[Itinerary Check] 5 days in Tokyo

12 comments

1. Have fun!

   Day 1

   Is it possible to visit Tokyo University?

   – Do you mean like to have a tour? I’m not sure. You can at least go to the university and look at the outside of it. Sounds like a busy, but doable day.

   Day 3

   Yoyogi Park – I don’t know why so many people choose this place. It’s not a nice park IMO. But, since you’re in the area, you can walk through a little of it. Why not go to Meiji Shrine? It’s beside the park and way nicer.

   Day 5

   I’m not sure where else we could go near this area? – You could go to Roppongi Hills and/or Shinjuku. I noticed you didn’t have Shinjuku in your itinerary. Is there a reason for that? That’s basically “Tokyo” to a lot of people in Japan. Shinjuku Station is the busiest train station in the world. There are tons of shops and restaurants around the station. You can also walk to the Tokyo Met building and go up to the free observation decks to get a great view of Tokyo. If you have time, you could go to Shinjuku Gyoen gardens. It’s quite a nice place to see all sorts of trees and plants. It’s very spacious. People have picnics there. It’s insanely crowded during cherry blossom season (April).

2. A friend and I stated in Hakone for a few days. Awesome place but if you are planning to use the public transport (buses) do as much research as you can of the bus routes.
   Was a bit of a nightmare trying to figure it out while we were there; granted they had multiple damaged roads due to a recent earthquake which did not help

3. [deleted]

4. Seriously. The avenys suck. Especially If Youre Going to hakkone Anyways. Do something else

5. On day 3- I would recommend going to Shibuya when it’s dark as it has more of a vibe and the crossing looks cooler with neon signs in the background, in my opinion. There’s a a Starbucks there which has a view of the crossing but it’s usually pretty busy. You can also start from Yoyogi park and walk through Harajuku to get to Shibuya. Plenty of shops to see on the way and the walk isn’t long at all (depending on how many shops you go in to that is).

   On day 5 you could visit Roppongi, Roppongi is a really cool “artsy” place with plenty of exhibitions- would be worth seeing what exhibitions they have going on at the mori art museum before you go

6. Dont do 1 day Hakone. One big point of Hakone is to stay in a traditional inn, with a hot spring and great food. 2 days ok.

7. Let’s start with the things I would advice against. In order of how much you should not go there. After that some suggestions on what you should do (instead).

   1: I see many people suggest Roppongi but I would really advice against it. It’s just a tourist trap. Don’t go there. 1/5.

   2: I would also advice against Disneyland, unless you are a couple or have some crazy obsession with Disney. You will be staying in line most of the time, surrounded by kids and teens, usually couples. 2/5.

   3: Hakone/Mt. Fuji.
   I loved Mt. Fuji but its a really taxing trip, especially if you plan on climbing. Personally I think it fits better with a 2-3 week trip. You simply don’t have enough time to really enjoy it. Save it for next time! 3/5.

   Day 1: if you are in Asakusa already, visiting the Tokyo Skytree is really doable and I definitely recommend it. Maybe start at the Skytree -> Asakusa -> Ueno. 5/5.

   Day 2: Just like Disneyland, you can visit Odaiba. It has many arcadehalls, shopping malls, and so on. You can also take a boat from/to Odaiba I believe.

   Day 3: Omotesandō is nice, it has a chill atmosphere. You can visit it if you are going to Shibuya anyway.

   Day 4: If you want to do a day trip, go to Kamakura. If you really want to visit Hakone go to Hakone instead, but Kamakura is easier to visit, really nice and historic.

   Alternative day 4: go to Ikebukuro, Ginza and/or central station/park area. Or explore more Shinjuku (Gyoen, metropolitan towers observations deck)

8. I don’t think you have enough time for Mt. Fuji/Hakone, it would be better to do Shinjuku and surrounding areas eg. Shinjuku-sanchome –> Yotsuya (where Sophia University is) —>Ichigaya–>Iidabashi/Kagurazaka.

   I love this path a lot since you go from extremely urban (Shinjuku sanchome is where Isetan, Marui, lots of shopping/subculture shops) to nostalgic Japan. You can get a taste of ‘traditional’ Tokyo since the hotels/teahouses/sentos there are still operational, in summer I could hear shamisen music coming through my windows in the late evening.

   It’s walkable, but you can also take the train which is extremely popular since the tracks run parallel to the river, and it looks beautiful in spring or autumn— looks like the train is going over water (Spirited Away vibes for 200yen lol)

9. I’ll go ahead and echo a few other thoughts and suggestions.

   I’d avoid the Fuji/ Hakone day trip. It’s a long day on the bus, for little gain. If you really want to do this are, go for at least one night. Or if you do want to just do a day trip- go to Nikko. It gets you out of the city and Toshogu really is impressive.

   If you really want to hit Disney- I’d do Sea over land. It’s more unique, and really is quite fun.

   Fun to see the different ideas about roppongi. Both are correct to an extent. The area sucks as a nightlife area, but there are some cool galleries if you are feeling arty. And the view deck from the top of Mori Tower is one of the few ones where you are outside and not stuck behind glass.

10. What exactly are you doing on Sumida bridge? also don quijote? Lol

11. That seems like a lot for only 5 days

12. Definitely skip the 1 day trip to Hakone and Mt Fuji because u won’t have enough time for both. I do recommend it if u have a longer stay but since u only have 5 days, just explore Tokyo area as it is a big city with lots of places to visit.