Hello! We’ll be in Japan for just under two weeks coming up in September, and have decided to spend 5 days in Tokyo. We have the other parts of the trip ironed out, but since Tokyo is so massive I wanted to make sure we weren’t planning our days poorly. It currently breaks down like this:
DAY 1:
Tokyo Station/Chiyoda City (Afternoon)
– Check in to hotel around lunch near Tokyo station.
– Lunch at Tokyo Ramen Street
– Imperial Palace/Gardens
– Edo Castle Ruins
– Yasakuni Shrine
Ginza (Night)
– Dinner (open to suggestions!)
DAY 2:
Shibuya (Morning)
– Breakfast at a fluffy pancake shop
– Shibuya Crossing/Shibuya Sky
– Shops (Don Quijote, Loft, Parco)
– Lunch (open to suggestions!)
Harajaku (Afternoon)
– Takeshita Street
– Harry Harajuku
– Meiji Shrine/Yoyogi Park
– Shinjuku Gyoen Garden (if time)
Shinjuku (Night)
– Izekaya/Golden Gai Food/Drink Tours
– Just walk around and take in sights
DAY 3:
Taito City/Ueno (Morning)
– Museums (some combo of Tokyo National Museum, Museum of Nature and Science, Shitamachi Museum, Ueno Royal Museum)
– Ueno Park
– Ueno Zoo (extra option)
– Yanaka Ginza Shopping Street
– Ameya Yokocho Arcade
Asakusa (Afternoon/Night)
– Kanimarion Gate
– Nakamise-Dori Street
– Sensoji Temple
– Asakusa Shrine
– Nishi Sando Shopping Street
– Kappabashi
– Cooking Class/dinner
– Tokyo Skytree
DAY 4:
Koto City(?) (Morning/Early Afternoon)
– Tsukiji Fish Market Tour + Lunch
– Teamlab Planets
Ryogoku(?) (Afternoon)
– Sumo Wrestling Tournament
Ginza (Evening/Night)
– Ginza High Street (if time allots)
– Ginza Six (if time allots)
– Dinner
DAY 5:
Akihabara (All Day)
– Nakano Broadway
– Super Potato
– Animate
– Tokyo Leisure Land
– Yodobashi Camera
– Mandarake
– Pokémon Cafe
DAY 6:
– Our flight is at 5pm so we were going to spend the morning at the Ghibli Museum.
Any insight, tips, recommendations are much appreciated. Thank you in advance!!
4 comments
Every day exept Day 5 is super packed. It’s not impossible, but you’d be rushing from one place to another with a LOT of walking.
Nakano Broadway is in Nakano, not in Akihabara.
Overall not bad but I think too much every day, if you use it as a list of options, it’s fine, make priority and drop things, you win’t have time do do everything and enjoy doing it.
Day 1: Given that you have only half a day here this itinerary seems fine. Waiting for ramen at Tokyo ramen street can take quite a while during lunch time. I believe I waited like 40 minutes there last march so take this into account. If you’re interested in trains I recommend heading out to the Kitte building which is right next to the central station building. Kitte is a luxury shopping mall but it has a free observation deck on the sixth floor that looks out over the tracks and platforms. You can see both regular trains and shinkansen passing by.
Day 2: This day looks pretty packed. If would probably switch up the order a bit and omit a few things. Start in Harajuku, visit Meiji shrine early to avoid the crowds. You can probably (but don’t pin me down on this) find a fluffy pancake shop in Harajuku as well. Yoyogi park is not that interesting imo, it’s just a really big park. Head to Shibuya for lunch. See the crossing, the shops, head to Shibuya Sky late afternoon (sunset?). I would probably leave it at that but if you’re ambitious you could head to Shinjuku after dinner. I think you would be better off taking Shinjuku out of this day and have more time in Shibuya. Shinjuku Garden is nice but doesn’t really fit in this itinerary.
Day 3: Same story here, the basic idea is good, but a bit too many sights in one day. If you’re set on doing 1 or 2 museums, then you would be better off choosing between Ameyoko, Yanaka Ginza or Ueno Zoo. Yanaka Ginza is only a 20 minute walk from Ueno park, so doable and probably the most enjoyable from these three. But since you will be heading to Asakusa later you will experience another old town area as well. Ueno Zoo was not very good imo.
The plan in Asakusa is also a lot. Kappabashi is on the other side of Asakusa station so requires some extra walking. A cooking class seems unrealistic with all the other things already on the list. Sky Tree is also a pretty big attraction that usually takes several hours to visit. There is a big shopping center at the base, the waiting lines, the train ride there. I recommend skipping it since you will be doing Shibuya Sky the day before anyway.
Day 4: This day seems doable but I would probably move the order a bit. Go to Teamlab in the morning first. Head back to Tsukiji and eat lunch. Move on to Ryogoku for the sumo tournament. If you want to see the biggest stars you should at least be there from 15.00. The matches finish at 17.00. From there you can spend the night around Ginza. It’s busy day but doable if you plan it right.
Day 5: Nakano Broadway is not in Akihabara, but in Nakano (nearby Shinjuku). I’m assuming you’re into anime and video games if you dedicate a whole day to Akihabara. If yes, then by all means carry on. There is enough to to here for a whole day. If you’re just casually interested half a day is enough in Akihabara. You could spend the latter half in another neighborhood, like Shinjuku, Ikebukuro or Yanaka Ginza. You could also consider moving the Sumo tournament to this day since Ryogoku is easy to reach from Akihabara by Chuo Line.
Day 6: I have never been to Ghibli Museum but from what I hear it requires some planning in advance to be able to visit, so read up on that.
Alll in all your itinerary makes sense, but some days are a bit too full with activities, so kill some darlings here and there. Keep in mind that Tokyo is bigger than you can imagine. Walking and travelling by train/metro is going to take up more time than you wish. You’re going to get lost now and then and don’t forget the waiting lines for many restaurants and attractions. Good luck on your further preparations!
Day 3 could easily take two days, maybe even three. Kappabashi alone takes hours to see all of the shops.