6 days in Tokyo only (First time visit). Need help improving my Itinerary. Thank you!

7 comments

1. Not knowing your age or interests, the vague recommendations I would make would be to skip Yoyogi Park if you’re going to Ueno Park and Shinjuku Gyouen. The latter is more impressive as a place to walk around, and the latter is more fun. Yoyogi Park is…a park.

   Unless you’re a pop culture fan or a junior high school student, Harajuku doesn’t have much to offer, but it’s only about 1.5 km north of Shibuya. You can easily walk through both in a morning or afternoon.

   If by ‘the Metro Line Loop’ you mean the (surface) Yamanote Line, you won’t get lost, but there are faster trains from Ueno to the west side of Tokyo (Shinjuku/Shibuya/Harajuku). If you mean the Oedo Metro Line, I’d advice trying to avoid that: it’s very deep under ground and takes a long time to get to. It’s also, I gather, has the second loudest interior of any train in the world.

   Finally, Tokyo has so many restaurants that it usually is not worth it to try to go to famous ones you have to wait in line to enter. They’ll be overpriced and not noticeably better than most other restaurants.

2. I would keep my expectations low if you eat at Diver city. Odaiba is the only place in Japan where the restaurants have consistently disappointed me. The mall itself is pretty bland (with the exception of Gundam Base, which is the only reason I visit Odaiba as often as I have). Instead, I recommend taking the Yurikamome to Shimbashi; there are a ton of hidden gems there.

3. Odaiba isn’t worth the trip unless you want to go to the science museum.

   Starbucks Reserve Roastery is kinda overrated, but if you really want to go from Shibuya its only a 20min walk.

   Yoyogi park is cool but might as well go to Meiji Shrine which is right next door and next to Harajuku JR station.

   If you really just want to walk around and enjoy the vibes I recommend walking from Akiba to Jimbocho to Iidabashi and walk up Kagurazaka.

4. For meals best to check out tabelog and see what’s rated well there.

   FYI Japanese people rarely give out 5 stars so the very best places on tabelog are a touch over 4, with the thinking being “if I give 5 stars for this, I’ve got nowhere to go if I find something better”

5. For Starbucks Reserve, might want to consider coming at opening time. Not sure if they implement prior reservation again since Autumn peak season is coming.

6. If you are jet lagged, eat breakfast at tsukiji. Sumida aquarium if you are at skytree.

   There is an impressive seiko flagship store in ginza. Most dept stores should have watch section with all of those. Even donki which i think is typically open 24/7.

   Food is in all direction. Dont stress about needing to be somewhere at a specific time or burn up time on your first trip waiting in queues.

   Wear or change into shorts for teamlab planets.

   Fantastic museums in ueno. Check to see what is being exhibited while you are there. I saw a great monet exhibit.

7. Of all the amazing coffee places in Tokyo I will never understand the draw of Starbucks Reserve. You can buy the special editions at Tsutaya and have better experiential coffee drinks so many other places. In Shibuya there is Counterpart Coffee which is a sister location of Glitch coffee in Ginza.

   After dinner at Skytree, if you’re not too tired and it’s after 8 I recommend going back to Asakusa/Senso-ji. It’s well lit at night and the pictures are better.

   While there is lots to snack on Takeshita street I highly recommend nearby Oreryu Ramen. The 1250y bowl with karaage & pork is very good. You can also think about adding this for dinner. There are many locations.

   Overall you’ve done a good job; better than most that try to cram too much in. You are taking the metro all the way across town two days in a row so consider being flexible and alternating with a different day and taking different lines such as marounochi/oedo depending.