Tokyo Travel Guide & Tips For Your First Trip
If you’re a dreamer like me and have major wanderlust, there’s a good chance that Tokyo is on your travel bucket list — and for good reason. This city of more than 9 million is full of delicious food, unique entertainment, and historic sites.
I’m still reminiscing (and drooling) over the ramen, tbh.
Traveling to Tokyo (or just dreaming of it)? Check out my Tokyo travel tips below for recommendations for restaurants, entertainment, and activities!
My boyfriend, Lee, and I spent a total of five full days in Tokyo — three at the beginning and two at the end (we went to Seoul in between — I will write a separate blog post for that!).
From sushi spots and scotch bars to quirky boutiques and cafes, here is my Tokyo Travel Guide:
Tokyo Travel Recommendations
1. Neighborhoods & Activities
For only having been in Tokyo for five days, I felt like we got to explore a lot of different ‘hoods, each having its own unique charm. These are by no means the only areas to visit — Tokyo is huge — but these were some of my favorites.
Shinjuku
Shinjuku is where the action is. Whether you’re looking for shopping, nightlife, or just pure entertainment, this is the place to be in Tokyo.
We stayed in Shinjuku both legs of the trip, and naturally, spent more time here in general.
The first half of the trip, we stayed at Hotel Gracery Shinjuku (which honestly, I wouldn’t highly recommend). The hotel was centrally located and had a cool Godzilla statue on top, but the room was so small you could barely fit two people in it at the same time. Note: a lot of Tokyo hotel rooms are smaller than your standard size, but this seemed quite extreme.
The second half of the trip, we stayed at an AirBnB slightly north of the central part of town. While it definitely sufficed and offered more space, let’s just say it wasn’t the best AirBnB experience I’ve ever had. There was no hot water so we took cold showers, and the lack of natural light gave it a slightly depressing vibe.
The takeaway here is: we did not master the accommodations in Tokyo. So if anyone knows of great places to stay, definitely drop a comment below!
Robot Restaurant
When we reached out to friends who had been to Tokyo, Robot Restaurant was unanimously recommended.
Given the name, this might sound misleading, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for food. It’s more of a “drink beer and munch on popcorn while you watch Robots and singers do sweet stuff” sort of vibe. It’s almost like a mini Medieval Times, robot-style.
Bar Livet
One weekday evening after dinner, we were looking to grab a drink, but wanted to avoid the smoky pubs. I found a scotch bar on Google Maps and knew it would at least be remotely successful since Lee loves GlenLivet.
This honestly ended up being one of our favorite places!
This 7- or 8-seat bar was tucked on the 4th floor of a building on a Shinjuku side street. We took the elevator up and walked out to a narrow, candlelit bar, surrounded by rustic decorations — many of which were GlenLivet-themed. The quiet instrumental music gave it a classy, yet rustic ambiance that made it feel super cozy and unique.
After the server poured his recommended scotch for Lee (a Moscow mule for me), he told us about the whiskey shortage in Japan caused by a recent explosion in the spirit’s demand.
A bonus? He gave us each a delicious chocolate to munch on between sips!
Ueno
Located northeast of Shinjuku, Ueno is known for having quality food at an affordable price.
This is where we did our food tour on our first full day in town.
Side note: Something Lee and I make a point to do on trips is a food tour early on. We did an amazing bike / food tour in Rome, and ever since, we’ve looked for other similar options on AirBnB Experiences.
Our tour guide, Aki, took us around to five different restaurants. We had sashimi, pork, ramen, and sake — lots of sake! Between shots of sake and bites of sashimi, Aki educated us on Japanese culture and food.
Tokyo Bay
Our last night in Tokyo, we did a dinner cruise on Tokyo Bay. It was a great way to see the city all lit up at night, and actually ended up being the best sushi we had all trip.
We sat at the ship’s sushi bar and enjoyed an amazing 7-course meal alongside a German couple we met aboard. P.S. this is one thing I absolutely love about traveling — something about being in a new environment on vacation makes people so much friendlier and more vulnerable. The people we’ve met on our trips, both domestic and abroad, have been amazing!
Harajuku
Harajuku was definitely the most unique among all the neighborhoods we visited. The most famous street, Takeshita Dori, is dotted with animal cafes, costume shops, and my favorite - animal ice cream cones!
We went to Harajuku on one of our last days in Japan. At this time, I realized I hadn’t bought any souvenirs. I’m not a huge souvenir person in general — I prefer experiences — but I knew I wanted to take home a little something having come all the way out there. I found a cute little boutique on a side street and snagged a little sumo guy because I thought he was so cute in his little pink undies. How old am I again?
2. Restaurants
Konjiki Hotogisu
By far, my favorite place we ate in Japan was Konjiki Hototogisu. This Michelin-star ramen joint was hidden on a side street near Shinjuku Gyoenmae station and served up THE most delicious bowl of ramen I’ve ever tasted.
While there’s normally a one-hour plus line to get in (there are less than a dozen seats in the restaurant), we barely had to wait in line when we went on a Wednesday afternoon for lunch. Once we were in the door, we entered our ramen selection in this little machine, took a ticket, and waited for about 10 minutes to be seated.
Once we were seated at the bar, we slurped down the ramen efficiently (as instructed), and went on our merry way — but we haven’t stopped talking about it since!
Himawara
If you’re looking for authentic kaiten (“conveyor belt sushi”), Himawara is a great option in Shinjuku. Guests are seated around the sushi bar, and can order custom plates and/or grab whatever dishes spark their fancy on the conveyor belt. We liked this option because it didn’t seem as “touristy” as some of the others.
P.S. You’ll be charged by the plate. It is not all-you-can-eat like we had originally thought (lol).
Nabezo Shinjuku
Our first night in Tokyo, we wanted to find a place where we could make a reservation so we wouldn’t have to think about food too hard after the 13.5-hour flight.
Lee found an amazing hot pot place called Nabezo Shinjuku. It was perfect for the first night because they prep the food for you initially, then leave you to a delicious array of meats and veggies to cook for yourself once you have the hang of it.
You can grab extras at the counter like glass noodles and mushrooms to make it your own. Plus, this one is all-you-can-eat!
Ginza West
You guys — if you are a pancake fan, you NEED to go to Ginza West. We went to Ginza only for this (we wanted to explore the other areas of the neighborhood, but didn’t have time).
This place is famous for their giant, fluffy pancakes, and they are truly the best pancakes I’ve had in my life. By giant, I mean that they are literally the size of a dinner plate! As a huge pancake fan, Lee was in all his glory.
3. Packing & Transportation
I was determined to pack everything in a carry-on for this trip, which is surprisingly easy when it’s 75 and beautiful every day. We got extremely lucky with the weather on our trip, considering we went right in between two powerful typhoons (we went in mid-September).
My advice? Pack light. Bring comfortable pieces that you can mix and match. If you don’t want to stick out too much, pack on the conservative side (a blond-haired, green-eyed girl in a hot pink jumper sticks out like a sore thumb - trust me!)
I packed a combination of maxi skirts and neutral-colored tops that I could mix and match, a few jumpers, two pairs of jeans, two workout leggings, a couple tops, a jean jacket, and a raincoat.
Very important: Bring comfortable walking shoes! I somehow was able to comfortably walk around in two pairs of sandals the entire trip, and we walked more than 60 miles.
Lastly, make sure you always have a compact umbrella and shrinkable water bottle on hand. I was able to fit both in my little Kate Spade backpack, and although I didn’t need the umbrella, the water bottle was clutch.
Transportation
Take Public Transportation. YOU WILL SAVE SO MUCH MONEY. I am grateful to have a travel partner who is willing and able to figure out the public transit system in any city. We took a combination of the subway and JR Line the entire trip, and honestly, it was pretty seamless and pretty cheap. Cabs are expensive AF in Tokyo.
Visit Japan if You Can!
The Japanese locals were some of the most polite, kind humans I have ever met. While some did do a double take as I hopped on the Subway car in my pink jumper (remember what I said about what to pack?), no one ever made me feel weird or inferior.
I feel grateful to have spent five days in this beautiful country and can’t wait to go back some day. Feel free to drop any recommendations or questions in the comments below!
