Tokyo Travel Guide - Japan Travel Sights

Almost every trip to Japan starts in Tokyo 東京, and almost every one of them loses a day to the same thing: turning up at somewhere that needed booking, or queuing to buy a ticket that was cheaper online. Tokyo is not a hard city to travel in — the trains are excellent and the signage is good — but it has quietly moved to advance, time-specified entry at many of its headline attractions, and the guidebook habit of wandering until something looks interesting no longer works at the big ones. This guide sorts that out, then lists everything we have written about the city and the day trips around it. Information on this page is current as of October 2026.

Book ahead, or turn up?

This is the single most useful table on this page. Get this right and the rest of Tokyo takes care of itself.

Two further details worth knowing. teamLab Planets lets you change the admission date and time up to three times, but no later than two hours before your slot, and tickets cannot be refunded once bought. And if you are running late there, you can still get in later the same day during opening hours — ask the staff rather than giving up.

Getting there and getting around

Tokyo has two airports. Haneda 羽田空港 (HND) is much closer to the centre and is the better arrival if you have the choice. Narita 成田空港 (NRT) is well out in Chiba 千葉県 and needs a dedicated train — the Narita Express or the Keisei Skyliner — or a highway bus.

Inside the city, get a rechargeable IC card at the airport and stop thinking about tickets. It works on every line regardless of operator, on buses, and in convenience stores. The one thing to understand is that Tokyo’s rail network is run by several different companies — JR, the two subway operators, and the private railways — and a journey that crosses between them costs more than the map suggests.

Do you need a rental car? No, and it would make your trip worse. Parking is scarce and expensive, the expressways are confusing, and the train network reaches everything in this guide, including all five day trips below.

What to see

Views from above

• Tokyo Skytree 東京スカイツリー — a complete guide
• Tokyo Tower 東京タワー — the older icon

If you only do one, the choice is between height and looks: the Skytree is far taller, the Tower is the more photogenic object to see from the city rather than stand on.

Old Tokyo

• Senso-ji 浅草寺 in Asakusa 浅草 — the oldest temple in Tokyo
• The Imperial Palace 皇居 — what you can see and how to join the tour

Modern Tokyo and markets

• teamLab Planets TOKYO — the immersive art museum in Toyosu 豊洲
• Shibuya Scramble Crossing 渋谷スクランブル交差点
• Toyosu Senkyakubanrai 豊洲千客万来 — the market-side complex

teamLab Planets and Toyosu Senkyakubanrai are both in Toyosu, within reach of each other, which makes them a sensible pair for one day — particularly since the teamLab slot fixes your timing anyway.

Day trips from Tokyo

All five of these are reachable by train from central Tokyo and back in a day. They are the usual way to break up a long city stay.

• Kawagoe 川越 — the Edo-period merchant town in Saitama 埼玉県
• The Railway Museum 鉄道博物館 in Omiya 大宮
• Tokyo Disneyland 東京ディズニーランド — how to do it efficiently
• Narita 成田 — a day trip from the airport itself
• Hitachi Seaside Park 国営ひたち海浜公園 in Ibaraki 茨城県 — season by season

Narita deserves a word: if you have a long layover or an early flight, the town near the airport has a substantial temple and an old approach street, and it is a far better use of six hours than sitting in the terminal.

Two more day trips have guides of their own: Hakone for mountains and hot springs, and Mount Fuji for the Fuji Five Lakes. Both are better as an overnight than a day trip, but both can be done in a day if that is all you have.

When to go

• Spring (late March–May). Cherry blossom, then the most pleasant weather of the year. Golden Week at the end of April is a domestic travel peak — book early or avoid.
• Summer (June–September). Hot and humid, with a rainy spell in June. Plan indoor attractions for the middle of the day. Mid-August is the Obon お盆 travel peak.
• Autumn (October–November). Our pick. Comfortable, clear, with autumn colour arriving in late November — later in the city than in the mountains.
• Winter (December–February). Cold but dry and clear, and the quietest of the four. Note that many businesses close from roughly 29 December to 3 January.

Before you go

• Buy attraction tickets online. It is cheaper at the Skytree and compulsory at teamLab Planets.
• Use coin lockers. Every major station has them. Do not haul luggage around Asakusa or Shibuya.
• Carry some cash. Cards are widely accepted, but small restaurants, shrines and markets often are not. Convenience-store ATMs are everywhere and accept foreign cards.
• Avoid the rush hour on the busiest lines, roughly 07:30–09:00, especially with luggage or children.
• Eating while walking is discouraged in the busier streets, including the approach to Senso-ji. Finish it at the stall.

Where to stay

Choose by train line rather than by neighbourhood name: anywhere on the Yamanote 山手線 loop puts most of this guide within half an hour. Our Where to Stay in Japan guide covers how Japanese accommodation types differ, how prices are quoted, and what to confirm before you book — useful here, since Tokyo rooms are small and occupancy rules are strict.

Combine Tokyo with

Tokyo is the start of most itineraries rather than the whole of one. Westwards on the shinkansen, Mount Fuji and Hakone come first, then Kyoto and Nara. Via Nagoya, our Gifu Travel Guide covers Takayama and Shirakawa-go, and Ghibli Park needs booking two months ahead. In winter the snow regions of Nagano are a few hours north — see Ski & Snow in Japan — and for a warm-weather block at either end of a trip, Okinawa. Longer flights or shinkansen legs reach Osaka, Kanazawa, Kyushu and Hokkaido. On the same line west sits Hiroshima.

Last updated: October 2026. Ticket prices, opening hours and booking rules change — please confirm with the venue before you travel.