What to do in Tokyo in 3 hours

4 self-guided 3-hour routes through Tokyo — every stop timed, mapped and in the order that works on the ground.

Daikanyama and Nakameguro in three hours

A bookshop built for browsing, the low-rise terraces that set the neighbourhood's tone, a wooden house of 1919 and the canal of cherry trees lined with cafés.

Daikanyama T-Site · Hillside Terrace · Kyu Asakura House · Meguro River

0.6 km on foot 4 stops 2h 13m total

3h Budget

Harajuku to Shibuya in three hours

A forest shrine, the teenage shopping street, the architecture boulevard and the world's busiest crossing.

Yoyogi Park · Meiji Jingu · Takeshita Street · Omotesando · Shibuya Crossing

3.4 km on foot 5 stops 2h 50m total

3h Mid-range

Shinjuku after dark in three hours

A free view from the city hall's 45th floor, the yakitori alleys by the tracks, Godzilla over Kabukicho and the tiny bars of Golden Gai.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building · Omoide Yokocho · Kabukicho · Hanazono Shrine · Golden Gai

1.7 km on foot 5 stops 2h 57m total

3h Budget

Yanaka and Nezu in three hours

An old-Tokyo shopping street, a sculptor's house and garden, a cemetery of cherry trees, a bathhouse turned gallery and a shrine with a tunnel of red gates.

Yanaka Ginza · Asakura Museum of Sculpture · Yanaka Cemetery · SCAI the Bathhouse · Nezu Shrine

1.9 km on foot 5 stops 2h 40m total

Planning the rest of the trip

These routes cover the walking. The Tokyo guide has where to stay, what a day costs at each tier, and what to book before you go.