3 days in Tokyo. Is this too much?

15 comments

1. I think this itinerary looks fine overal. Day 1 and 3 are full, but I think you can manage it if you start early. Good to see you also took meals into account everywhere. Day 2 looks fine, although you mention going to Akihabara that day but I don’t see it in the day plan.

2. You should get some pizza around Roppongi and/or Nakameguro. It’s excellent. Savoy, da ISA, TST, etc. are all renowned

3. First day I would consider Harajuku, Shibuya, Roppongi in that order and maybe only one observation deck.

   Second day, the pagoda belong to Senso-ji, it is on the left just before the main building. Asakusa shrine is located right of Senso-ji main building.

4. Day 1 might be a bit much. We also did Harajuku and Meiji Jingu on Day 1 and had to postpone our visit to Shibuya simply because the jet lag started to kick in and we started to get tired. If you don’t think jet lag will be an issue, then it’s probably a lot more doable.

   Also I would skip the Street Go Karts. [It’s a nuisance that’s heavily frowned upon by the locals](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/d5dcsp/is_gokarting_seen_as_an_annoying_thing_that/) and it also seems kinda unsafe IMO. I would much rather use that time actually exploring Akihabara (or doing anything else tbh). Why not check out a maid cafe, an arcade or Kanda Myojin Shrine instead?

5. Seems reasonable. Only thing is Tsukiji is not that close to Toyosu. You can probably checkout Toyosu market which is close to Team labs.

6. Tsukiji closes sort of early, so I wouldn’t go there if it’s any point after 10 or 11. It’s a neat spot to go to, so I def encourage you to get up early and make it there. Train from Shinjuku might take some time, but you should do it.

   Your itinerary is way more feasible that some people’s 3 days in Tokyo where they’re zig-zagging around the whole city checking off every major site while still having room for wandering and shopping.

7. Move Roppongi to Day 2 since you’re going there for dinner anyway?

   Not an expert but I feel like most of the vintage shops would be closer to Harajuku/Meiji-jingu station or in the backstreets of Omote-Sando. The main street is mostly high-end places.

   Skip the carts. I’m obviously biased as I live down the street from one of those places but there’s a ton of other things you could do while spending less money and not putting yourself in danger.

   Tsukiji is closer to Ginza than Toyosu which is out on an artificial island.

8. >3pm: Mario Kart at Building Sasage

   Remove this from your list, before the locals (me included) notice it and warn you rightfully how stupid, dangerous and obliviously disrespectful of the rest of the traffic this is.

9. quick note: we went to teamlabs last week without doing any research. ICYMI be prepared for water up to your knees. they seem to have designed it to wash your feet under the guise of ‘art’ before any piece with a mirrored floor.

10. IMO best vintage is at Shimokita.

    Don’t discount going to Ameyoko at Ueno. One of the more interesting and local markets in Tokyo.

11. I would prioritize Takeshita Street and Cat Street while in Harajuku, after Meiji Jingu. Omotesando itself is kind of boring as it’s mostly big name designer brands like Zara, Louis Vuitton, i.e. places you can see in any city in the world.

    While in Shibuya, I would go to Nonbei Yokocho in the evening. It’s about a block from Shibuya Crossing and is a small section of back alleys full of really cool izakayas that only seat like three people.

    I would also prioritize Tsukiji outer market if you like food. Nakamise-dori is honestly not that great. The street food is mostly just sweets and candy and the shopping is mostly just cheap touristy stuff. Check it out since you have to walk through it to get to Senso-ji but I wouldn’t plan on spending much time there. If I were you I would go to Senso-ji early then leave and hop on the train to Tsukiji and spend the rest of the morning eating there.

12. Busy schedule. May i suggest prebuying tickets to the TeamLab planets online to guarantee your time. Slots get sold out quickly

13. There’s a lot to do in Tokyo after 6, a lot of the sights still look good at night so you could extend your day there in a way. Or ditch the Mario kart to get more time

14. Op and her husband probably don’t give a shit about the Mario kart comments on this post and will probably still be assholes and do it

15. I’d overplan in case anything is closed. Have backups because things close at seemingly undisclosed times and for reasons that require patience, which doesn’t jive with a 3 day adventure.

    Have back up plans in case something falls through. No problem to have a back up for your back up too.