Nobody will tell you that Tokyo would feel like this. The scale, the noise, the smell of ramen drifting out or the incense drifting from a shrine. You will see...
tyl
April 4, 2026
Nobody will tell you that Tokyo would feel like this. The scale, the noise, the smell of ramen drifting out or the incense drifting from a shrine. You will see skyscrapers tucked in between. That’s the beauty of Tokyo. It is loud yet quiet. Old yet new. Full of contrasts that almost feels like a fictional book but once you are here, it feels real.
Whether it’s your first visit or fifth, there is always more to find. The top things to do in Tokyo that live up to the hype, hunting for unusual things to do in Tokyo that go beyond the guidebook basics. Moreover, the things to do after midnight, yes, midnight, yes, absolutely, when the city stops being a postcard and becomes something you actually want to live inside.
Neighbourhoods. Temples. Night markets. Kid-friendly chaos. Solo-traveller gold. We have covered it all in this guide for you so that your energy, time and yen can be spent wisely.
Top Things to Do in Tokyo
Look, the quirky stuff is coming, Tokyo has plenty of it. But before you go down that rabbit hole, there are a few experiences that you would regret skipping. Not the overhyped, overpriced kind. The kind that earn their reputation every single day. Start here.
Walk Shibuya Crossing
You have seen it on Instagram and in films. But how about standing in the middle of Shibuya Crossing while a thousand people flow around you in every direction. It is chaotic and unusually beautiful.
Go at around 8-9 AM or 6-8 PM, when there is rush. Then you can also head up to the Mag’s Park rooftop on the Shibuya 109-2 building to watch it from above. It is a unique experience to have.
Explore Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa
Senso-ji is Tokyo’s oldest temple. You can come early at around 8 AM. The place feels meditative around this time. While in the afternoon, it gets crowded. Next, head to the Nakamise shopping street to pick up souvenirs for yourself and your loved ones.
Get some ningyo (traditional dolls), sembei (rice crackers), and wagashi (Japanese sweets). Additionally, we suggest you explore the side streets of Asakusa. You will find craft workshops, small museums, and the best traditional craft shops.
Visit Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park
Meiji Shrine is perfect for someone who wants a chill vibe. Tucked inside 70 hectares of forest in the heart of the city, the walk through the torii gate and under the trees feels worlds away from the noise outside.
Then step next door into Yoyogi Park, where the city comes out to play. You will notice picnickers, musicians, dancers, and performers if visiting during weekends. It is unhurried and totally wonderful.
See the City from Tokyo Skytree or Tokyo Tower
Both are iconic and famous. You will get to see pretty views of the city from both. And on a clear day, Mount Fuji can be seen in the distance. Tokyo Skytree is the taller and newer of the two (634 metres), with a sleek observation deck.
While Tokyo Tower has old-school charm and better views of the tower. Make sure your phone is charged for some amazing pictures. If you are choosing one: go to Tokyo Tower for the atmosphere and Skytree for the views.
Fun Things to Do in Tokyo: Go Beyond the Bucket List
Once you have got the classics ticked off, Tokyo really opens up. This is where the city gets personal.
Spend a Morning in Yanaka
While the rest of Tokyo was busy reinventing itself, Yanaka simply didn’t bother. It survived the bombs, the earthquakes, and the relentless push toward modernisation. Walking through it feels like stepping back 60 or 70 years.
Narrow streets, wooden houses, and a cemetery that’s more peaceful garden than anything mournful. You find an independent coffee shop, then a pottery studio, then somehow a cat cafe, then a tiny gallery showing work you won’t find anywhere else. This one is definitely for explorers.
Eat Your Way Through Tsukiji Outer Market
The fish market moved, but nobody told Tsukiji. The outer market is still very much alive, bustling, smoky, and absolutely worth an early start. Show up hungry because you will eat well: fresh tamagoyaki, sea urchin on toast, yakitori, and tuna sashimi that might be the best you have ever had.
We suggest you go during weekday mornings, before the weekend crowds arrive and the queues start testing your patience.
Get Lost in Akihabara
You don’t need to be a gamer or an anime fan to enjoy Akihabara. The neighbourhood has its own intense energy, floor after floor of electronics, figurines, retro game cartridges, mechanical keyboards, and gadgets you can’t name but somehow want.
Even the department stores here feel like alternate universes. If you are into retro gaming specifically, the used games floors are heaven. If you want to understand Japanese pop culture from the inside, this is the neighbourhood that explains it best.
Day Trip to Nikko or Kamakura
Tokyo is extraordinary, but the countryside around it rewards the effort of leaving. Kamakura, about an hour south, offers a completely different pace, the Great Buddha, hiking trails, and the easy energy of a coastal town that has no interest in rushing you. It’s a full day, comfortably.
Two hours north, Nikko is something else entirely. The Tosho-gu shrine complex sits deep in cedar forest and is, by any measure, one of the most elaborate and theatrical things Japan has produced. Give both a full day. Take the early train, come back in the evening, and return to Tokyo with fresh eyes.
Tokyo DisneySea
If you have a bit of extra time in your itinerary, a visit to Tokyo DisneySea is absolutely worth considering. It is not your typical Disney park, instead, it feels more immersive, beautifully designed, and surprisingly detailed in every corner.
Even if you are not a big Disney fan, the experience stands out for its unique themed zones, creative rides, and overall atmosphere. It is easily one of the most memorable things to do in Tokyo, especially if you are travelling with family or simply want something different.
Unusual Things to Do in Tokyo: The Side Nobody Tells You About
This is where Tokyo really earns its reputation. The city has a talent for the wonderfully strange, the quietly unexpected, and the deeply specific.
Visit a Themed Café
Cat cafes are just the beginning. Tokyo’s themed café scene runs deep with owl cafes, hedgehog cafes, reptile cafes, rabbit cafes. Then there are cafes styled as Victorian mansions, prisons, and the full spectacle of Akihabara’s maid cafes, where the theme is committed to with impressive sincerity.
Are some of them gimmicks? Yes. Are some of them completely wonderful? Also yes. The animal cafes tend to be the highlight, especially if you arrive with an open mind and sensible expectations about what the animals are getting out of the arrangement.
Explore the Nakameguro Canal at Night
For a few weeks every spring, Nakameguro becomes one of the most photographed places in Japan. However, fewer people realise it’s worth visiting the rest of the year too and after the dark especially.
The canal is lined with independent boutiques, good restaurants, and coffee shops that know what they’re doing. At night, with the lights on the water, it has an almost cinematic quality. Less crowded than sakura season, and honestly just as good.
Spend an Evening in a Depachika
If you only go to one department store in Tokyo, go straight to the basement. Depachika, the food halls beneath places like Isetan in Shinjuku or Mitsukoshi in Ginza are extraordinary. Beautifully packaged sweets, artisan pickles, handmade noodles, seasonal confectionery, bento boxes that belong in a gallery.
All of it immaculate, all of it delicious. Graze the samples, pick up dinner, and prepare to rethink your entire relationship with food presentation. This is not just shopping. This is Tokyo showing off, and it earns it.
Walk the Tocho Observation Deck (It’s Free)
Skip the Skytree queue and the entrance fee. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku has a free observation deck, the views are just as good, and almost nobody knows about it.
It’s open most evenings until 10:30 PM, the vibe is calm and local, and the money you save is better spent on ramen. Sometimes the best things in Tokyo cost nothing. This is one of them.
Try a Capsule Hotel (at Least Once)
Capsule hotels aren’t about luxury, they are about experience. Your own compact pod, a curtain between you and the world, and the quiet satisfaction of sleeping in something that shouldn’t work but somehow does.
Many of the better ones now have shared baths or onsen facilities that elevate the whole thing well beyond a gimmick. Not for everyone. But for one night? Absolutely worth it.
Things to Do in Tokyo at Night: The City After Dark
Tokyo after dark is a different city. The neon gets a little brighter, the energy shifts, some neighbourhoods come alive with noise while others go quietly their own way. Whatever you thought you knew about the place from the daylight hours, set it aside. The real show starts at sunset.
Drink in Golden Gai, Shinjuku
Golden Gai in Shinjuku is exactly what it sounds like, a golden mess of tiny bars, narrow alleys, and more character per square metre than anywhere else in the city. There are over 200 of them, some are themed around jazz or whisky or horror films.
Some are just a room with a few stools and a person who knows how to pour a drink. Not every bar will welcome you with open arms, some have cover charges, some quietly prefer regulars. But plenty do. Go without an agenda, and just see where you end up.
Explore Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane)
Omoide Yokocho, Memory Lane is everything a great food alley should be. Smoky, ancient, a little chaotic and super tasty. Chicken, pork belly, ginkgo nuts, vegetables: all charcoal-grilled and best enjoyed with a cold Sapporo in hand.
From around 7 PM it gets busy. Grab a stool, point at whatever’s sizzling, and wash it all down with cold Sapporo. No reservations, no fuss, just really good food and a lot of smoke.
Catch a View from Roppongi Hills
Want the best view of Tokyo at night? You can head to the Mori Art Museum at the top of Roppongi Hills which has a sky deck with one of the best 360-degree views of Tokyo. It stays open until midnight on weekends, making it one of the best things to do in Tokyo at night.
Next, head downstairs to Roppongi. It is the most internationally flavored corner of Tokyo. It is louder, busier with plenty of bars, clubs, and restaurants.
Watch a Baseball Game at Tokyo Dome
The Yomiuri Giants play at Tokyo Dome in the Bunkyo area, and attending a Japanese baseball game is nothing like attending one in Europe. The crowd is choreographed, the chanting is organised, the food is good, and the atmosphere is electric even in the nosebleeds.
Check the schedule before you go, it is one of the most fun things to do in Tokyo that most first-time visitors don’t think to book.
Are There Things to Do After Midnight in Tokyo?
Absolutely. This is one of the great misunderstandings about Tokyo, people assume it shuts down early. Parts of it do. But entire districts barely get started before 11 PM.
The Club Scene in Shibuya and Roppongi
If you think Tokyo is all about shrines and sushi, wait until you find its club scene. Venues like Womb in Shibuya host world-class DJs with entry fees cheap compared to what you would pay in Europe or the US.
The one rule: don’t show up early. Tokyo nightlife runs on its own clock. Eat, explore, nap if you have to. Trust the process.
24-Hour Ramen Shops
Tokyo’s ramen scene does not sleep quite literally. Head to Shinjuku or Shibuya at 2 AM and you will find salarymen, night owls, and travellers all united by one thing: a really good bowl of noodles.
For a little different experience, try ichiran for the solo booth experience. You order on a form, food appears through a small hatch, and you eat in quiet, focused peace. It sounds antisocial. It is deeply satisfying.
Karaoke Until Dawn
Karaoke in Tokyo is a whole different world. You can hire a room by the hour, order drinks, and sing your heart out with no audience to cringe your high notes. Oh, and most places are open 24 hours.
The price drops significantly after midnight. Book a room with friends, order highballs and edamame, and sing your way to sunrise. It is one of the best answers to “are there things to do after midnight in Tokyo?” and one of the most fun.
Walk the Empty Streets at 4 AM
This one sounds unusual but hear us out. Tokyo at 4 AM is a uniquely surreal experience. The clubs have wound down, the streets are quiet. The vending machines still glow. A ramen shop is lit up somewhere.
The city becomes understandable in a different way during this time. It is not something you plan. It just happens randomly when you are out late and go for a walk rather than taking a cab.
Seasonal Things to Do in Tokyo: Timing Matters
Visiting Tokyo in different months means different experiences.
Spring (March–May): Spring in Tokyo and cherry blossoms cannot be separated. And yes, they are as beautiful as everyone says. The best spots to see are Shinjuku Gyoen and Ueno Park. Also, peak bloom season fills up fast. Book your hotel early, and you will thank yourself later.
Summer (June–August): It gets humid during these months. Full of festivals too. One of the biggest events you can experience is the Sumida River Fireworks in late July. Tokyo feels alive during this time.
Autumn (September–November): We suggest you go during these months. The humidity drops and the city feels beautiful. Autumn foliage in places like Rikugien Garden rivals spring blossom for sheer loveliness.
Winter (December–February): Cold? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely. The Christmas illuminations in Marunouchi and Omotesando are stunning. And if you are there for New Year, head to Meiji or Asakusa Shrine. It’s the kind of moment Tokyo doesn’t advertise, it just gives.
The Pre-Trip Checklist
Getting around: You can get a Suica or Pasmo card for the metro and buses. The system is excellent and navigable. Use Google Maps for directions. Works pretty well.
Eating: Do not think too much. Point at things. Follow queues. Eat in places that look busy with locals. Tokyo has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city in the world, but it also has ¥600 bowls of ramen that are as good as anything you’ll eat anywhere.
Tipping: Don’t. It’s not part of the culture and can occasionally cause embarrassment. Good service is simply the standard.
Language: The metro is well signed in English, and tourist areas are easy enough to navigate without a word of Japanese. But learn two phrases anyway: arigatou gozaimasu (thank you) and sumimasen (excuse me).
Wi-Fi: Grab a SIM card at the airport. Most cafes have Wi-Fi anyway, but having your own connection means Google Maps works when you need it, not just when you happen to be sitting down with a coffee.
Final Thoughts: Why Tokyo Stays With You?
Most cities ask something of you. What Tokyo asks is for your attention, curiosity to try something unusual, your willingness to explore without a plan and trust that something interesting is around the next corner. And we promise you that this city will give back more than you expected.
It’s a city where the top things to do in Tokyo are genuinely worth doing, where the unusual things to do in Tokyo are genuinely unusual, and where the answer to “are there things to do after midnight in Tokyo?” is always, reliably, yes.
Go without too rigid an itinerary. Leave whole afternoons unplanned. Don’t be afraid to say yes to things that seem strange. Sometimes the best moments which you will talk about for ages are the ones that you did not book in advance.
FAQs
What are the best things to do in Tokyo for first-time visitors?
First-time visitors should explore Shibuya Crossing, Senso-ji Temple, Meiji Shrine, and Tokyo Tower. These iconic attractions offer a mix of culture, history, and city views that perfectly introduce Tokyo’s unique atmosphere.
Are there unusual things to do in Tokyo beyond tourist spots?
Yes, Tokyo offers unique experiences like themed cafes, exploring Yanaka’s old streets, visiting depachika food halls, and discovering hidden neighborhoods that showcase the city’s quirky and less touristy side.
What are the best things to do in Tokyo at night?
At night, explore Golden Gai bars, Omoide Yokocho food alley, Roppongi nightlife, and Tokyo skyline views. The city transforms after dark with vibrant energy, making nightlife one of Tokyo’s highlights.
Are there things to do in Tokyo after midnight?
Yes, Tokyo has a lively late-night scene with 24-hour ramen shops, karaoke, clubs in Shibuya, and quiet early-morning walks. Some areas stay active well past midnight with plenty to experience.
What is the best time to visit Tokyo for sightseeing?
Spring and autumn are ideal due to pleasant weather and seasonal beauty like cherry blossoms or fall foliage. These seasons make exploring Tokyo’s parks, temples, and streets more enjoyable and comfortable.
How many days are enough to explore Tokyo?
Three to five days are enough to explore Tokyo’s main attractions, neighborhoods, food scene, and day trips. However, longer stays allow deeper exploration of hidden gems and unique local experiences.
What are the best neighborhoods to explore in Tokyo?
Top neighborhoods include Shibuya for nightlife, Asakusa for tradition, Shinjuku for entertainment, Akihabara for anime culture, and Ginza for shopping. Each area offers a completely different side of Tokyo.
