Tokyo Metropole & Greater Kanto · Tokyo, Asakusa

Asakusa, Ueno and Skytree: old Tokyo in one day

Senso-ji before the tourists arrive, Kappabashi's kitchen knife street, Ueno Park and the National Museum, Ameyoko Market, and a sunset finish up Skytree, with dinner at its foot.

This day is the Tokyo of the past, east of all the skyscrapers. You start early in Asakusa, while the temple is still empty, walk west through the kitchenware street to Ueno Park, eat lunch in the market under the tracks, and go up to Yanaka. Toward sunset you cross the river east to Skytree, and stay there for dinner. Most of the day is on foot, with a few short rides of a station or two.

This day is part of: The Golden Route in a week: Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto and Osaka, day by day · Tokyo and Kyoto in 5 days: two in Tokyo, three in Kyoto · Ten days in Japan: Tokyo, Hakone, the Alps, Kyoto and Osaka · Two weeks in Japan: Tokyo, Nikko, Hakone, the Alps, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Osaka

Verified online, October 20268 stops · 07:30 to 20:00¥8,600 · ≈ $54 per personWalking between stops: 95 min · Transport: ¥500Must on a first tripGood with kidsLots of walkingShabbat-friendly

The day on a map

8 stops, in order

Stops: 8
Walking minutes: 60

Stop number on the timelineWalkingTrain, metro or busBase map: © OpenStreetMap

Open this day in Google Maps

The same stops with the same numbers, and the way from stop to stop. On a phone it opens in the app, and that is what you navigate with in Japan. Pin names on the map are in Hebrew.

On Shabbat: Senso-ji, Nakamise, Kappabashi, Sumida Park and the illuminated temple: all free and on foot if you sleep in Asakusa. Skip Ueno (train) and Skytree, and instead walk along the river to Kototoi Bridge and the free observation deck of the Asahi building.

Getting there: Start at Asakusa Station (the Metro's Ginza Line, or the Asakusa Line). Exit 1 leads straight to Kaminarimon, the red gate with the giant lantern.

07:3009:00
Stop 1TempleMust
Senso-ji and Kaminarimon Gate before the crowds
You start the day under the red lantern of Kaminarimon and walk along Nakamise to the oldest temple in Tokyo. It is always open and free. At 07:30 the street is still closed behind painted shutters, and that is actually pretty: you have the place almost to yourselves. Draw a fortune slip (omikuji, ¥100), and if it comes out bad, tie it up and leave it there.
¥100 · ≈ $1Open in Maps About this place
Back to Nakamise
- Walk · 3 minThe same street you came in on, only now the shutters are going up and the stalls are opening.
09:1510:00
Stop 2BreakfastRecommended
Breakfast on Nakamise
At around 09:00 the street wakes up. This is a breakfast of stalls: pick one or two and eat standing next to the stall, not while walking. That is the custom in Japan.
- Kagetsudo¥300
  A giant melon pan, crisp outside and airy inside, hot from the oven. Opens at 09:00 and closes when it sells out.
- Kimuraya¥600
  Ningyo-yaki: small cakes filled with red bean paste, shaped like a dove, a pagoda and a lantern. Buy a hot bag.
- Cafe Tengoku¥1,100 to ¥1,400
  If you want to sit down: hotcakes and coffee in an old cafe with 15 seats. Cash only.
- Kosher or vegan? Every kosher and vegan place in this city
¥700 · ≈ $4Open in Maps About this place
On to Kappabashi
- Walk · 12 minWest along the main road, until you see a giant chef's head on the roof of a building. That is where the street starts.
- or: Metro · 7 min · ¥180Ginza Line from Asakusa to Tawaramachi, one station, plus a 5-minute walk. It does not save time, only steps.
On the way you can stop at:
Denboin Street: About 200 meters of Edo-style shopfronts crossing Nakamise. Less crowded than the main street.
Shin-Nakamise: A covered arcade of about 380 meters. This is the way to go on a rainy day.
10:1511:15
Stop 3ShoppingRecommended
Kappabashi: the street of kitchenware and knives
800 meters of shops where Tokyo's chefs buy their gear: Japanese knives (Kama-Asa), ceramics, and plastic food that looks real, a souvenir you will not find anywhere else. Tax-free with a passport. If you buy a knife: it travels home in the suitcase, not the carry-on.
FreeOpen in Maps About this place
On to Ueno Park and the museum
- Walk · 25 minWest to Ueno Station, then north through the park to the museum at its far end.
- or: Metro · 18 min · ¥180Ginza Line from Tawaramachi to Ueno, 2 stations, 3 minutes. From the station it is about 15 more minutes on foot through the park.
On the way you can stop at:
Ueno Toshogu: A shrine from 1651 with a gold-covered hall, 5 minutes from the museum. ¥700 for the inner precinct.
11:4513:30
Stop 4MuseumRecommended
Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park
The largest collection of Japanese art in the world: samurai swords, armor, kimono and Buddhas. Do not try to see everything: the main building (Honkan) alone is a good hour and a half. Closed on Mondays. With children, swap the museum for Ueno Zoo (¥600), in the same park.
¥1,000 · ≈ $6Open in Maps About this place
Down to lunch
- Walk · 15 minSouth through the park to Ueno Station. The market starts right across the road, under the tracks.
On the way you can stop at:
Shinobazu Pond and Bentendo: A small temple hall on an island in the middle of the pond, free. The lotuses bloom from mid-July through August.
13:4514:45
Stop 5LunchRecommended
Lunch break in Ueno
You have reached Ameyoko, a market that began as a black market after the war and stayed loud and grubby in the good sense. Stop here for an hour. There is more than one way to eat:
- Ameyoko stalls, under the tracks¥1,000 to ¥1,500
  A bowl of sashimi on rice (kaisendon), skewers and fruit on a stick. Fast, cheap and loud.
- T's Tantan, inside JR Ueno StationVegan, not kosher
  Vegan tantan ramen. The restaurant is inside the ticket gates, on the 3rd floor near the Iriya Gate, so you tap in and eat on the way to the train. Open 10:00 to 22:00, until 21:00 on Sundays and holidays.
- Ueno Seiyoken, inside the parkLunch from ¥3,000
  A Western-style restaurant that has been here since 1876, facing Shinobazu Pond. For those who want to sit somewhere quiet.
- Mihashi, next to Ameyoko¥840
  For dessert, not a meal: anmitsu, agar cubes with fruit and cream, in a sweet shop from 1948.
- Kosher or vegan? Every kosher and vegan place in this city
¥1,500 · ≈ $10Open in Maps About this place
15:0016:30
Break
A rest at the hotel, if you are staying nearby
This day starts at 07:30 and ends around 20:00, and that is a lot. If your hotel is in Asakusa or Ueno, go back now for an hour and a half: a shower, feet up, and out again at 16:30 in time for sunset. From Ueno to Asakusa it is the Ginza Line, 3 stations, 5 minutes, ¥180. If you are staying farther away, in Shinjuku or Shibuya, do not go back: the ride is about half an hour each way and eats the whole break. Your rest is the next stop, Yanaka, the quietest neighborhood of this day.
On to Yanaka
- Train · 15 min · ¥160JR Yamanote Line from Ueno to Nippori, 2 stations, about 4 minutes. From the West Exit it is a 5-minute walk to the Yuyake Dandan steps, which lead down into the street.
15:1516:15
Stop 6DistrictIf there is time
Yanaka Ginza: the shitamachi that was never destroyed
If you skipped the hotel, you get Yanaka instead. The neighborhood survived the earthquake and the bombings, so it looks like the Tokyo of a hundred years ago: an old shopping street, cats, a cafe in a former public building, and a cemetery with cherry trees. Nobody is in a hurry here.
¥500 · ≈ $3Open in Maps About this place
Ride to Skytree
- Train · 40 min · ¥340Back to Nippori Station, JR Yamanote Line to Ueno (2 stations, ¥160), and change there to the Ginza Line to its last station, Asakusa (3 stations, 5 minutes, ¥180). From Asakusa cross the river on foot over the Sumida River Walk bridge, 20 minutes to the tower.
- or: Train · 25 min · ¥500The same route, but from Asakusa ride one station on the Tobu Skytree Line, 3 minutes, ¥160, instead of walking.
On the way you can stop at:
Tokyo Mizumachi: A row of shops and cafes under the railway bridge, along a small canal from the river to the tower. This is the reason to walk and not ride.
Ushijima Shrine: Skytree's guardian shrine, with an ox statue you rub on the spot where your own body hurts. Free.
17:0018:30
Stop 7ViewpointRecommended
Tokyo Skytree: 634 meters, sunset
The hour is chosen on purpose: you go up in daylight, watch the city light up, and come down in the dark. This is the tallest tower in Japan, 634 meters. Since April 2026 every day has its own price by demand: the 350-meter deck from ¥1,800 online up to ¥3,600 on busy days, and at the ticket counter on site an extra ¥500. Buy online and skip the line. To save money: the view from the riverbank in Sumida Park is free, and the tower is lit up from there.
¥1,800 · ≈ $11An online ticket with a time slot saves the lineOpen in Maps About this place
Down to dinner
- Walk · 5 minFrom the tower's exit straight into Solamachi, the shopping center at its base. The restaurant floors are open until 23:00.
18:4020:00
Stop 8DinnerRecommended
Dinner at Solamachi, at the foot of the tower
You end the day at the foot of Skytree. Oshiage and Tokyo Skytree stations are right by the tower, and from there you head back to the hotel. If you still have energy, walk 20 minutes back over the Sumida River Walk bridge, which is open until 22:00: Senso-ji is lit until 23:00 and almost empty, the opposite of the morning, and in the alleys west of it, on Hoppy Street and at Sometaro, evening Asakusa belongs to the locals. Eat here:
- Solamachi's restaurant floors
  On floors 6 and 7, restaurants serving dishes from different regions of Japan, and on floors 30 and 31, about 150 meters up, restaurants with a view of the tower. Open 11:00 to 23:00, some restaurants keep other hours.
- Rokurinsha: tsukemen¥1,000
  Tsukemen, thick cold noodles you dip into a dense broth. Order the special with egg. Open 10:30 to 22:30.
- Kosher or vegan? Every kosher and vegan place in this city
¥3,000 · ≈ $19Open in Maps

Asakusa, Ueno and Skytree: old Tokyo in one day

8 stops, in order

Senso-ji and Kaminarimon Gate before the crowds

Breakfast on Nakamise

Kappabashi: the street of kitchenware and knives

Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park

Lunch break in Ueno

A rest at the hotel, if you are staying nearby

Yanaka Ginza: the shitamachi that was never destroyed

Tokyo Skytree: 634 meters, sunset

Dinner at Solamachi, at the foot of the tower

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