3-Day Tokyo Itinerary: Highlights and Unique Gems for First Timers

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Are you planning a trip to Tokyo and curious about how to spend three days in Japan’s capital? If you’re a first-timer in Tokyo looking for some inspiration on things to do over the course of three days that strike the right balance between touristy highlights and some unexpected gems, this is the guide for you.

My three-day itinerary for Tokyo balances the highlights you can’t miss with sustainable, alternative experiences for what I think is a great mix of things to do. Follow in our footsteps across the city as we navigate everything from iconic sights like the Imperial Palace and Senso-ji to more unconventional gems—like a local haunt for Japanese whiskey, incredible vegan ramen spots, and a women-led tea ceremony.

Let’s be real: three days in Tokyo certainly isn’t enough, not by a long stretch. My partner and I spent 3.5 days here as part of a full month traversing Japan all the way to Okinawa, and we still barely scratched the surface. We left eagerly, planning a return visit.

This isn’t a comprehensive or “ultimate” guide to Tokyo by any means. Instead, think of it as a well-curated introduction of things to do to give you a great taste of the city and give you all the reasons to come back.

Our Travel Style Guiding This Itinerary

I actually debated posting this itinerary because I wasn’t sure it had anything to offer that hadn’t been shared before. It’s not a fully sustainable alternative guide, and it’s not a standard must-see checklist. I ultimately decided to share it because I am sure there is someone out there with similar tastes, looking for a guide that is just different enough.

So, if you’re wondering if this itinerary fits your vibe, here is a quick look at our travel style. 

• Plant-Based Dining: I am a vegetarian who prefers vegan when possible. Every single restaurant selection in this guide is vegetarian, with many vegan options.
• Conscious & Sustainable Finds: We love seeking out artisanal small businesses, aiming for plastic-free choices, and finding great local coffee shops. For us, that means supporting women-owned businesses and intentionally skipping mass over-consumerism and exploitative animal experiences.
• A Good Balance: I like seeing iconic sights that define a city, but I won’t wait in overly long lines for over-hyped sights or food. I like to have just enough flexibility to go on random sidequests and enjoy unexpected finds without stressing about doing and seeing it all. 
• Lots of Walking: We are big walkers and will happily walk 20,000 steps in a day, enjoying seeing the sights as we move from place to place. We supplement walking with a few trains. We never Uber or take a taxi. 
• Flexible Budget: Our budget is flexible. We are known to spend on things that matter to us, sustainable, eco-friendly, and support local businesses. We like comfortable beds for a good rest. But we aren’t going to waste money on what we think are overhyped, and save where we can.
• Easy Going: With that in mind, we aren’t going to get upset if we get hit with a random table tax that was higher than expected. If we missed out on getting tickets to something, we just say oh well and move on, and find something else we will enjoy.

Unlike my usual travel guides, which often dive deep into history and cultural context, offer detailed steps for how to take public transit, and provide information about neighborhoods, this post takes a more casual, easy-going approach. Tokyo is a deeply complex, massive metropolis. As I only spent a few days in the city, I don’t feel well-acquainted enough to play the expert after just one visit.

I’ll leave the deep history, how to get around Tokyo, and culture, to the pros. This is simply a step-by-step look at exactly what we did, my thoughts on Tokyo, and how we spent time in the city.

I do, however, have a deep guide on responsible travel in Japan. Head over and read my 18 tips for sustainable travel. Without further ado, let’s get straight into the itinerary!

Thursday: Arrival and Check-in Day

We live in Vancouver, Canada, so we have great direct flight options from Vancouver to Narita International Airport. We arrived in the evening and grabbed our Sucia Cards, which we are not using yet. To get to Shinagawa, where our hotel was located, we also had to buy Narita Limited Express Tickets, not covered on the Suica. 

We opted for the Narita Express as it was a direct train and only took us just over an hour. From there, we were able to walk to our hotel. 

Where We Stayed

Choosing a hotel and neighborhood in Tokyo is overwhelming, to be honest. We opted for The Prince Sakura Tower Tokyo, Autograph Collection by Prince Hotels Inc. This hotel was right for us for a few reasons.

• While not right in the heart of more popular neighborhoods, it was in a quiet area with a peaceful Japanese garden on the grounds, which gave us a nice retreat to rest and recover when we needed it. Located right next to Shinagawa Station, we could easily get around the city. 
• As an independent and luxury hotel, it was modern, comfortable, and owned by a Japanese company. The staff was lovely.
• They had vegan and veggie options in the included breakfast.
• Amenities like a pool, sauna, and bar. We didn’t use many of these, but they are there if you need them.

Honestly, I had no complaints, and we really enjoyed staying here. 

We got checked in and settled around 9:00 pm. We were tired, hungry, and didn’t have the energy to go out into the city. We decided to rest up for tomorrow and not leave the hotel. 

We did take time to enjoy the beautiful garden as part of our hotel. It is a Japanese garden with light displays. We ordered a vegetarian pizza for dinner, and passed out early to get up early for a full day.

Day 1 in Tokyo: Friday

• The Imperial Palace on our own independent tour
• KITTE Marunouchi mall for sustainable souvenirs
• Vegan ramen at T’s TanTan for lunch
• Nakamise Dori shopping street
• Tokyo’s oldest temple, Senso-ji
• Peaceful residential side streets and coffee
• Explored Ueno Park, checking out its shrines and nature
• Passed through the vibrant Ameyoko Market
• Geeked out over gaming culture in Akihabara 
• Tasted local whiskies in a cave-like ambiance
• Epic 11-course vegan shojin ryori feast at Sougo

We kicked off our first official day in Tokyo with a bowl of vegan okayu from our hotel breakfast. Okayu is like rice porridge, and there were plenty of veggie toppings to add to our porridge. Our hotel had a fantastic breakfast buffet as well as à la carte items to suit both Western and Japanese tastes. 

We popped into a nearby 7-Eleven just to see what all the hype was about and to scope out their vegetarian options. Honestly, the sheer volume of single-use plastic wrapped around everything was overwhelming and was a turn-off for me.

We did occasionally stop by a 7-Eleven, but mostly during our road trip. We decided we’d rather support smaller, local restaurants to cut down on plastic waste and find menus with clearer vegetarian labeling. 

From there, we headed to Shinagawa Station, where you can easily catch any of the three main train lines straight to Tokyo Station to start the day’s adventures.

Our first major stop was the historic Imperial Palace. There are generally three ways to explore the Imperial Palace:

• Independent walking
• A free pre-reserved tour
• A private guided tour covering the East Garden and the ancient Edo foundations

The line for the free tour was a dealbreaker for us, so we just took our time exploring the grounds independently. If you want to take advantage of the free tour, you can actually register in advance to secure your spot, and you don’t have to wing it. Tours happen every day, EXCEPT Sunday and Monday.

It was a bit rainy, and I am so happy we packed our rain jackets and a colorful compact umbrella from home. Our small umbrella stopped us from having to buy a new plastic one, and kept us dry for our shoulder season travels in October. 

After the Imperial Palace, we wandered over to KITTE Marunouchi. Our walk was the first time we noticed how clean the streets were, and there were no bins! Make sure you carry a little stasher bag to keep your rubbish so you can dispose of it properly at your hotel later. 

It might sound weird that I am recommending KITTE, a shopping mall. I know, I am not a mall person, but hear me out, the upper floors are full of local sustainable finds. The 6th floor features a small museum alongside small, curated local shops, including a great textiles and stationery store, Jikan Style, that is worth checking out.

We bought a few artisanal and sustainable souvenirs. We picked up some art textiles and a small garden wind chime made locally with brass. 

By the time we finished browsing, our stomachs were grumbling, so we headed back into Tokyo Station to hit up T’s TanTan for some of the best vegan ramen I’ve ever had!

We lucked out without a long line here. They can get busy, but no matter how long the line is, this is 1000% worth visiting. They have several types of vegan ramen, so you can try different traditional-style broths, but all are fully certified vegan. We were in heaven! 

After lunch, we hopped on a train and made our way to Asakusa station to visit Tokyo’s oldest established temple, Senso-ji. The approach to the temple from the station follows along Nakamise Dori, a shopping street with indoor and outdoor vendors. 

To be completely honest, the shopping here wasn’t our cup of tea; there were some nice local-made gems, but it all seemed a little commercialized and overwhelmingly crowded.

Still, we enjoyed it for what it was, a bustling and historic lead-up to the magnificent Hozomon Gate. Also known as the Thunder Gate, you enter the main hall under the huge red and black lantern. 

Take your time to explore and enjoy the temple, including the five-story pagoda dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. The temple was first established in 941. It has burned down and been rebuilt multiple times, with the current structures dating back to the 1960s.

While exploring the temple grounds, we couldn’t resist trying o-mikuji, the traditional fortune-telling stalls found throughout the area. For a suggested 100-yen donation, you shake a labeled stick out of an enclosed metal container and match it to one of a hundred wooden drawers to retrieve your oracle.

Ganesh got the worst fortune possible, saying his future would be very unlucky. Mine was average. They are fun to read and have a good laugh over the creative writing skills involved.

Before leaving the temple complex, we took a peaceful stroll through the beautiful Denboin Garden for a green escape from the crowds. As we finally exited through the quiet Okuyamon Gate, the atmosphere shifted instantly to quiet residential streets. It was almost eerie to go from that busy temple to almost no one in sight. 

We got lost wandering down these quiet backroads, soaking in a slow-paced side of Tokyo. Ganesh’s Australian coffee meter was running dangerously low, so we made our way to UP TO YOU COFFEE.

It was the perfect spot to sit down, rest our feet, and enjoy a fantastic cup of coffee with some seriously impressive latte art. You can’t linger here, so just order and drink your coffee and make room for the next guest. 

Once properly caffeinated, we walked to Ueno Park, enjoying the residential side of Tokyo on the way. Ueno Park has a ton of stuff to do, from museums to nature.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t come here specifically for the Shinobazu Pond because I may or may not have heard there were migrating birds. Sadly, it wasn’t birding season, but we enjoyed the lotus plants, temples, shrines, and green spaces in the park. 

If museums are your thing, Ueno Park has lots of museums, so feel free to visit the Tokyo National Museum or the Ueno Royal Museum. However, DO NOT visit the zoo here. It is old and offers poor animal welfare, like gorillas in a cement pit, kinda sad. We didn’t visit, but I thought I would pass on some of the research I did.

Leaving Ueno, we cut through the Ameyoko Market and worked our way into Akihabara, the world-famous district for video gaming, anime, and manga. As a massive gaming fan, walking through these streets was nostalgic, even if I felt a little conflicted about the heavy consumerist culture, excessive plastic, and issues of sexism. Being a woman in gaming and into JRPGs is always so conflicting for me.

Still, I tried to enjoy the sights for what they are, without buying unnecessary plastic and trinkets. We made a mandatory pit stop at the Square Enix Store, where I managed to stay true to my eco-goals by picking up some highly practical, plastic-free wine tumblers. I got a moogle and a chocobo set!

As the sun began to set, the entire district lit up with incredible lights that were just so iconic of what I thought Tokyo would be. 

When we had our fill of Akihabara, we hopped on a train to Roppongi Station. Depending on how you look at it, we either foolishly or expertly decided to hit up a whiskey bar before sitting down for dinner. 

We chose a spot called Cask Strength, a basement-style venue with a cool, cave-like ambiance. It has mixed reviews from foreigners but solid marks from locals. But as two foreigners ourselves, we had a fantastic experience.

You should know upfront that many Tokyo bars charge a table tax. Here it was 1,000 yen, and the staff isn’t overwhelmingly friendly or likely to swap life stories with you in English.  However, they were transparent, professional, and helpful with our tastings, earning a well-deserved five-star review from us considering the cultural differences.

If you’re looking for a slightly different vibe with a more conversational crew, there’s another cute little bar just up the road called Suekichi, where you can pop in for a friendly glass of wine or whiskey.

To wrap up our big first day, we headed to Sougo for dinner, a restaurant specializing in shojin ryori, the traditional Buddhist cuisine. Japan is actually far more vegan-friendly than people give it credit for when you look at its culinary roots and Buddhist vegan culture.

The staff was amazing, guiding us through an incredible 11-course meal paired with some excellent local wine. By the time we finished, we had to roll ourselves all the way back home, completely exhausted and full of good food.

Day 2 in Tokyo: Saturday

• Shibuya Crossing
• Walked down the trendy Cat Street toward Harajuku
• Fuelled up with an absolutely amazing cup of coffee at Sorama Coffee
• Braved (and very quickly escaped) tourist trap Takeshita Street
• Meiji Jingu Gyoen and Yoyogi Park
• Vegan izakaya lunch at Masaka
• Nintendo and Pokémon stores
• Night out at Omoide Yokocho and Golden Gai

Our second day in Tokyo had some wins and a few travel fails, which is honestly just all part of the travel experience. Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes. 

After another breakfast at our hotel, we started the morning by taking the train to the iconic Shibuya Crossing. Of course, we had to cross a few times and see Hachiko, the faithful dog statue. 

However, we hit our first travel fail as we attempted to go to the Shibuya Sky. Sadly, tickets were sold out for the day, so if you want to catch those rooftop views, learn from our mistake and book tickets in advance. 

We happily just moved on to enjoy the crossing. We had to do it a few times, of course! We walked up to Harajuku Station, taking the road down Cat Street, which is notoriously the better alternative to Takeshita Street, but it wasn’t anything to write home about for us.

We stopped for coffee at the incredibly delicious Sorama Coffee. It was all downhill from there as we turned into Takeshita Street. Take my word for it, skip this area! To be completely blunt, the street is full of tourist scams, unethical animal cafes, and cheap consumerist crap, so we decided to protect our peace and leave immediately. 

Thankfully, we found immediate solace right next door at Meiji Jingu Gyoen and Yoyogi Park. Meiji is a beautiful nature park and a wonderful urban escape, famous for its towering forested paths and colorful display of ceremonial sake barrels donated to the shrine.

The garden itself has a rich history, having been designed as a serene retreat for Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. It’s the perfect place to slow down and enjoy the greenery.

When our stomachs started rumbling, we walked down to Shibuya Parco Mall. Head down to the lower floors to our lunch spot called Masaka Vegan Izakaya. It’s a fully vegan Izakaya inside the mall and serves food I never thought I would be able to eat as a vegetarian.

We ordered round after round of our favorite comfort food like mapo curry, vegan katsu, and organic beer. Vegan Bistro Jangara is another option if you decide to eat closer to Harajuku.

Since we were already in Parco, we had to visit the Nintendo and Pokémon stores on the upper floors. After geeking out for a bit, we headed up to the mall’s rooftop, which offers an amazing free view! Feeling a bit drained from all the walking, we headed back to the hotel to rest up and refresh for the night ahead.

Fully rested, we ventured out to enjoy Tokyo at night. We caught the train to Shinjuku Station. I’m not going to lie, we legit got lost in this train station and it probably took us like 30 minutes to find the right exit, haha. My husband and I joked that only strong marriages can get two people out of the station

Finally, we made it out to Omoide Yokocho, known as Memory Lane. The night ambiance here is incredible, with narrow alleys lit by glowing lanterns and the enticing wafts of street food filling the air. It’s a lively spot traditionally known for heavy meat dishes, so finding a place serving simple vegetable skewers and cold beer felt like a treat.

We loved just walking around and soaking in the atmosphere. It’s definitely a place where you should just wander and go wherever your heart takes you.

From there, we walked over to the famous Golden Gai, a maze of small bars. It can be incredibly intimidating, and our experience here was a total mix of the good, the awkward, and the downright scammy. Some of the bars welcome tourists, others are closed to foreigners, and some will hustle you for your money. It really is kind of a gamble. Just go wherever you get a good feeling. 

We absolutely loved Open Book, a fantastic little bar full of old musty bookshelves. Here we ordered sake sours and had good conversations with locals and fellow travelers. We also popped into the 8bit Cafe, which is a small listening bar for nerds. I loved it.

On the flip side, we had an average experience at a bar called Kohaku. We went in because the logo was a cat. The staff were not welcoming, there was a steep cover charge, and no menu in sight. The highlight here is that the bar patrons were friendly. 

We actually got hustled along with a group of backpackers by a husband-and-wife duo in another bar, who forced everyone to buy a new drink every ten minutes before kicking us all out after just half an hour. Even with the hustle, we still managed to have a good laugh with backpackers half our age. 

Golden Gai is a choose-your-own-adventure, but if you go into it with an open mind and just pop into whichever door calls to you, don’t stress about losing some money, and you will come out with good memories. 

Drunk and hungry, we got veggie burgers at Shogun Burger Shinjuku. Yes, they have veggie patties! 

Day 3 in Tokyo: Sunday

• Breakfast at the train station
• Good Coffee Farms Café & Bar
• Ginza
• Nihonbashi Bridge
• Yamamoto Nori Ten for Seaweed
• COREDO Muromachi area for Mochi
• Fukutoku Shrine 
• Snack break at DAWN | Avatar Robot Cafe ver.β,
• Tea ceremony at Wasako
• Embarked on random side quests
• Cultural street parade and festival
• Vegetarian Okonomiyaki
• Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center
• Tokyo Tower at night

To shake things up a little bit on the third day in Tokyo, we grabbed a quick, casual breakfast at a spot inside Shinagawa Station. We jumped on a train to Tokyo Station this time instead of the Imperial Palace, and we headed into Chuo City, a ward divided by modern luxury shopping and historic charm. We were making our way to the Nihonbashi neighborhood. 

First stop was an amazing cuppa at Good Coffee Farms Café & Bar. We enjoyed their sustainable and eco-friendly approach. From there, we slowly walked along the historic Nihonbashi Bridge with the perched winged Kirin statues on guard. It was incredible to feel the shift as we transitioned from the ultra-sleek, modern skyscrapers of the new city right into the remodeled historic district.

One of our favorite stops in this area was the historic Yamamoto Nori Ten, a famous seaweed shop, founded in 1849. According to Google Maps, it has relocated the Nihonbashi Main Store to floor 1. We bought a ton of seaweed goodies to take home!

Next up was the Coredo Muromachi area. It’s a fascinating, modern development designed to honor the traditional Edo-period architecture. It is a cute place for food, wine, and shopping. We treated ourselves to some fruit mochi at the Kakuouzan Fruits Daifuku Benzaiten shop. The fruit was so fresh!

Wanting to visit the Fukutoku Shrine, we got in line and went to pay our respects. Make sure you carefully follow the proper traditional procedures for cleansing and bowing at a Japanese shrine.

DAWN | Avatar Robot Cafe ver.β was an unexpected find. We walked past this cafe, and even though we weren’t super hungry or thirsty, we decided to pop in. This cafe is doing incredible work by employing disabled individuals who remotely operate robot servers from home, allowing them to interact with guests and serve coffee.

We spent our afternoon at the Wasako Tea Ceremony Experience. We had pre-booked this experience as it is popular, so head online and reserve your spot early. 

Wasako is run by the wonderfully warm and absolutely hilarious Ryoko-san. This women-owned business offers a modern approach to the tea ceremony. We picked our ceremonial bowl and sweets and got to make our own matcha under the guidance of Ryoko. My only regret was not opting to dress up in a traditional kimono. So, make sure you indulge and get the kimono. I cannot recommend supporting women in tourism enough!

Once the tea ceremony wrapped up, we decided to just go wherever the wind took us on random side quests. We wandered down whatever alley caught our eye, spotted tiny, hidden shrines tucked between buildings, and paused for a well-deserved beer at a craft bar called A.S.A.B. (As Soon As Beerable).

To top it all off, we lucked out and walked right into a random cultural parade and festival! When dinnertime rolled around, we initially looked into eating at Vegan Eat Tokyo, which is usually a solid bet for plant-based travelers, but we honestly weren’t super stoked on their pasta-heavy menu. Hoping we could find some vegetarian-friendly Japanese food, we took a gamble and started walking. 

Walking past an incredible-looking Okonomiyaki restaurant, called Okonomiyaki/monja Shiraiwa Asakusa, we asked if they would accommodate vegetarians. They didn’t have options on the menu, but the chef and server understood the assignment and hooked us up! The waiter did ask us why we were vegetarians, and we had a cute conversation with him about our diet; he was genuinely curious.  

To cap off another great day, we spent the evening wandering around Asakusa at night. We headed up to the top floor of the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center, which, to our surprise, gives you a stunning, free panoramic view of the city and Senso-ji temple.

This is a great place to view the Tokyo Skytree. Honestly, it made missing the Shibuya Sky view sting a little less! This is a totally underrated viewpoint. 

On the way back to our hotel, we hopped off the train to make sure we saw the famous Tokyo Tower lit against the night sky.

Monday – Car rental and hit the road to Nikko

Monday, we had our last breakfast at the hotel, checked out, and made our way to Hertz Car Rental. With an international driver’s license, we rented a car to drive to Nikko for two nights!

Back in Tokyo, A Week Later

We found ourselves in Tokyo a week later for a quick night. This was after we went to:

• Nikko National Park
• Ainokura for a homestay
• Takayama for sake

We were back in Tokyo to catch the Shinkansen to enjoy responsible adventures in Kyoto. We stayed in the convenient and affordable pod hotel 9 HOURS. It was honestly good for a pod hotel. The beds were a bit uncomfortable, but it was clean, safe for women with gender-divided floors, convenient, and had a lower price point than many other places.

More Time in Tokyo?

Here are all the things I would have done with more time 

• Institute for Nature Study for conservation and nature
• National Museum of Nature and Science 
• Aoyama Cemetery
• Shimokitazawa alternative neighborhood
• Sasa-no-Yuki Tofu 
• VEGAN GYOZA
• TofuUkai Shimokitazawa
• Museum of Emerging Science

Comment and share 3 Days in Tokyo

Hopefully, our 3-day itinerary for Tokyo will help some of you strike the right balance between iconic sights and some unexpected finds. Our travel fails are a good lesson learned as well. Make sure you save this guide to Tokyo and things to do in three days to your Japan travel Pinterest boards!