Itinerary · 6 days · 29 places
6 Days in Tokyo
Six days in Tokyo, neighbourhood by neighbourhood: Asakusa and Ueno for old Edo, Shibuya and Harajuku for the present, Ginza and Tsukiji for craftsmanship and fish, Yanaka and Akihabara for the city's two extremes — and each evening a lane where the lights really are still on.
Open in the appThere you can adjust the plan to your dates, your pace and your interests.
Photo: Rin Gakusho · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Arrival in Shinjuku
Arrival in Tokyo
Hotel check-in
Your base is east of Shinjuku Station, right in the busiest transport hub in the world and within walking distance of all the neighbourhood's lanes and department stores.
Omoide Yokocho
Alleys barely two hands wide lined with soot-blackened post-war yakitori stalls, where six customers at the counter means full.
Day 2Old Edo: Asakusa, Skytree & Ueno
Sensō-ji
Tokyo's oldest temple, with the huge red paper lantern of the Kaminarimon and the incense burner whose smoke worshippers waft over their aching spots.
Nakamise-dōri
The 250-metre row of stalls leading up to the temple, where ningyōyaki, rice crackers and fans have been sold for generations.
Kappabashi Kitchen Street
The street of restaurant suppliers, where you can buy yanagiba knives, cast-iron pans and the deceptively realistic plastic food from the shop windows.
Tokyo Skytree
At 634 metres the tallest tower in Japan; from the Tembo Deck you can see the Sumida winding through the city and, on clear days, Mount Fuji.
Tokyo National Museum
The country's oldest museum, in Ueno Park, whose Honkan shows swords, armour and ukiyo-e in a single quiet circuit.
Evening: Ameyoko Market
A noisy market street beneath the elevated railway between Ueno and Okachimachi, where fishmongers call out their wares in the evening and standing bars open up.
Day 3Meiji, Harajuku & Shibuya
Meiji Shrine
A Shinto shrine to Emperor Meiji, reached through a forest of 100,000 donated trees and beneath huge cypress torii.
Takeshita-dōri
Harajuku's narrow youth street, with crêpe stands, purikura booths and shops where Tokyo's school fashion reinvents itself every few months.
Omotesandō
A grand zelkova-lined avenue where Ando, Herzog & de Meuron and SANAA have each built a flagship store — more an architecture stroll than a shopping trip.
Shibuya Crossing
The world's most famous crossing, where up to 3,000 people set off at once every time the lights turn green; the best view is from the walkway at the station.
Shibuya Sky
The open rooftop on the 47th floor of Scramble Square, where you stand 230 metres above the crossing with no glass in between — book a time slot in advance.
Yoyogi Park
Wide lawns behind the Meiji forest, where on Sundays drumming groups, rockabillies and dog owners each have their own regular corner.
Evening: Nonbei Yokochō
"Drunkard's Alley" by the Shibuya railway tracks: two rows of tiny bars, often with just five stools in front of the counter.
Day 4Tsukiji, Ginza & the Imperial Palace
Tsukiji Outer Market
The traders' rows of the old fish market have stayed: tamagoyaki on skewers, knife makers, dried fish and sea urchin straight from the shell.
Hama-rikyū Gardens
The shōguns' former waterside falconry garden, with a tidal pond and a teahouse on stilts in front of the Shiodome high-rises.
Ginza Chūō-dōri
Tokyo's most expensive strip, with the Wako clock tower, kabuki façades and the twelve-storey Itoya stationery store; on Sundays the street is car-free.
Imperial Palace East Gardens
The publicly accessible part of the palace grounds, with cyclopean stone walls and the base of Edo Castle's main keep, which burned down in 1657.
Tokyo Station Marunouchi
A 1914 brick building reconstructed, domes and all, to the original plans; in the basement are Character Street and Ramen Street.
Evening: Yūrakuchō Gado-shita
Izakaya and yakitori grills beneath the arches of the elevated railway, where office workers in shirtsleeves raise a glass standing up after work.
Day 5Yanaka, Nezu & Akihabara
Yanaka Ginza
A short shopping street in an old neighbourhood spared by the war, with croquettes from the butcher's, senbei bakers and cats on the steps.
Yanaka Cemetery
A sprawling cherry-tree cemetery where the last shōgun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, is buried and old Tokyo is still audibly quiet.
Nezu Shrine
A shrine from 1706 in the Nikkō style, with a tunnel of hundreds of small red torii leading up its slope; the azaleas bloom in April.
Kanda Myōjin
A city shrine dating from 730, where IT companies have their servers blessed and anime ema hang next to those of business people.
Akihabara Electric Town
Eight-storey electronics and manga stores, with the Radio Kaikan display cases and tiny component stalls under the railway in between.
Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Nikolai-do), Ochanomizu
A domed Russian Orthodox church from 1891, rebuilt after the Kantō earthquake and a completely unexpected sight above the Kanda River.
Evening: Chūō-dōri in Akihabara
The main street in the neon glow of the game arcades, where people stack prizes at the machines and dance until late.
Day 6Tokyo Bay & flight home
teamLab Planets Toyosu
Walk-through light installations where you go barefoot, wading knee-deep through warm water — be sure to book a timed ticket in advance.
Odaiba Seaside Park
A sandy bay with views of the Rainbow Bridge and the scaled-down Statue of Liberty, for a last quiet stroll before the airport.
Departure from Tokyo
Make it your trip
Viatro AI opens this plan in the app — with map, travel times and opening hours. You change the days, pace and places yourself.
