Tips to Help You Have the Best Trip to Tokyo!
- traveleidoscope
- Apr 13
- 4 min read
Heading to Tokyo? Is trip planning overwhelming you? Here are tips to help you have the best Tokyo experience!
Airports
Tokyo has two international airports - Narita and Haneda. While it can take over an hour to get from Narita to Tokyo on public transportation, it takes as little as half an hour by train from Haneda to Tokyo. The time and cost savings make Haneda the more attractive airport. In addition, most domestic connecting flights leave from Haneda. So if you’re arriving into Tokyo and connecting domestically, fly into/out of Haneda. Otherwise, you’ll likely have to change airports, which is zero fun.
What I did: I flew into/out of Haneda. It was very convenient to make the connection to Sapporo and also for getting into Tokyo when we returned from Sapporo.
Hotels
Be strategic when selecting your hotel. What level of accommodation do you want? Do you want a western hotel or a Japanese ryokan? A ryokan is a traditional Japanese accommodation that typically has tatami mats and communal baths. Do you want to be centrally located in Shinjuku or Shibuya? If so, be prepared for unprecedented chaos. Will you be taking day trips from Tokyo on tours or on public transportation? Thnk about staying near a train station. I usually think of staying near a train station as unsafe, but in Tokyo, it’s actually quite safe and convenient.
What I did: I picked the Prince Sakura Tower Hotel, Autograph Collection for several reasons. First, because the Prince Sakura is affiliated with Marriott, so I would earn Marriott points and benefit from my status with Marriott. Second, I chose this hotel because it’s a short walk to Shinagawa station, which is a travel hub in Tokyo. Shinagawa offers easy and frequent service between Haneda to Tokyo on the Yamanote and Keikyu lines. In addition, many of the Shinkansen (bullet trains) stop at Shinagawa.
Sightseeing
Tokyo is so big and spread out, that it’s almost impossible to see everything in one trip. So when planning, ask yourself, “if I never get back to Tokyo, I’ll regret that I didn’t do/see X.” Then think - do you want to do tours, a private tour, or are you comfortable navigating Tokyo on your own?
What I did: I made a list of must-sees, nice-to-sees, and skips. While we did a lot of sightseeing on own, we strategically selected a group day tour of Tokyo that covered a lot of places. For example, I’m glad we took the tour that gave us skip-the-line access to Tokyo Skytree. Was the tour perfect? No, but it served our purposes. You could also consider a private tour.
On our own we did the Tokyo National Museum. We bought tickets online, showed our QR codes at the entrance, and walked right in.
Side trips
Are you taking a tour outside of Tokyo? Make sure to find out if there are places to eat or come prepared with your own snacks. Train stations are great places to load up on snacks.
If you’re going on your own, what’s the transportation situation? Are there frequent daily trains to/from that day trip or is there only one train a day round trip?
What I did: I did two side trips –one, a tour of Mt. Fuji and Hakone, the other on my on to Kamakura.
The tour to Mt. Fuji was a disaster. The weather was horrible and visibility was non-existent, so we were unable to see Mt. Fuji. I get it, you can’t control the weather, but it was effectively a day long bus ride to nowhere. In addition, when we reserved our tour on Viator (I had a discount on a credit card), the booking wouldn’t allow me to book the lunch option. Once on the tour, we learned that we would stop for lunch where there was no other food option. It was effectively a rest stop in the middle of a national park that offered a buffet lunch. We ended up shelling out an additional $40 to eat. The food was really low quality and to be honest, gross.
On our own, we traveled to Kamakura. Kamakura is about an hour train ride from Tokyo and it’s known for a giant Buddha. We used our transportation card to take an early train, visited the giant Buddha, walked around the cute little beach town, then returned to Tokyo in the afternoon to visit more tourist attractions.
Unscheduled Time
Make sure to build in unscheduled time. You don’t want to be out the door super early every day and return late every evening. You’ll just end up exhausted.
What I did: Yeah, well, I didn’t follow my own advice, so learn from my mistake.
Resources
Don’t rely on just one resource. Here's my post on the stuff I wish I'd known before going to Japan. And while blogs are great, the writer might not have the same interests as you. Guidebooks are also helpful, but aren’t always up-to-date. It’s a good idea to talk to someone who’s been to Tokyo, etc., to give you suggestions about how to navigate Tokyo, especially if you don’t speak Japanese.
What I did: I did the above, and also watched YouTube videos on how to get a transportation card (Suica or Pasmo), and how to get from Haneda to Tokyo on the train. It was reaaaaaally helpful. I also learned survival Japanese phrases that were unbelievable benefical like, good morning, good evening, hello, please/thank you, I don’t speak Japanese/Do you speak English?
Here are some of the resources I used:
Visit Japan Web: https://services.digital.go.jp/en/visit-japan-web/
How to get from HANEDA Airport to Tokyo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR-QXN9toHs
50 Traditional Japanese Foods: https://www.byfood.com/blog/travel-tips/japanese-traditional-foods
15 Unwritten Rules You Should Know Before Traveling to Japan
Best Things to Do in Tokyo, Japan: What to See, Eat, and Drink: https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/things-to-do-tokyo-japan
Planning A Trip To Japan? Here’s How To Do It
Fodor’s Japan Guidebook
Local Library for language learning apps and audiobooks on basic Japanese
I hope these tips help you plan the best trip to Tokyo!
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