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!
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
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- 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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- 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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- 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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- 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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- On a final note, when in Japan - enjoy the Japenese toilets! They play music (flushing sounds) when you sit down! Enough said, right?! ;)
Slideshow of more Tokyo photos - use right/left control arrows or scroll and click to view
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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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