What do you do when you have a few vacation days to use up? You of course pick a place that is so far away and ridiculous to visit for just 2.5 days - that you do it just to see the look on people's faces when you say - yep, I'm going to Tokyo for the weekend! In typical consultant life-style fashion, you learn to research against the perfect traveler trifecta: 1) your preferred airline (United) flight options, 2) Preferrably a direct flight, 3) your preferred hotel chain (Starwood) hotel options. Put that together and Tokyo ended up being the best destination - not to mention ranking on the safest places in the world list (which is very important for a solo female traveler!)

This trip really exceeded all expectations! Read the trip highlights below to hear about my whirlwind tour of Tokyo, as well as the divine intervention of making a friend on day one who quickly became my travel partner in crime for the trip!

Trip Highlights

  • First bit of advice: never be afraid to travel solo.
  • Second: When you are traveling solo - never be afraid to open yourself up to making new friends!
  • So seriously, this story still boggles my mind. We met in the hotel lobby on our first morning in Tokyo while boarding the bus for a tour. Turns out she flew in on my same flight from LA, we took the same airport bus to the same hotel, were on the same tour, and were also on the same flight home Monday evening! Let me introduce you to Trisha - another crazy consultant who also flies to Tokyo for 3 days!
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EJ and Trisha at Asakusa
  • If you are on a whirlwind trip like I was, or just want a really great first day overview of Tokyo - I highly recommended the Hato Bus Dynamic Tokyo Tour. (Thanks Wendy for the tip!)
    • They have hotel pickup, which is perfect when you aren't quite ready to navigate the trains on your own at 7am on your first day in Tokyo.
    • See the photos below for some great to do, to see and to eat highlights from the all-day tour...
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Enjoy the views of the city (and Mt. Fuji in the distance) from Tokyo Tower
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Partake in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony at Happoen Garden.
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Make sure to find the 500 year old Bonsai Trees while at Happoen Garden
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Fill up on a delicious Japanese BBQ lunch at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo
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Walk across the park to view the Imperial Palace Nijubashi Bridge
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Take a 45 minute boat ride down the Sumida river, passing under 12 different and unique bridges
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Welcome to the crowds! Have fun browsing through the souvenir shops and food stands in Asakusa
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Take in the sights, sounds of fortune shakers and smells of incense at the Asakusa Buddhist Temple.
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And when they drop you off at the train station at the end, do some research ahead of time to help figure out which train ticket to buy!
  • Do I even have to say it? Eat some sushi! We walked to a place not far from our hotel in Ebisu - Bikkuri Sushi. We tried a sample of 5 types of tuna sushi, which was delicious. And of course enjoy some sake to wash it all down.
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Dinner at Bikkuri Sushi
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Tuna Sushi
  • Ride the train, walk around, and just get lost! We managed to buy the wrong train ticket, hop on the wrong train (only once), and walk down the wrong street a time or two!  Thanks to google maps though we always found our way (seriously make sure you download google offline maps first).
    • ​The intersections can be pretty overwhelming. Which way do I go?!
    • Thankfully signs are good - like when we were going down a sketchy road looking for Shinjuku Garden and found the sign to the garden entrance just a 6 min walk away. Whew.​​
    • In Shibuya we walked down the wrong street and stumbled upon this awesome pedestrian street lined with American / Foreign stores. So strange!
    • And finally by day 3 - we were high-fiving at the train pros we had become. Ok - pro may be too strong a word. ;)
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Acting like "pros" on the train!
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Intersection outside Yoyogi station
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Thanks for helpful signs. Just a 6 min walk down an ally that lined the garden gate. Have I mentioned how glad I was to have Trisha with me!
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Cat Street - a pedestrian street lined with foreign shops
  • Shinjuku Garden was definitely a highlight of the trip!  We got there first thing in the morning so the crowds were extremely light.  
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Cherry Blossoms at Shinjuku Garden
  • We walked along the paths through the Cherry Trees, the French Garden, the English Garden and the Japanese Traditional Garden.  Each unique, serene and beautiful.  
  • We were obviously on a tight timeline, but could have easily spent another hour there time permitting.
  • ​The best part - we lucked out and saw a few early blooming Cherry Blossoms!!
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The crowds came in quick - thankfully we got some good photos before they did
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Taiwan Pavilion
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Bridges over the pond
  • Visit Meiji Jingu Shrine. It's just two train stops away from Shinjuku Station (that you come out near from Shinjuku garden), so they are easy to visit on the same day.  But beware - when you get off at Harajuku station I'm pretty sure we walked a mile under ground before emerging!
  • Walk down the long, peaceful pathways under multiple Shrine Gates to get to the main Shrine complex in the middle.. The area is surrounded by so many trees you truly feel like you walked under the first gate and escaped the bustling city into a completely different place.​
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Walking through Meiji Shrine
  • Several buildings at Meiji Jingu were under restoration when we were there, but a few things we enjoyed were:
    • Walking around the prayer tree area.  Where people write prayers and wishes on pieces of paper and they are then transcribed onto prayer tablets hung around the tree.
    • Trying to figure out what all the "shaking" noise was, to realize it was wooden boxes filled with sticks that people shake to get one out the top hole.  The sticks are numbered, so you look at your number, put the stick back, and then tell the desk attendant your number so she can give you a piece of paper with your fortune for a nominal fee.
    • Be lucky enough to see a wedding on a Sunday!  We were standing around and they started parting the people - so we knew something was happening.  The bride, groom and bridal party all came out and walked through the Shrine.  Very cool!
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Prayer Tree
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A Sunday Wedding!
  • Go have fun walking across Shibuya Crossing numerous time.  You'll not only enjoy marveling at all the buildings and lights in the entire area, but the sheer volume of people who cross each time is very impressive.  Where do they all come from?!  
    • Try to take a selfie while weaving through all the people
    • Buy starbucks so you can go sit on the 2nd floor and view the crossing from above
    • Go back at night so you can see all the lights in the area.  11pm on a Sunday night - still crowded!  
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Walking across Shibuya Crossing
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Shibuya Crossing at night
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The view from Starbucks
  • Check out the Tsukiji Fish Market.  Thanks to our tour guide on day 1, she told us it was closed on Sunday.  So we had to fit it in Monday before heading to the airport.  So glad we did though - what a neat area!  We took the 40 minute train to Tsukiji Station and walked over to the outer market.  The rows and rows of market shops were definitely fun to walk through.  Trisha was brave enough to try a scallop with sea urchin!  I saved room for Ramen lunch.  
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Trisha and I walking around the fish market
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Mid-morning snack
  • Wrap up your eating adventures with Udon, Ramen and Yakitori (grilled chicken skewers).  Note though - make sure they cook your chicken all the way through!  
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Udon on my first night after arriving - when I could barely keep my eyes open!
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Delicious Ramen that we enjoyed right before heading to the airport
  • On a final note, when in Japan - enjoy the Japenese toilets!  They play music (flushing sounds) when you sit down!  Enough said, right?!  ;)
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Japanese Toilet Features

Slideshow of more Tokyo photos - use right/left control arrows or scroll and click to view

Accomodations

  • I stayed at the Westin Tokyo in the Ebisu area of Tokyo.  I really debated a lot on what part of the city to stay in.  So many choices, each with a long list of pros and cons!  I finally decided on Ebisu though, and I'm so glad I did.  It was in a nice quiet part of town - but not only had a shopping center (Yebisu Garden Place) directly across the street with many restaurant options, but was also a very easy 10 minute walk (almost completely covered walkways) to the Ebisu train station.    Unlike a lot of Westins, this one had a club lounge, so if you have hotel status - you can grab breakfast and evening snacks.  
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