Tokyo: Tickets, Hours and How to Visit
Tokyo doesn’t run on a single ticket or a single set of hours, it runs on 24 wards, 14 million residents, and a rail network that makes every other transit system on earth look like a rough draft. Give the city itself 3-5 days, get a Suica or PASMO IC card the moment you land, and budget somewhere between ¥8,000 and ¥15,000 a day once your room is paid for. That’s the whole city in one paragraph. Everything below is the detail.
Key facts before you visit
| Cost | Free sights everywhere; paid attractions run ¥1,800-5,600 |
| Hours | Most sights 9am-5pm; konbini and trains run far later |
| Time needed | 3-5 days for a first visit |
| Book ahead | teamLab, Shibuya Sky and the Ghibli Museum, days to weeks out |
What’s actually worth paying for
Senso-ji in Asakusa, Meiji Shrine near Harajuku, and the Imperial Palace East Gardens are all free, and together they cover most of what people picture when they picture Tokyo. Add the free twin observatories at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku, plus its nightly “TOKYO Night & Light” projection show, and you’ve seen a genuine skyline view without spending a yen.
The paid attractions worth the money: Shibuya Sky at ¥2,700 booked before 3pm or ¥3,400 for the slots from 3pm on (the later, sunset-covering tier sells out first), and teamLab Borderless at Azabudai Hills, ¥3,600-5,600 depending on the slot, both bookable through GetYourGuide . Tokyo Skytree runs ¥1,800-2,100 for the 350m deck, a perfectly good view but not a step up from the free government building option.
Neighborhoods worth knowing
Tokyo is built around the looping JR Yamanote Line, a roughly 60-minute circuit that strings together the neighborhoods first-timers want most: Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Tokyo Station, Akihabara, and Ueno. Outside the loop, Asakusa and Senso-ji sit to the northeast, and quieter Yanaka and Shimokitazawa reward a slower afternoon if you have one. Ginza is the polished, department-store version of the city; Akihabara is the electronics-and-anime version.
How many days does Tokyo actually need?
Three days covers old Tokyo, youth culture and one paid attraction without rushing. Five adds a backstreet neighborhood and something bay- or culture-specific like Odaiba or sumo. Anything past five keeps paying off in a city this dense, but three days is the honest minimum for a visit that doesn’t feel like a layover.
Eat
Ramen runs ¥800-1,200 a bowl. Conveyor-belt sushi (Sushiro, Kura, Genki) starts around ¥120 a plate, a full meal ¥1,500-2,500, genuinely better value than a formal omakase splurge for most first-timers. Yakitori alleyways like Omoide Yokocho near Shinjuku Station serve the charcoal version in a setting unchanged since the 1950s. Depachika, the food halls under department stores like Isetan Shinjuku, sell prepared foods worth a trip on their own. Convenience-store food (7-Eleven, Lawson) is a legitimately good, cheap option too, ¥300-800 a meal.
Getting around
Buy a Suica or PASMO IC card at any major station, or load Welcome Suica Mobile onto Apple Wallet before you fly. Tap in and out on virtually every train, metro, bus, and convenience-store register. Avoid rush hour (roughly 7:30-9am and 5:30-7pm) where your schedule allows it. Skip the nationwide JR Pass unless you’re also making a long-distance Shinkansen trip, at roughly ¥50,000 for seven days it rarely pays off on a Tokyo-only visit.
Practical notes
Cash still works everywhere and is required at some small restaurants, shrines and market stalls; Seven Bank ATMs at 7-Eleven reliably accept foreign cards. Tipping isn’t expected and can genuinely confuse staff. Signage is in English throughout the transit system, and Google Translate’s camera-based OCR handles most restaurant menus without a fuss.
Where to stay
Shinjuku and Shibuya are the easiest bases, both directly on the Yamanote loop. Compare current rates on Agoda , which tends to carry deeper Tokyo hotel inventory than most Western sites.
For the full day-by-day breakdown, see our Tokyo travel guide or the 3-day and 5-day itineraries. Planning to add Kamakura, Hakone or Nikko to the trip, our Tokyo, Japan page covers that base-camp version instead.
Official references: Go Tokyo for current event listings and Tokyo Metro for subway maps and fares.
Get a Suica card at the airport, pick a neighborhood on the Yamanote loop, and eat everything within walking distance of your hotel before you decide the rest of the trip.