Tokyo Sights

[van]

We are staying in Tokyo for 3 days/2 nights in August 2019 as part of a much broader itinerary. Does anyone have any suggestions on seeing the sights. I have a list of places such as Menji Temple, East Palace Gardens etc. but no idea on the best way to travel between sights. Bus tours appear to be poor due to traffic. We plan on staying at the Intercontinental Tokyo and are flying out of Haneda.

 

[Captain Halliday]

I was there in Sept. You’ll find my highlights listed here from post #12 onwards: A milestone birthday OW award

 

[Blinky]

We are staying in Tokyo for 3 days/2 nights in August 2019 as part of a much broader itinerary. Does anyone have any suggestions on seeing the sights. I have a list of places such as Menji Temple, East Palace Gardens etc. but no idea on the best way to travel between sights. Bus tours appear to be poor due to traffic. We plan on staying at the Intercontinental Tokyo and are flying out of Haneda.

I will look forward to replies. I’m travelling to Japan in May and will have at least 4 night in Tokyo. We will have a rail pass, which also allows travel in Tokyo, so traffic might not be a problem for me and maybe you.

 

[offshore171]

but no idea on the best way to travel between sights. Bus tours appear to be poor due to traffic. We plan on staying at the Intercontinental Tokyo and are flying out of Haneda

If there's only one piece of advice you take before visiting Tokyo it should be this:

Get a SUICA card.

This is a public transport smart card similar to Opal, Oyster etc. Tokyo has an excellent public transport system and there's very few places that would be more than a 5 minute walk from a Metro or JR stop. It makes getting around Tokyo a breeze.

You buy it from a ticket vending machine. You pay about $20 which gives you the card and about $15 of starter credit. You can get the $5 deposit back if you like when you’re done, but I would keep the card as it’s valid for 10 years.

These cards work for all public transport in tokyo (JR Trains, Metro lines, Bus, monorail) and you simply top it up at a machine when the balance gets low. You can also use them instead of cash at vending machines and convenience stores which saves you from ending up with lots of loose change.

Note, there's also PASMO card which is essentially the same (SUICA is run by Japan Rail and PASMO by the Metro operator, but they both work universally.)

 

[nickfromeastryde]

We were just there for 6 days and used the JR pass though probably not cost effective in your case. JR Trains definitely the way to go in Tokyo though, go just about everywhere and easy system to understand. We only had two full days in Tokyo and with a moderate amount of planning, managed to get to everything we wanted to see

Be prepared to stand however, the amount of people their metro system moves is just mind boggling

 

[drron]

We have been going to Tokyo for over 30 years and have had at least 50 visits.We still find new stuff to see and do.So what you need to do is stay close to a train or metro station so you can get around easily.

 

[Himeno]

I will look forward to replies. I’m travelling to Japan in May and will have at least 4 night in Tokyo. We will have a rail pass, which also allows travel in Tokyo, so traffic might not be a problem for me and maybe you.

Get a Suica/Pasmo (Suica is issued by JR West, Pasmo is issued by the Tokyo area private rail companies. They are interchangeable. They can also be used in place of other IC cards all over Japan.)

The JR passes aren't worth it unless you are getting at least 3 long distance trains during the pass period. The passes are simply too restrictive in the cities. eg, There are ~55 train lines within or that pass through Tokyo. You can only use a JR pass on 23 of them. You'll never use enough short distance JR train trips around the city to make the pass worthwhile.

 

[Blinky]

Get a Suica/Pasmo (Suica is issued by JR West, Pasmo is issued by the Tokyo area private rail companies. They are interchangeable. They can also be used in place of other IC cards all over Japan.)

The JR passes aren't worth it unless you are getting at least 3 long distance trains during the pass period. The passes are simply too restrictive in the cities. eg, There are ~55 train lines within or that pass through Tokyo. You can only use a JR pass on 23 of them. You'll never use enough short distance JR train trips around the city to make the pass worthwhile.

Thanks for this. We will be taking a number of long train trips, so I think the JR passes will be good value. Looks like we will need the one you suggest.

 

[drron]

It's simple to work out if JR passes are worthwhile by using Hyperdia which gives you time + the cost of your journeys.We find generally it is good value.Often use it for day trips from where ever we are staying plus it can be used on some JR busses as well.On our last trip this was a great benefit in Kanazawa.