples.
👉 For the full tour of what deserves a place on your plate, see what to eat in Japan.
Going out at night
Tokyo’s nightlife is unique. No big clubs. Instead, tiny bars where six people fit, loud izakayas, and lantern-lit alleys.
Golden Gai in Shinjuku is the most famous: six alleys, about 200 bars that each seat five or six people. Some only accept regulars, others welcome everyone with a smile. Check if there’s a cover charge before entering, usually between ¥500 and ¥1,000.
Omoide Yokocho (“Memory Lane”), also in Shinjuku, is more food-oriented. Yakitori skewers grilled over charcoal, smoke everywhere, and a post-war atmosphere that persists despite the tourists.
Nonbei Yokocho in Shibuya is lesser known and more intimate. Just two rows of wooden bars under the train tracks, a remnant of pre-skyscraper Shibuya.
For a younger, more relaxed vibe, the bars of Shimokitazawa and Sangenjaya attract a local crowd that prefers to avoid Shinjuku.
Day trips from Tokyo
Tokyo is not only a destination, it is an excellent base. The rail network radiating out of it is one of the best in the world, and within 90 minutes you can be facing Mount Fuji, in an onsen town, on a Pacific beach or in an old imperial capital.
👉 I detailed 10 day trips from Tokyo that I do and redo. The two I would recommend first to a first-time visitor: Hakone for the onsen and the Fuji views (1h30 by train from Shinjuku), and Kamakura for the Great Buddha and the temple hike (1h from Tokyo Station).
The other Tokyo: Okutama and the islands
Tokyo is not a city but a prefecture, and that prefecture goes very far: from the mountains in the west to subtropical islands hundreds of kilometers south, all under the same metropolitan government. Almost nobody explores that Tokyo, and it is my favorite one.
Two hours by train from Shinjuku, still without leaving Tokyo, Okutama lines up cedar forests, gorges and limestone caves. In the Nippara valley hides a hamlet said to have been founded by fugitive samurai in the 12th century; above it still rusts a ropeway stopped in 1966, whose story I tell from the riverbank. Hiking, cool air, and not a foreign tourist in sight.
And then there are the Izu Islands, reachable by ferry from the bay: Ōshima and its black sand desert, Niijima and its beaches that could shame the Canaries, subtropical Hachijōjima, and at the far end Aogashima, a volcano inside a volcano inhabited by fewer than 200 people. Administratively you will never have left Tokyo; in practice you will be at the end of the world.
Watch a sumo morning practice
Outside the six annual tournaments at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, you can still watch the rikishi at work in their heya (stables) during asageiko, the morning practice. It is silent, dense, strange, and one of Tokyo’s most striking experiences for anyone who takes the trouble to book it.
👉 See my guide to watching a sumo practice in Tokyo, with the serious agencies, the heya that accept visitors and the rules to respect (you do not photograph just anything).
For foreigners, for the Japanese
Foreign travelers come to Tokyo for Shibuya, Shinjuku, Asakusa and Mount Fuji, in that order. It is efficient in four days, but it is also a program seen a thousand times. The Japanese live it differently: brunch at a neighborhood café, a Sunday afternoon strolling Kichijōji or Jiyūgaoka, a tiny izakaya in Nakano after work, a sento at 9pm, a midnight run to Don Quijote. If you want a taste of the real Tokyo, set aside at least one day with no plan, in a residential neighborhood nobody recommended to you.
Little-known and surprising facts
- Tokyo is not officially a city. It is a prefecture (Tōkyō-to, 東京都) made of 23 special wards, 26 cities, 5 towns and 8 villages, stretching all the way to the Ogasawara Islands 1,000 km south. The “Tokyo” you visit is really the 23 central wards.
- Shinjuku Station is the busiest railway station in the world, with about 3.5 million passengers a day (a Guinness record since 2018). More than 200 exits; one map is not enough to find your way.
- Tokyo burned twice in the 20th century: the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 (140,000 dead, 90% from the fires that followed) and the firebombing of March 1945 (100,000 dead in the single night of March 9-10, more than Hiroshima). What you see today is a city rebuilt three times.
- There are more Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo than in Paris (about 200 versus 100). Per capita, one of the highest ratios in the world.
- The Shibuya Crossing sees about 2,500 people per green light, close to half a million a day. At rush hour it is the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world.
- The Nakano district, 4 minutes from Shinjuku, inspired much of the scenery of Haruki Murakami’s novel 1Q84; the author lived there for years.
When to go, how to get there
When: late March to early April for the sakura (Shinjuku Gyoen, the Meguro River, Ueno), late October to November for the momiji (Rikugien at night, Koishikawa Kōrakuen), December for the illuminations (Roppongi, Marunouchi). Avoid: July and August (heavy heat, stifling humidity) and Golden Week (April 29 to May 5, everything is full and overpriced).
From the airport: Narita is 60 km from the center. The Narita Express (N’EX) reaches Tokyo Station in 60 minutes (¥3,070), the Limousine bus serves the big hotels (¥3,200, 90 minutes), the Keisei Skyliner links Ueno in 45 minutes (¥2,580). Haneda, much closer, is 15-30 minutes from the center via the Tokyo Monorail or the Keikyū line (about ¥500). Landing at Haneda buys you half a day.
👉 To understand the Japanese rail network before you land, see how to get around Japan.
Practical tips
Save your favorite spots on a personal map. Tokyo is huge and you’ll forget the names of the cafés, sento and shops you loved by day three. A small habit that changes everything: pin them as you go on a personal map (I use Ikuzo, designed exactly for that, but Google Maps works too).
Get a Suica or Pasmo card as soon as you arrive. These rechargeable cards work on all public transport and in most konbini and vending machines. Since 2023, physical cards have been out of stock. Use the digital version on Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Plan to walk. A lot. Tokyo is best discovered on foot between subway stations, and it’s often between neighborhoods that you make the best discoveries. Comfortable shoes are essential.
Book ahead for popular attractions: Shibuya Sky, teamLab (the permanent Borderless at Azabudai Hills and Planets in Toyosu are honestly dated and crowded, in my view oversold by social media; their temporary installations can be worth it though), and the Ghibli Museum. Tickets sell out in minutes. The Yayoi Kusama Museum works the same way: tiny, timed-entry only, and a much better art fix than the LED crowds. Same for restaurants: the best sushi omakase spots are fully booked weeks ahead.
Konbini are your best friends. ATMs (7-Eleven accepts foreign cards), meals at any hour, decent coffee, and even luggage forwarding. They’re open 24/7 and there’s one on every corner.
Tokyo is one of the safest cities in the world. You can walk anywhere at any hour without worry. Tremors, on the other hand, are part of the scenery: a glance at my live earthquake map tells you what just shook. The only real danger is missing your last train. Subways close around midnight, and taxis are expensive.
Tokyo with a local
Everything above works perfectly well on your own, and getting lost is part of the plan. But a day with someone who actually lives here shifts the whole perspective: a neighborhood sento where nobody speaks English, a six-seat standing bar you would never have walked into, no-name lanes between two stations. I wrote about when it is worth it, and when it is not, in why hire a local guide in Japan. For the capital, the simplest route is to look at the Tokyo guides on Ikitorii: each has their own page, you write to them directly, there is no agency in between.
👉 For the choice of neighborhood and hotel, see my full guide on where to stay in Tokyo.
Tokyo, what stays with you
Tokyo is a city you never finish. Fifteen years it has been absorbing me, and I keep discovering neighborhoods, restaurants, sento I had never seen. The trap is treating it as a checklist of attractions. The secret is leaving room for chance. Book three things for your Tokyo days: one good-level sushi, one attraction that needs a ticket (Shibuya Sky, Ghibli, sumo), one dinner with a Tokyoite if you know one. Everything else, let it happen. You will come back anyway.