Toyko 3-day Itinerary

First built in the 600s to house a statue of Kannon said to have been fished out of the nearby Sumida River by two brothers.

Today, Sensoji in Asakusa is one of Tokyo’s most important and liveliest temples, dedicated to the Bodhisattva of compassion.

It’s also its oldest and most visited – it’s one of the world’s most widely visited spiritual sites with an estimated 30 million visitors a year.

The stall-lined approach is a bit touristy, but if you had time for just one temple in Tokyo, the giant gateways, five-storied pagoda, and vast main hall here make Sensoji the best choice.

Look out for the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), the temple’s outer gate, as you go in.

Ueno Park’s best museum, and Japan’s oldest museum, is one of the largest art museums in the world.

The museum collects, preserves and displays collections of artworks and cultural objects from across Asia, with a focus on Japanese art. It holds over 110,00 cultural artefacts and artworks, including 89 National Treasures.

For anyone interested in Japan’s fascinating past of emperors, shoguns, samurais and more, this is a must-see. The museum collection includes everything from ancient Buddhist sculptures, to samurai armour and even tea ceremony utensils.

If a day of museum hopping is your idea of heaven, look no further than Ueno Park in northeastern Tokyo.

Home to the Tokyo National Museum and its unparalleled collection of Japanese art and artefacts, plus five other museums, there isn’t a better concentration of cultural sites anywhere in the city.

With a boating pond, temple and other attractions, the park itself is a pleasant spot to linger. In late March and early April, when it’s all decorated pink by the annual wave of cherry blossoms, Ueno Park becomes one of Tokyo’s most popular sites for hanami (cherry blossom) parties and picnics.

Having avoided damage from the great quake of 1923, the bombs of World War Two and the attention of developers, the Yanaka neighbourhood retains a mellow and somewhat rickety ‘old Tokyo’ feel.

The narrow streets here are home to small temples and family-run stores, but also the occasional historic building repurposed as a hip cafe, bar or gallery.

A good starting point is the Yanaka Ginza shopping street, before branching off into the alleyways to find arty spots like the Asakura Museum of Sculpture and the uber-contemporary SCAI The Bathhouse gallery.

Alternatively, stop for craft beer in the renovated townhouse that houses the Yanaka Beer Hall.

After, walk on to Nezu Station to see the lovely Nezu Shrine or stroll to Ueno for the park and its museums.

Most of the ‘inner’ part of this famous wholesale fish market – where massive tunas are lined up for sale – has moved to Toyosu island, but much of it still gets delivered back to Tsukiji and the ‘outdoor’ part remains a bustling and vibrant food market.

With its narrow lanes filled with stalls and shops, the market offers a wide variety of fresh seafood, fruits, vegetables, and traditional Japanese delicacies. Sample sushi, sashimi, street food, and local snacks as you browse – perhaps even take a sushi breakfast.

A swanky retail complex in Ginza – a plush district in the heart of the city, home to high-end department stores and boutiques.

As the capital of a country where shopping counts as a legitimate hobby, Tokyo has all the retail bases covered.

When it comes to fashion, many boutiques and department stores carry imported goods, but to get a sense of local trends head to youthful fashion hubs like Harajuku or Shibuya.

Or take a shopping deep-dive into otaku culture in the Akihabara district – the place to pick up manga and anime-related goods, or gadgetry.

For something traditional, Japan produces superb crafts, such as Edo kiriko glassware, Wajima lacquerware and Bizen pottery.

And don’t skip the slick urban complexes – Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown were the forerunners, but from its design through to its stores, Ginza 6 epitomizes contemporary Japanese style.

A classical expression of Japanese hospitality that can last for hours in its most elaborate form, the tea ceremony has been practised for centuries. Every aspect, from where the most important guest is seated to how the host wipes the utensils, has significance. Every movement is choreographed, and for kimono-dressed practitioners, the nuances take years to perfect.

Full versions (around 4 hours) are only for die-hards; shorter versions are available down to a mere 30 minutes, but the shorter it is, the less traditional. There are usually special options for children, and some will include sweet-making.

Even the shortest versions, though, are a great way to experience traditional Japanese culture and formality.

On the opposite side of Harajuku to the colourful teen fashions of Takeshita-dori and swanky boutiques of Omotesando-dori, Meiji Jingu provides the ultimate contrast to the city’s modern concrete jungle image.

Built in the 1920s to enshrine the Meiji Emperor and Empress, the Shinto shrine blends naturally into the 170 acres of lush forest that surround it.

An hour here is an opportunity to not just have a calm break from the hectic city, but to take in traditional shrine architecture and get a sense of how Shintoism is still important in modern-day Japan.

Whenever you visit, you’ll see visitors praying at the main shrine and writing wishes on votive tablets before hanging them in the inner shrine’s courtyard.

You might see a traditional Shinto wedding procession too – Meiji Jingu attracts lots of tourists, but it’s still a fully functioning shrine.

The place to come to discover the latest urban street fashions on Cat Street, as well as the colourful teen trends on the narrow and frequently ram-packed Takeshita-dori (street).

Like a thousand-person scrum, this is purportedly the world’s busiest road crossing – with as many as 3,000 people crossing at any one time. Grab a photo from above at the Crossing View observation deck.

Hundreds of cherry trees, combined with an entrance fee and no-alcohol policy, make the lawns of this park a great hanami spot for families.

A ramshackle collection of alleyways crammed with tiny bars, Golden Gai in Shinjuku is a low-rise 1960s throwback that has somehow managed to escape Tokyo’s thirst for redevelopment. It’s an atmospheric spot to soak up an authentic Tokyo cultural experience.

Some bars here specialize in cocktails, whiskey or craft beer, for others is a type of music or even a theme – try Deathmatch in Hell if you are a horror film fan or Bar Plastic Model to relive a 1980s childhood.

Other foreign-friendly, but not touristy bars to look out for are the gothic Albatross and English-speaking Ace.