Arriv guide · Tokyo
Tokyo, first timer
Tokyo, Japan · 3-day weekend getaway · 13 places
By ArrivLast checked
Senso-ji by eight in the morning, Golden Gai after dark. 3 days is enough for two neighborhoods and one long meal, once you accept that the third neighborhood was never going to happen. This Tokyo plan picks the two and leaves an hour in the afternoon to sit down. Arrive Friday afternoon if you can make the flights work, because a full Saturday is the whole payoff. The first evening then goes to dinner and a walk, which is a better start than a supermarket run. This guide maps 13 hand-picked places across icons & views, neighborhoods, and eat & drink in Tokyo, Japan, grouped the way you would use them once you are on the ground. Open the map before you commit to the order, because two stops that read as neighbors in a list can sit forty minutes apart. Duplicate the trip in Arriv when you want to move them around and send the link on.
Stays on this map
Hotels and rentals near these pins.
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How to use this Tokyo guide
- Follow the day-by-day order as a starting spine, because it already accounts for what sits near what. 3 days is the intended pace, and once you duplicate the trip you can stretch it or compress it to fit the flights.
- Day 1 assumes you are checked in and moving, so the first big block starts on a morning that is already yours. Land the night before if the schedule allows it.
- 13 stops carry a note about reservations, timing, or where to eat after the main event. Read those first, because they are the ones that change what you end up booking.
- The lists are themed on purpose, which is why they hold together as sets: Icons & views, Neighborhoods, Eat & drink, and more. Use them when you have finished the scheduled stops and still have an evening to fill.
- Pin the map so you have it on your phone at the airport. Duplicate into Arriv when you are ready to lock dates, add hotels, and share the plan with everyone coming to Tokyo.
3-day Tokyo itinerary
Tap a stop to see it on the map. Adjust freely once it’s your trip.
Day 1Arrive + Tsukiji + Asakusa + teamLab
Tsukiji Outer Market
4.2
Japan, 〒104-0045 Tokyo, Chuo City, Tsukiji, 4-chōme−16 および６丁目一部
Tip — Graze your way through breakfast
Senso-ji Temple
4.6
2-chōme-3-1 Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0032, Japan
Tip — Temple before the tour buses
Tokyo Skytree
4.4
1-chōme-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida City, Tokyo 131-0045, Japan
Tip — Up the tower nearby
teamLab Planets
4.5
6-chōme-1-16 Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo 135-0061, Japan
Tip — Timed entry — don't be late
Omoide Yokocho
1 Chome-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan
Tip — Yakitori down Memory Lane
Day 2Meiji + Harajuku + Shibuya night
Meiji Jingu Shrine
4.6
1-1 Yoyogikamizonochō, Shibuya, Tokyo 151-8557, Japan
Tip — Quiet forest shrine to start
Harajuku & Takeshita Street
Takeshita St, 1-chōme Jingūmae, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan
Tip — Straight into Harajuku color
Shibuya Crossing
4.5
21 Udagawacho, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0042, Japan
Tip — Walk the scramble
Shibuya Sky
4.6
Japan, 〒150-6145 Tokyo, Shibuya, 2-chōme−24−１２ スクランブルスクエア 14階・45階 46階・屋上
Tip — Rooftop for sunset — book ahead
Ichiran Shibuya
4.4
Japan, 〒150-0041 Tokyo, Shibuya, Jinnan, 1-chōme−22−７ 岩本ビル B1F
Tip — Ramen booth for one
Golden Gai
4.3
Japan, 〒160-0021 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Kabukichō, 1-chōme−1−６ あかるい花園 五番街
Tip — Bar-hop the alleys
Day 3Shinjuku Gyoen + Shimokitazawa
Shinjuku Gyoen
4.6
11 Naitōmachi, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0014, Japan
Tip — Slow morning in the garden
Shimokitazawa
Shimokitazawa, Kitazawa, Setagaya City, Tokyo 155-0031, Japan
Tip — Vintage-shop the afternoon away
Where to go in Tokyo
13 places across 4 themed lists — use these when you want options beyond the day plan.
Icons & views
2-chōme-3-1 Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo 111-0032, Japan
Tokyo's oldest temple, and you want to be there by 8am, because after that you are queueing at the lantern gate with everyone else.
21 Udagawacho, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0042, Japan
The world's busiest scramble, which you should watch from the Starbucks window before you go down and walk it yourself.
1-chōme-1-2 Oshiage, Sumida City, Tokyo 131-0045, Japan
A 634m tower, and the views are clearest right after opening or at dusk, so pick one of those two slots.
11 Naitōmachi, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0014, Japan
The best garden in the city, with cherry blossoms in spring, though the reason to come any other week is the quiet.
Neighborhoods
Takeshita St, 1-chōme Jingūmae, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan
Crepes, rainbow cotton candy, and Tokyo street style at full volume, which is a lot to take before you have had lunch.
Shimokitazawa, Kitazawa, Setagaya City, Tokyo 155-0031, Japan
Vintage shops, record stores, and pour-over cafés, which is where the afternoon goes once you stop trying to see things.
6-chōme-1-16 Toyosu, Koto City, Tokyo 135-0061, Japan
You wade through water and infinite light in bare feet, and none of it happens unless you book a timed ticket well ahead.
Eat & drink
Japan, 〒104-0045 Tokyo, Chuo City, Tsukiji, 4-chōme−16 および６丁目一部
A grazing breakfast of tamago on a stick, uni, and fresh sushi, so go hungry and go early. The good stalls thin out by mid-morning.
1 Chome-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku City, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan
'Memory Lane' is a smoky alley of yakitori counters that seat six, so you will be sitting next to strangers.
Japan, 〒150-0041 Tokyo, Shibuya, Jinnan, 1-chōme−22−７ 岩本ビル B1F
Solo tonkotsu ramen booths, and you order from the vending machine out front before anyone speaks to you.
Japan, 〒160-0021 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Kabukichō, 1-chōme−1−６ あかるい花園 五番街
Six alleys of tiny themed bars, most of them seating five, so look for the 'tourists welcome' signs before you push a door open.
Culture
1-1 Yoyogikamizonochō, Shibuya, Tokyo 151-8557, Japan
A forest shrine that sits steps from Harajuku's chaos, which is the whole reason to do the two in one morning. Write a wish on an ema.
Japan, 〒150-6145 Tokyo, Shibuya, 2-chōme−24−１２ スクランブルスクエア 14階・45階 46階・屋上
An open-air rooftop deck, and the slot to book is sunset, when you get the whole city glowing on at once.
Make this Tokyo trip yours
Use this guide to duplicate the itinerary into your trips. Set dates, swap stops, invite your crew — then continue planning on the web or take it on the go in the Arriv app.