Hit Up All of Tokyo's Biggest and Best Sights

Ultimate 4 Day Downtown Tokyo Itinerary

This 4 Day Tokyo Itinerary covers almost every bucket-list travel destination you might have in Tokyo.

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Central and Northern Tokyo

Yanaka, Jimbocho, Imperial Palace, Tokyo Station, and Ueno

Nature

Culture

Gourmet

Volume

While less travelled than the East and West neighborhoods of Tokyo, the Northern and Central neighborhoods also offer a nice rustic and more retro charm to Tokyo.

Yanaka (谷中) is a popular retro shopping street, reminiscent of what Japanese call the Showa era (1926-1989, 昭和, Shōwa). Once the heart of Japanese local retail culture, shopping streets like these have become the exception with the onslaught of modern shopping districts and malls.

Jimbocho (神保町, Jinbocho) is known as Tokyo’s book town and curry heaven, and is filled with many retro book shops selling second-hand books, as well as stationery shops. While the books are almost exclusively in Japanese, it’s nonetheless interesting to check out.

The Imperial Palace (皇居, Kōkyo) is located right in the center of Tokyo, with the gardens open to the public and the palace grounds open to the public via guided tours.

Tokyo Station (東京駅区, Tōkyō Station Ku) is located within a beautiful retro red-brick exterior on the ground level, and the underground shopping streets are filled with character shops, restaurants and souvenir shops.

Exterior of Tokyo Station in Otemachi, Tokyo

Itinerary Details

Starting Time

Start the day at Sendagi Station

Recommended Time:

08:30

千駄木駅

Sendagi Station

千代田線

Chiyoda Line

Walk over to Hagiso

Est.

08:30

4 mins

350m

Sendagi Station

Hagiso

Est.

08:35

1 hour

Hagiso (Hagiso)

Get a traditional Japanese breakfast at Hagiso

Hagiso is an interesting building that touts itself as the “Smallest Cultural Complex”, an old wooden apartment from the 1950s that was refurbished in 2013 to what it is now. Today, it houses a cafe, an art gallery, and a rental event space on the first floor, and on the second floor it houses a hotel, a shop and a design studio. The idea of being the “Smallest Cultural Complex” comes from its roots of being an atelier and share house for the students of the Tokyo University of the Arts in 2004, and prior to that it was a regular wooden apartment built in 1955.

Staircase leading down to Yanaka Ginza in Yanaka, Tokyo

Est.

09:35

1 hour

Yanaka (谷中)

Grab some street food at Yanaka Ginza

Around since the 1950s, the Yanaka Ginza Shopping Street (谷中銀座商店街) feels like a page out of the Tokyo of decades gone by.

Head to Jimbocho

Est.

10:35

21 mins

4 mins

300m

Yanaka

Sendagi Station

Chiyoda Line

Towards Yoyogi-uehara Station

Tokyo Metro

Sendagi Station

Ōtemachi Station

8 mins

Hanzomon Line

Towards Shibuya Station

Tokyo Metro

Ōtemachi Station

Jimbocho Station

2 mins

Take Exit A6

2 mins

100m

Jimbocho Station

Curry Bondy

Est.

11:05

1 hour

Curry Bondy (ボンディ)

Scoop into some fragrant Japanese beef curry at Curry Bondy

Curry Bondy is possibly Tokyo's Best Curry Restaurant, and the pioneering Japanese Curry (カレー, Karē) restaurant in Jimbocho (神保町, Jinbocho) that has evolved into today's Tokyo Curry Battleground. Having been around since the 1970s, Curry Bondy serves up one of the undeniably most satisfying Japanese curries that you can find in Tokyo and even Japan. Japanese Curry is a deceptively simple dish, yet to get it just right can be a really difficult task. Curry Bondy has perfected their curry roux with a perfect blend of thickness, richness, sweetness, and spice fragrance to make for an unforgettable curry dining experience. Even in today's crowded curry battleground of Jimbocho, Curry Bondy's dish still stands out against all its competitors that have risen to challenge its crown.

Shelves of books of a second-hand bookshop in Jimbocho, Tokyo

Credit: Hakan Nural (Unsplash)

Est.

12:05

1 hour

Jimbocho (神保町)

Walk around Tokyo’s Book Town

Jimbocho is well-loved as Tokyo’s Book Town, filled with almost 200 bookstores in the area, many specializing in second-hand and antique books. Many of these antique bookshops are just small old shops with shelves stacked from floor to ceiling with books. Even if you’re not a book fanatic, the area is still well-worth a stroll.

Head to the Imperial Palace Kikyomon Gate

Est.

13:05

10 mins

Hanzomon Line

Towards Oshiage Station

Tokyo Metro

Jimbocho Station

Ōtemachi Station

3 mins

Take Exit D2

7 mins

500m

Ōtemachi Station

The Imperial Palace Guided Tours

Walking tour of the Imperial Palace in Otemachi, Tokyo

Est.

13:25

1.5 hours

The Imperial Palace Guided Tours (皇居参観)

Take a tour of the Imperial Palace

While the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace are open to the public, the inner areas are generally off-limits since the Imperial Family (皇室, Kōshitsu) still resides there today. There are, however, guided tours twice a day, with many exceptions, so it is best to check the schedule online in advance.

Exterior of the Imperial Palace in Otemachi, Tokyo

Credit: Julie Anne Garrido (Unsplash)

Est.

14:55

1 hour

Tokyo Imperial Palace (皇居)

Walk around the Imperial Palace Gardens

The current Imperial Palace is located on the grounds of the former Edo Castle (江戸城, Edo-jo), and is still surrounded by the same stone walls and moat today. The Imperial Palace was destroyed by air raids during the second World War, but was reconstructed in the same design after. Only the East Gardens are open to the general public, with the inner areas being off-limit. There are guided tours that take you into certain parts of the inner area, and you can find out more info on that here.

Walk over to Tokyo Station

Est.

15:55

8 mins

650m

Tokyo Imperial Palace

Tokyo Station

Est.

16:15

1 hour

Tokyo Station Area (東京駅区)

Shop and Explore Tokyo Station

Tokyo is full of large winding stations, filled with underground malls, underground walkways, and more.

Zunda Shake from Zunda Saryo in Otemachi, Tokyo

Est.

17:15

15 mins

Zunda Saryo (ずんだ茶寮)

Try out an Edamame Shake

One of the signature local desserts of Sendai, in the Miyagi Prefecture up north, is Zunda mochi (ずんだ餅). Edamame (枝豆, Green soybeans) are young soybeans that can only be harvested in summer, the edamame are then boiled, mashed, mixed with sugar to make Zunda Bean Paste. This paste is then mixed together with freshly pounded mochi (餅, Rice cake)to make Zunda mochi. Edamame are also seen as health food, being harvested young, they actually contain more minerals and vitamins than regular soybeans with Vitamins A and C as well as protein and calcium.

Walk over to Tsujihan

Est.

17:30

4 mins

300m

Zunda Saryo

Tsujihan

Est.

17:40

1 hour

Tsujihan (つじ半)

Enjoy a delicious bowl of seafood

Traditionally, a kaisendon (海鮮丼, Seafood rice bowl) typically involves a simple rice bowl with slices of sashimi (刺身) placed on top.

Head up to Ueno

Est.

18:40

10 mins

2 mins

190m

Tsujihan

Nihombashi Station

Ginza Line

Towards Asakusa Station

Tokyo Metro

Nihombashi Station

Ueno Station

8 mins

Take Exit 9

Exterior of the National Museum in Ueno, Tokyo

Est.

19:00

1.5 hours

Ueno (上野)

Walk up Ameyoko and Stroll through Ueno Park

The neighborhood of Ueno is largely defined by its two major attractions, Ameya-Yokochō (あめや横丁), commonly abbreviated as Ameyoko (あめよこ) and Ueno Park (上野公園).

End off the day at Ueno Station

Est.

20:30

上野駅

Ueno Station

JR山手線

JR Yamanote Line

京浜東北線

Keihin-Tōhoku Line

銀座線

Ginza Line

日比谷線