Tokyo is vast and totally enthralling. The combination of centuries-old culture and 21st Century technology fuse together creating a city that is unlike anywhere else on Earth. Known for its’ skyscrapers and cutting-edge architecture, it might be a surprise to you that is also has ancient shrines, village-like lanes and plant-covered wooden houses. Another surprise might be that despite its 13 million inhabitants, it also has very little crime, no rubbish on the streets and trains might be packed but they run on time!
As it is so big and there is so much to see, it is worth making a plan of what you want to do before you arrive. Decide which touristy sightseeing destinations you want to visit and then also allow plenty of time to make the most of the city’s other highlights – shopping and food!
Tourism
Starting with the must-see tourist destinations, the obvious one is the city’s oldest temple, the Sensoji, but there’s also the Nezu Shrine which is also stunning and set in lush green gardens. The pretty gardens of Kiyosumi Teien, or the Shinjuku Gyoen National Gardens with its classic footbridges over idyllic ponds are perfect places to get some fresh air and wander around whilst you get over your jetlag. There’s also the Tokyo Tower (like the Eiffel Tower but taller), the Imperial Palace and a cruise along the Sumida River that you should fit in.
When you’ve done enough sightseeing, explore some of the different neighbourhoods, there’s Harajuku with its hip boutiques and trendy restaurants and Aoyama with its’ pretty side streets brimming with coffee shops. Yanaka is a traditional neighbourhood where the old-town atmosphere still survives, so hire a bike and explore the quiet lanes with wooden houses and old-fashioned sweet stalls.
Shopping
Then there’s the shopping – a must-do activity in this consumer hungry city. Akihabara is a gadget lover’s dream with its’ endless electronic shops and comic book stores. Ginza is the fashionable shopping and entertainment district with high-end shops, amazing department stores and little boutiques. Asakusa, the area around the Sensoji temple, has small lanes and alleyways with souvenir shops and art and crafts boutiques. Also visit the famously busy Shibuya crossing, said to be one of the busiest crossings in the world, this area is filled with trendy shops selling everything that’s cool right now from clothes to music.
Food
Tokyo is a food lover’s dream and is choker block full of places to eat. There are the hole in the wall gyoza places all the way up to the high-end Michelin Sushi bars – in fact there are more Michelin starred restaurants in this city than any other city in the world. If you’re up really early with jet lag, head to the world’s largest fish market, Tsukiji for an incredible sight of tons of fresh seafood. If you can get there before 5am you can register for the tuna auction, but if not, then just wander around the shops and restaurants and get a fresh sushi breakfast – which might sound a bit weird but it’s got to be done!
Lunch is a great meal in Tokyo as it’s not normally as pricey as dinner, but just as good. If you want variety then head to a depachika, the basement floor of any good department store – but they sell take-away food only – otherwise most restaurants usually offer single dishes only like Katsu, Ramen or Sushi. If you’re looking for something really special then there are plenty of wonderful sushi restaurants, like the three Michelin-starred Kanda restaurant, but there is something for every budget. The Japanese style pubs, the izakaya have a good atmosphere and serve excellent tapas-sized, seasonal food. And when you’ve enjoyed an excellent meal, what better way to round off your evening than with a good old sing-a-long! Enjoyed by all ages, Karaoke is the national pastime and you can’t leave Tokyo without having a go!
Japan is a beautiful country filled with amazing sights and rich culture. Visiting one place is just not enough, we recommend combining Tokyo with one or two other destinations to make the perfect multi centre holiday. We specialise in luxury tailor made holidays and can put together anything that interests you. Take a look at some of our tailor made multi centre itineraries here for some inspiration.
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AlisonFletcher
Brilliant trip organised by Dave, included Helsinki, Tallin, Vilnius and Riga. (4 different countries) Everything ran smoothly. Dave organised hotels, flights, taxis, ferry and coach. Have used this company a few times and can't recommend highly enough they are fab 😀
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Sandra
As always, Chris was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. He gave me good advice on my travel plans and booked the holiday on my behalf. I've used eshores a number of times, and will continue to do so.
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Harrison
We haven’t been on our trip yet but based purely on the experience of booking the trip we are pleased with the result. It started with a bit of a hiccup as we spoke to a member of staff who never came back to us but when we reached back out again we were placed in the hands of Andy who has helped us book a 2 week trip to India including the golden triangle and then a few days on the beach. Andy was very patient with us with our changes to our tailor made holiday, even when we asked him to explore different areas only to revert back to the original plan. He also recommended moving the holiday back one week which created a saving of over £700 which meant we could upgrade the room for our beach stay in Goa. Andy was also available on weekends if we wanted to speak and regularly picked up the phone as opposed to keeping it to purely email dialogue. Hopefully the holiday will be amazing but based on the booking experience I would recommend eShores if you’re looking to book a tailor made holiday
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I spoke to Lynette who was extremely helpful in understanding the trip that myself and my sister in law wanted from Thailand. Myself and my sister in law are both 72years young and we are really looking forward to our trip.
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Excellent service from Matt at eShores. So very helpful and nothing was too much trouble. I booked Mya holiday after all his hard work finding me the perfect holiday that I wanted. Superb service and not pushy all all.
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Amrik
We have booked two big holidays this year for a group of 8 and a group of 10, Rachel has coordinated our holidays with the utmost excellence, during the consultation we changed countires hotels and even flights but it did not phase Rachel one bit. Exceeds customer expectations by helping advising and supporting throughout the holiday. We are off to Thailand and Dubai in August and then followed by India and Thailand in November, I have rang emailed Rachel many times during the booking and I got very prompt responses even on her days off. Rachel is a credit to EShores and EShores is setting standards regarding customer focus.
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I can’t praise Lynette at EShores enough. She has organised my trips perfectly to the point that I wouldn’t use anyone else. She listens to what I want or to the problem I have and comes up with a solution. Nothing is too much trouble. Try them out yourselves and I bet you become a repeater too!
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Kevin
At short notice, I needed a quote to travel through the USA (July the 20th) I emailed eShores with an idea of what I wanted to do, within a short period of time I had a response from Matthew, After several amendments to my holiday which wasn't any trouble to Matthew, Holiday all booked, now looking forward to travelling through the USA Have to say, the service I had through eShores was fantastic, well done Matthew for working through the changes,
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