Husband and I are traveling to Japan on Saturday (10/7) and returning Monday (10/16). I’m looking for recommendations for tours in Tokyo & Kyoto. We’re in Tokyo from 10/8 – 10/11, then Kyoto for 10/11-10/13, then back to Tokyo for 10/13-10/16. We know what we want to see, but we’re thinking some of it might not be things we’re truly interested in once we get there. We planned to do an “all-city” tour that stops at some of the major attractions and see if were interested in visiting that place again. For example, I’m not sure we’ll really want to spend a lot of time at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, but maybe we will. Are there any “all city” one-day tours that you’d recommend? Or other strategies you’d recommend?
In Tokyo we want to see the following:
Sensoji Temple
Mori Art Museum
Imperial Palace
Tsukiji Outer Market
Shibuya Crossing (though our hotel is right by the crossing, so we’ll see it daily)
Shinjuku Golden Gai bar district
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
Tokyo Skytree
Harajuku District
Tokyo National Museum
Meiji Shrine
Ginza shopping district
One last question – we’re going to Kyoto on 10/11 and back to Tokyo on 10/13. We can book single train tickets from Tokyo to Kyoto and then back without having the JR rail pass, right? Is it best to book the tickets online ahead of time, or would it be easiest to just go to the station and buy the ticket that morning?
Thanks!
5 comments
I am not a tour person, but Japan has an extensive network of volunteer tour guides. https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/list-of-volunteer-guides/
You can book tickets at any Shinkansen station using a ticket vending machine. You can book ahead or day-of. It’s not like flights that sell out, there is loads of capacity and several trains per hour. I think if you need assistance the JR office is open to you whether you have the pass or not.
I do not really see the advantage of a tour.
You can easily make your own itinerary and just move things around if you see that something is more or less interesting than you were expected.
And for the time you have in Japan, it seems to be a waste to use a day to rush thru many neighborhoods/attractions just to decide where you will return and spend more time.
Yes, you can book train tickets without JR pass. Considering the old price is no longer available, it would be a waste of money to get the JR Pass unless you have much more than a round trip Tokyo-Kyoto. You can book ticket online on Smart EX, or just wait to be in Japan to buy the ticket. If you buy it online, you can just use a QR code to ride the train, so it might be slightly easier, but some people reported the side did not accept their card, so in that case buying in person is also not difficult.
We enjoyed this tour booked through viator:
https://www.viator.com/tours/Tokyo/Tokyo-Full-day-Private-Custom-Tour-with-National-Licensed-Guide/d334-92136P34
It’s a private tour so you get to personalize it to see whichever sites you want! We found it to be very nice to be guided around by a local so we didn’t have to figure out which trains to take and how to walk to each location. Plus the guide gave as nice info about each spot and took photos for us along the way.
Also, you can buy train tickets in Japan day of travel but you will likely have to wait in line to buy from a person at the station because the machines don’t accept foreign cards.
My wife and i, and our 3 boys (22, 19,18) went to Tokyo in May 2023 and did most of these places ourselves. We just used the Suica card and that got us on the trains and busses, so we saw everything on our own schedule. We did do 2 bar and restaurant tours in Shibuya, to the golden gai, and close to the Shibuya crossing. We used Magical Trip for both, and it was awesome. Would never have been able to see all these places on our own, as they reserve the spaces for the tour (its VERY crowded in these spots in downtown Shibuya and golden gai at night.) Super fun, even ended the bar tour at a karaoke bar. So fun, highly recommend. Our first guide was awesome, super fun. 2nd one was good, but not even close to the first one.
https://www.magical-trip.com/product/e97da2a4-a99c-4ec8-b2c2-e5e9ae25a8f6