I (23y F, from US) will be in Tokyo solo for 3 days (2 full, 2 half) this summer on an extended layover from Hong Kong and want to take full advantage of my trip there. Food and immersive experiences (like tea ceremonies, staying in a ryokan) are high on my priority list. I want to hit as much as I can, as I likely will not be able to visit this part of the world again. I want to have a healthy mix of slowing down to explore while also seeing everything I can. I am down for 12-14 hour days and lots of steps. I have a few questions at the bottom, but here is the draft of my itinerary so far:
**Day 1:**
1630 Land at **Narita airport** \- get eSim, Suica card, visit exchange booth
1730 Take Narita Express to Tokyo, commute to hostel (probably Ueno or Ichigaya area)
Explore neighborhood, get a conbini dinner
**Day 2:**
0700 **Yasakuni Shrine**
Commute to Shibuya
0900 **Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park**
1100 **Shibuya Crossing**
Lunch – find sushi or ramen
Afternoon – **Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building**, Shinjuku
1800 **Shinjuku** evening bar hopping tour (3 hours)
2200 Commute to hostel
**Day 3:**
0630 **Senso-ji Temple**
1100 **Asakusa** area tour (3 hours) – **Kappabashi** street, tea ceremony, asakusa
1400 **Akihabara** \- this doesn’t appeal to me much, so I don’t plan to spend very much time here
Commute to Imperial Palace
**Imperial Palace** \- until close. It’s supposedly open 9-4, but do the grounds stay open longer than that?
Day 4:
0730 **Tsukiji Fish Market** \- leave luggage in locker at metro station
0930 Get in line for TeamLabs Planets
1100-1200 **TeamLabs Planets**
1245 Leave for HND airport – flight leaves at 1600
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**I still need to decide/figure out:**
\- Is it worth doing an all-day-hit-everything tour with a local ([like this one](https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/768362?c=.pi0.pk12763241999_120661082613&gclid=Cj0KCQjw27mhBhC9ARIsAIFsETHdIHm5h2P9VKNs-py6ySX4lqHZsh2jsJ-okIxpe5LqwZmBiUgiTvwaAmHiEALw_wcB&startDate=2023-06-28&adults=1)) on the first day and then spend the next day and a half taking more time to explore the places I loved?
\- Will I need to get a JR pass in addition to a Suica card? Is the Klook 72-hour metro pass a better option or does that limit the lines I can take?
\- Still unsure of the best place to stay. I want to experience a Ryokan stay and a capsule or hostel, so I was thinking of staying at a ryokan the first night in the Ueno or Asakusa area, then moving to a hostel closer to Shibuya or Isigaya for the 2nd and 3rd night. Still unsure here and would taky any advice or suggestions.
\- Am I packing in too much?
\- How early should I get to HND airport before a 1600 flight?
Thank you so much for your help, suggestions, and advice!!
2 comments
Hi!
None of this is meant to be rude.
Lines at Narita can take a long time. I think 1 hour for Customs, Immigration, getting your SIM card, and an IC card is optimistic, unless you are in some sort of paid program like Global Entry and have gone through the procedure for trusted traveler or have a Japanese passport or something else that will keep you out of the regular Immigration lines.
What exactly are your goals and desire for a ryokan experience? There are traditional style lodgings in Tokyo, but I say this now, there are ryokans and there are ryokans.
My first few trips to Japan back a million years ago, I stayed at the Kimi Ryokan in Ikebukuro. It has a shared showers/toilets, a public bath, tatami mats, and futons on the floor. Is it really a traditional ryokan? Not really, but it was super cheap at the time and 4200 yen a night for 1 person.
If that is what you want in a ryokan, you can probably find that in Ueno or Asakusa as well.
If your goal is you want someplace with the multi-course meal served in your room, the impeccable service that makes you feel like an honored guest, and just everything, you will probably want to leave Tokyo, since Tokyo doesn’t have many very traditional ryokan anymore.
I would think Hakone is probably the most accessible and least difficult to visit.
You do not need a rail pass. A rail pass is designed for lots of shinkansen travel over a short period a time. A good example would be if you were doing a day trip to Kanazawa and a day trip to Sendai. A rail pass would be a huge money saver then.
For the 72 subway pass, it really varies by how much you plan to travel around and whether you just want to stick to subways only. It won’t be valid on JR which can be the fastest way to get between two locations.
I usually just stick to a Suica/Pasmo so that I can use whatever method I prefer to travel around.
Also please see here regarding the Tsukuji Market so you know if you are trying to go to the outer market or the Toyosu Market.
[https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3021.html](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3021.html)
Assuming you buy your tickets in advance for TeamLab, you only need to show up within 15 minutes of your time for entry. There is no reason if you have tickets for 11 to show up at 9:30
You should plan to get to Haneda at least 2 hours before your flight if you are flying Internationally.
Some experiences we had on our recent trip:
-Ichiran ramen is worth the wait.
-check out golden gai at night.
-foreign cards may not work. Have some cash on you.
-we spent 1,5 hours at teamlabs, but 1 hour should be enough. It was cool overall, but are you sure you want to spend your precious time here? It’s a pretty long way off the popular areas.
– andaz rooftop bar was a fantastic place to enjoy the greatest view I’ve had of tokyo with a top notch cocktail.
– have your passport at all times, it’s the law
– Google lens/translate is a much appreciated piece of magic that japanese also use a lot.
– JR pass is only for those who are going on a lot of train trips outside tokyo, I think. IC card was all we needed. We took a taxi a few times when it got late. It was a good experience.
– if you want to book very specific restaurants, do it early. We wanted to try the ninja one, and it was like 3 weeks wait. But a few days would be smart, I think.