Hey folks,
So I am transiting through Japan and I have about 12 hours to kill in the city (9 PM TO 6 AM) on the 17th of April. I have my own itinerary (written below) but, I would immensely appreciate it if you could recommend things I must absolutely eat/ try/ visit or buy while I am there overnight.
My budget is 10,000 YEN and I am an absolute sucker for Japanese food and gimmicky items.
This is my itinerary:-
* Take the Narita Express or Keikyu Line to Tokyo Station
* Visit the Tokyo Skytree
* Walk around Shibuya Crossing
* Visit Naritasan Shinshoji Temple
* Visit the Tsukiji Outer Market (grab something to eat here)
* Visit the Narita View Hotel for their onsen (hot spring) experience
* Stroll around and take in all I can.
Any improvements/ suggestions to this itinerary would be greatly helpful!
23 comments
If you are out of the airport at 9 PM and have to be back by 6 AM, I would recommend just getting a hotel nearby.
That doesn’t seem at all doable, as those places are in totally different parts of the city and you are ignoring opening hours for some of them. Just get a hotel at the airport, or change your flights so you can stay for few days.
I’d going to recommend doing a bit more research, as nearly all of the sites you have listed on your itinerary won’t even be open during this timeframe.
Many of those are closed overnight. Some trains are also not running.
You have $75-100 to spend on all this? That won’t cover much.
Not possible with that time frame. For gimmicky items you can see if a 24 hour Don Quijote is nearby
Not with 10k yen you’re not. You’ll spend more on that in just transportation to all those sites since the trains don’t run all night. I don’t think you’ve put a lot of consideration in how much can go wrong in that small of time frame especially with zero wiggle room given you are on a flight. I would strongly recommend you just get a hotel room near the airport. You would be better off spending that money on souvenirs at the airport.
Funny enough, given your budget and your timing, the title of your post is pretty fitting. The only thing you’ll probably be able to check out that has some novelty value is a 9 Hours capsule hotel. lol…
Just came back from Tokyo, sorry not gonna happen. Not to mention train stop working at midnight and then all you’re left with is extremely expensive Taxis. Up your budget to about 50k yen and you might have a chance.
It’s a 90 minute train each way. NEX is $30 each way. Just stay at the airport terminal hotel instead of burning yourself out. Most restaurants and things to do close by 8-9 in japan. Trains stop running at midnight. It’ll be literal torture to do your itinerary.
I honestly don’t think the Skytree is worth it, it’s nice to see, sure but it’s really just a lit up cell tower. Shibuya crossing is really cool, as well as the temple but at that time, maybe visit the golden gai for some beers and socials
Its not going to be what you expect. Transport, shopping & entertainment are not a thing after about midnight in Tokyo. Counters at the airport will be mostly closed & many food places wont open until after 10am. Id recommend coins for vending machines & trying a capsule hotel at or near the airport… shame about the timing.
Your itinerary XD do you mean to try one of those things you listed or all of the things you listed during your 12h transit?
Have a nice meal at the airport
The train stops running around midnight and doesn’t start again until around 5am. That means to get around you’ll either have to walk or take a taxi, and taxis in japan are very expensive. This list doesn’t seem at all doable.
The train stops running around midnight and doesn’t start again until around 5am. That means to get around you’ll either have to walk or take a taxi, and taxis in japan are very expensive. This list doesn’t seem at all doable.
Tokyo is not a 24 hour city. You can find a few chain restaurants open and convenience stores but that’s about it. You could manage to casually wander around a random neighborhood like shibuya at those hours if you had accommodations, money, time, weren’t having to transit anywhere. You have none of those. Trains shut down, stores close and cabs are expensive. Transportation alone would kill your budget anyways.
Go relax at a the airport hotel. You’ll be fine, Japan isn’t even your destination.
Others have pointed out how unrealistic your plan is. I’d just add that entry into Japan can take up to five hours these days due to the influx of foreign tourists and shortage of staff. You should first check with the airport staff to see if it’s better to just sleep in the airport to avoid the hassle.
None of this makes sense. Obviously the Shibuya crossing won’t be closed, but everything else will be. And you will spend 10K yen on the train and food alone.
Please be aware of closing times of various attractions, as well as the trains not running at night.
You’ll have to get through immigration, and then go from Narita into the city. Let’s be very optimistic and say you’re able to get on a train at 21:30, you’ll be at skytree at around 22:30 earliest, and it closes at 21:00. So while you can see it from outside, you can’t enter. And the last train is at 23:00
I would advise you to Stay in the area near Narita.
As others have said, this isn’t a plausible itinerary given the trains. A cheap non-hotel option with strong Japanese culture vibes might be overnight karaoke.
If you were transiting through Haneda then maybe, just maybe, you could tick a couple of those boxes.
But nah mate, your timing, airport, and budget suck. Come back another day and do a proper trip that won’t have you on such an insane timeline.
Sorry to say but the only way you’re going to get to walk around Tokyo and get back before 6am is to up your budget by about 60-70k. I live in Chiba and have taken a cab from Narita one way and that was 26000. I would imagine Tokyo-NRT would fall into 40000 range. You can take skyliner, sky access, or even local for anywhere between 1100-3000 into Tokyo but you’re not getting back to the airport on a train or even limousine bus.
You can take those strolls you want and you’ll likely find something to eat at a chain restaurant. You’re not going to find anything at the temple nor skytree as they will be closed but feel free to walk around until a security guard asks you to leave the premises. Give up on an onsen experience and settle for a sento/public bathhouse. Same for the hotel itself; stay at Dandy in Ueno so you can knock out a capsule hotel and bathhouse experience in one go.
New Tsukiji isn’t worth it. At all. Even if the cards were right for you with time and money, it’s not worth the effort. Shibuya will be fun though. Lots of highball chronicle bullshit with drunk salaryman and kids. You’ll likely have a plethora of bars and eateries to frequent if that’s your thing. Hell, you might as well just stay the whole night in Shibuya or Shinjuku with your timeframe. Just don’t end up in a Koban or in a hostess club.
Realistically speaking, and all my sarcasm aside, just take a comfortable seat at the airport or book an airport hotel stay. You’re not going anywhere or even seeing Tokyo outside of brochures. 10000 is hardly enough to enjoy anything outside of getting a bite and possibly doing a bit of gift shopping.. at the airport. Sorry to say it like that but I don’t want you to carry heavy expectations with such strict constraints.
Edit:
If you’re coming into HND, you might have a bit of a shot assuming you need to just be back at the airport by 6am and not leaving at 6am. You’ll still end up dropping around 2000 on trains to and from HND but everything else I’ve said above is true. It’ll be incredibly difficult to get around after midnight tho so I would highly recommend you choose one area and stick to it.
The airport has an onsen. Not sure on the hours but that might be your best bet.