DESTINATION EDIT
Tokyo Travel Guide: Hotels & Day Trips
Build a practical Tokyo plan around the right base, airport route, high-demand tickets and realistic day trips.
Tokyo is less a single city than a set of well-connected districts, and almost every planning mistake here traces back to picking the wrong one. Choose the base first, because it decides how long every day starts and ends. Then settle the airport route — Haneda and Narita behave very differently, and a late landing changes the answer. Only after those two are fixed should you book dated tickets for Disney, teamLab or a day trip, since those are the parts that cannot be moved once the trip is running.
FASTEST WAY IN
Start with the comparison most likely to change this plan.
Plan Tokyo by decision
BOOKING PRIORITIES
What to book
before the rest.
Use these high-intent decisions to protect the trip first, then fill in the lower-risk parts of the itinerary around them.
Best for late arrivals, family luggage and avoiding a bad first transfer.
Compare routes and costs ↗CONNECTIVITYChoose a Japan eSIM.Best for getting data working before trains, tickets and maps matter.
Check setup options ↗TOKYO DISNEYChoose the right Disney hotel.Best for families and anyone trying to protect the hardest park morning.
See hotel options ↗TICKETSPick DisneySea or Disneyland.Best before buying a fixed-date ticket that locks the park choice.
Compare ticket choices ↗QUICK ANSWERS
Search-first answers for this section.
These short answers are here to resolve the planning question quickly before you open the full comparison.
Four full days covers the main districts, one dated attraction and one day trip at a comfortable pace. Three is workable if you drop the day trip; anything under two means choosing one side of the city and accepting you will not see the rest.
Shinjuku suits most first trips because it has the widest rail coverage and works late. Tokyo Station and Ginza are better if you plan several shinkansen day trips, and Asakusa is the value option if atmosphere matters more than transport depth.
Haneda is closer and simpler, and it is worth paying a modest premium for on a short trip. Narita is fine when you arrive during the day; a late Narita landing is the case where an airport hotel or a private transfer earns its cost.
Hakone for Mt Fuji views and an onsen finish, Nikko for shrines and mountain scenery, and Kamakura when you want temples and the coast with the least effort. Hakone is the strongest single choice for a first visit.