Tokyo for 4days

acceptable80s

Hey everyone,

heading to Tokyo for 4days this summer and was wondering whats the best things to do/see?! Also help with accommodation would be greatly appreciated, no idea where to stay!!

Thanks

hibby

If you are travelling on a budget and decide to stay in the international youth hostel in Shinju-ku, there's a guy there who gives a good guided tour of the area in English, free (including the fish market). I know because I saw it on TV!

cocoshovel

What are you interested in? Tokyo has a lot to offer, old and new!

Personally I loved seeing Shrines and Temples, so I'd recommend going to see Asakusa Shrine and the nice shopping street leading up to it.
While you're in the Asakusa area you can also take a stroll across the river towards Tokyo Sky Tree (second tallest building in the world so you cant miss it, about a 15-20 minute walk). Im not sure if you can go up it yet though as it only opened in May.
Just at the red bridge in Asakusa you can take boat tours which go down the Sumida river to various places including Odaiba iirc.

For the best views of the city I recommend Roppongi Hills Mori tower(best at night). A short walk from Roppongi subway station.
A more easier option is Tokyo Tower which is close to Hamamatsucho station.

In terms of parks, I quite enjoyed yoyogi park (harajuku station) for a long walk and nice gardens. Head right when you go over the railway bridge and under a huge torii gate for a nice long walk. Head left for a smaller section of the park which is a popular hang out spot for youths and gets quite crowded.
Ueno park was nice too but small enough if you dont include the zoo.

Shibuya is a large shopping district and has the symbolic Shibuya Crossing, which I think is one of the busiest pedestrian crossings in the world. A bit like Times Square I guess.

Ueno is also a good shopping area and I preferred it to shibuya. Follow the shopping street that runs below the train line to Akihabara (10-15 min walk or take the train). If you're interested in Electronics, Computers, Video Games or Anime then Akihabara is the place to be, especially on Sunday



Personally, I preferred the older area's of Tokyo. Asakusa, Tokyo, Ueno etc were my favorite places. (basically the east side of the Yamanote Line)
I wasnt too fond of Shibuya and Harajuku areas (west yamanote line) Found them to be a bit tacky tbh.
The Yamanote line is a Japanese Rail train line that runs around the city in a circle, and will give you access to almost everywhere you need to go, or at least their connecting lines.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/TokyoYamanoteAreaLines.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Yamanote_Line_Diagram.svg

Trains can be a bit confusing at first so if you need any more info, shoot.

I dont know much about accomadation as I stayed in a very cheap old capsule hostel in Asakusa. Probably only good if you're travelling solo. A bit unclean.

I also stayed in Khaosan hostel in Akihabara. Wouldnt recommend it either, too far from actual Akihabara or any good train line and wasnt very comfortable. However, other Khaosan hostels might be a lot better as their one in Kyoto is superb!

Ah, one final note: I personally didnt think that Tsukiji fish auction was worth getting up at 4am for, but the market itself is interesting enough but its only really a fish market at the end of the day. Sushi restaraunts will charge through the roof around it too so shop around if you are eating it.

Batgurl

Visit the Onsen...that's a culture shock.

The biggest one in Tokyo is the Oedo Onsen. Monorail drops you almost on the door. Its pretty cheap and you could spend hours there as its almost like an amusement park.

You can get a massage, food, beer, chillax and then obviously bathe completely naked!!!

I LOVED it...even if I was the only westerner there!

JapanZone

It's probably too late for the OP, but there are plenty of online guides to give you some ideas. Here's my own:

http://www.japan-zone.com/omnibus/tokyo.shtml