5 min read Japan

Tokyo Travel Guide

Tokyo Travel Guide
Sensō-ji, Taitō-ku, Japan

I love food, fun, and adventure. Below is your go-to guide to enjoy all of Tokyo. Whether you are visiting for a day, a weekend, or a week, this guide will show you all of the best spots in an easy to digest bullet point format.

Have questions? Email me and I'll help the best I can: travelallseven@outlook.com

One Perfect Day in 7 Bullets:

Best Food

Breakfast

  • Path - For beautifully executed french breakfast: Dutch Pancake, Handmade Granola, Fried Salmon Sandwich, Homemade Croissant, Homemade Scone
  • Daiwa Sushi - Sushi for breakfast?! Yes! You must get up early to visit the Toyosu fish market and you'll be hungry. This place is great for freshest sushi you have ever had.

Coffee

  • Fuglen Tokyo - Excellent laid back coffee: Espresso, Aeropress, Buckwheat Tea, Real Chai, Craft Beers, Hot Cocktails
  • Koffee Mameya - This place is all about the beans. Baristas will help you select beans based on your tastes (fruity, strong, chocolatey). You can also drink your coffee at the bar. Choose from over 20 different kinds of beans.

Lunch

  • Tempu Shibuya - Takoyaki are delicious little fried balls of dough with octopus in the middle: 5 different kinds of Takoyaki, Beer, Ice Cream
  • Mugi to Olive - Soba noodles with counter seating: Chicken Soba, Clam Soba, Special Soba, various toppings
  • Kikanbo - For the best spicy ramen of your life: Pork, Baby Corns, Seasoned Egg, Fried Bean Sprouts

Dinner

  • Seirinkan - Acclaimed Neapolitan-style pies, plus pasta & sides, in a steampunk setting with Beatles tunes: Margherita Pizza, Marinara Pizza, Peperonchino e Pomodoro, Olive Plate, Burrata, Arabiata Pasta, Scampi, Tiramisu

Best Things To Do

  • Toyosu Fish Market - There are two markets for seafood, one for general wholesale and one for bidding. There is also another market for fruits and vegetables. You can observe the large tuna auction market on a second floor viewing deck. There are restaurants with fresh seafood and produce from the market and shops.
  • Senso-ji Temple  - Completed in 645, Senso-ji Temple is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. A shopping street of over 200 meters, called Nakamise, leads from the outer gate to the temple's second gate, the Hozomon.
  • Kakimori - "Sharing the joy of writing in a neighborhood of makers." Visit this charming stationary store and design your own notebook or journal, handmade right in front of you.
  • Meiji Jingu Shrine - Meiji Jingu is one of Japan's most popular shrines. In the first days of the New Year, the shrine regularly welcomes more than three million visitors for the year's first prayers (hatsumode), more than any other shrine or temple in the country.
  • Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku - Bustling multilevel shopping center with international brands & a rooftop terrace with city views. Make sure you take some pics outside, ". . .most mind-bending entrances we've ever seen!"
  • Nezu Museum - This museum houses the private collection of pre-modern Japanese and East Asian art of Nezu Kaichirō.

Best Places to Stay

Shout out to Truly Tokyo for the recs below. Check them out here for more details.

  • Shinjuku - "Shinjuku is the best place to stay in Tokyo, especially the places located on the west side of the station. This is one of the city's biggest transport hubs and it's on the all-important Yamanote Line. There are several huge department stores, huge electronics shops, literally thousands of restaurants, and Tokyo's best bookshop: Kinokuniya. Plus, there are plenty of sights nearby."
  • Tokyo Station And Marunouchi - "Here, you've got the most important train station, including the terminal station of the Tokaido shinkansen line (for easy access to Kyoto etc). And, within easy walking distance you've got all the city's main department stores in Ginza, Nihombashi etc. And, the area is literally awash with restaurants."
  • Shibuya - "It's pretty similar to Shinjuku and the reasons I rate this highly are the same as for Shinjuku: convenient transport connections (including the Yamanote Line), plenty of shops and restaurants, and lots of attractions. It's just slightly less busy than Shinjuku and a bit more youth oriented, in case that matters."
  • Roppongi - "If you rate great dining, great nightlife and plenty of attractions highly, then you should strongly consider staying in Roppongi. This is the sexiest and most cosmopolitan part of the city."

Getting Around

  • Public Transit - Tokyo has a vary fast, easy, clean, and efficient train transit system. You can easily get to all of the major areas of the city like Shinjuku, Shibuya or Roppongi within minutes. We took it all around, from the airport to downtown, public transit is the way to go.
  • Walking - Tokyo is a very flat and walkable city. We walked all over and when we were tired, we jumped on the train.
  • Uber

Thank you for checking out this guide! Please let me know in the comments if this was helpful and what you are looking forward to most about Tokyo!

Ryan Stevens

Ryan Stevens

San Francisco