My Ultimate Easy Guide - Tokyo: Tips, Costs and Itineraries

My Ultimate Easy Guide to Tokyo

It was in my senior high school period when I had my first encounter with a real Japanese person. This guy was an understudy at the University and had the assignment to help the Japanese language teacher at my high school. Since that time, I have always wanted to visit this country. More than 15 years later, I was able to be there after a longer journey from Europe instead of from Indonesia, where I was born.

In this post, I want to share my ultimate easy guide to Tokyo, Japan.

However, there are a few things you should know before you visit to avoid stress, overspending, and, like me, spending too much time trying to find a free Wi-Fi network.

Ten tips for a successful Tokyo visit:

1. Water

I had no problems drinking the tap water from the hotel I stayed in. However, as a precaution, I chose to drink bottled water. One thing I did not want was to get sick during my visit just because I wanted to save some euros. It is also easy to get bottled water because you will find vending machines on almost every street corner.

2. Food

It is heaven. I love to eat Japanese food, especially sushi. You can find it everywhere. In my experience, street foods are all right and safe. I have no problems after eating them.

3. Alcohol

I love to drink beer. Moreover, the price for imported beer such as Heineken is quite high compared to Amsterdam. I did not try the famous Japanese sake at all. The reason is that I am not interested in it.

4. Airport Transfer

The cheapest way is to get there by public transport. My husband and I wanted to get it easy after a long flight, so we took a taxi from Haneda Airport to Akasaka. It was okay, but if your airport is Narita, the taxi fare can be much more expensive regarding the distance from the airport to the Tokyo centre. Our flight from Tokyo to Bangkok was very early in the morning from Narita, and we chose the taxi to be easier and more comfortable since we had large luggage and were afraid of being late for our flight. Airport limousines are available from some hotels, which are more expensive than metro + bus connections.

5. Commute inside Tokyo

We walked a lot! However, it was also convenient to take the metro when we saw that the distance would take more than one hour to walk. Taxi rides can be quite expensive, and you will see less. Go for a walk and wander.

6. Mobile Internet and WIFI

I used to visit Asia, and it is quite easy to acquire a pre-paid temporary mobile SIM card for data use only. However, it works differently in Japan. Your mobile network roaming service will not guarantee that you can connect to any Japanese network, and this kind of connection will be very expensive.

So, if you want to get online with your mobile devices in Japan, please try the following:

1. Hiring a smartphone with or without Data (expensive option)

2. Renting data only

3. SIM / MICROSIM Rental for use on your mobile device

4. Connecting to public WIFI networks. This is my recommendation since it is cheap, and I only use the Internet for Google Maps (replaceable using an offline navigation app) and a few social media updates.

5. Rent a WIFI-pocket (might be the best option). More information on this topic

7. Travel Guide Book

Go for a non-conventional travel guidebook. I always get the Louis Vuitton City Guide whenever I visit a city. Of course, it is not available for all the cities in the world, but major cities are often in the collection. However, I never use travel books to determine where I go or do; it is just a bit of guidance and inspiration. This way, I found interesting places and places that were off-route. Unfortunately, this book is not well up to date, some places mentions in the book are either moved or closed for business (mostly restaurants and shops).

8. Hotel

Hotels can be expensive, even for a small room. But one thing is that if you do your research well, the quality will be above and beyond. For example, in the hotel we stayed in, Akasaka, the amenities were perfect (no skin rash because of the shaving blades or shaving cream, and the toothbrush is just so smooth and perfect), not to mention a clean rain shower. The room has a pre-warm toilet with its toilet douche with options like different types of spray intensity or water temperatures. When we said we could not have breakfast on the last day, they refunded the breakfast fee with no hassle.

9. Shopping

In almost every store in Tokyo, shopping is totally excellent for tourists. Not only extra discounts for visitors but tax-free shopping is also simplified. Most stores have two prices, with and without tax. So, if you are a tourist, show your passport (not a copy); all you need to pay is the tax-free price. No more long queues at the airport Tax-Free counters. Remember this: always bring your passport with you when you go out shopping, and the Japanese pricing is higher for most brands, especially when you come from Europe. But there are enough unique clothing items to get as a souvenir.

10. Navigate

I used an offline navigation app to navigate since I did not have a mobile internet connection and lacked research. However, there are enough offline maps and navigation tools, such as the one from GPSmyCity.

What are the costs?

1. Airport taxi – from Haneda Airport to our hotel in Akasaka – 7,630 ¥ (€ 66,50)

2. MOMAT Tokyo – Every first Sunday of the month and International Museum Day, May 18) is a FREE entrance. On other days, the price of admission for one adult is 430 ¥ (€ 3,74)

3. Airport taxi – from our hotel to Narita Airport – 23,570 ¥ (€ 212,54)

4. Bottle of water – 108,49 ¥ (€ 0,947)

5. Metro – 3 stations – 170 ¥ (€ 1,48)

6. Hotel in Akasaka – four nights with breakfast – 50,328 ¥ (€ 439,08)

7. Japanese dinner – mid. class restaurant – 5,500 ¥ (€ 47,91)

8. Domestic Beer (0.5-liter draught) – 360,00 ¥ (€ 3,15)

9. Imported Beer (0.33-liter bottle) – 560,00 ¥ (€ 4,87)

10. Cappuccino (regular) – 405,00 ¥ (€ 3,53)

11. Western lunch in Burger King (Burger and fries) – 695.00 ¥ (€ 6,05)