Tokyo Metropole & Greater Kanto · Tokyo, Roppongi

Azabudai Hills, teamLab Borderless, Tokyo Tower and Roppongi

The day of new, tall Tokyo: the complex that opened in 2023 with the best digital museum in the city, the temple below the red Tokyo Tower, and in the evening an art museum on floor 53 with a night view.

The day of new, tall Tokyo. You start in the morning at Zojo-ji temple below Tokyo Tower, go up the tower, and enter teamLab Borderless at Azabudai Hills, the complex that opened in 2023. In the afternoon you move on to Roppongi, to the National Art Center and Roppongi Hills, and in the evening you go up to the Mori Art Museum and the observatory above the city. The whole morning is on foot, a kilometer and a half; to Roppongi you ride one station on the Hibiya Line, or walk 25 minutes. Do not do this day on a Tuesday: the National Art Center is closed, and the Mori Art Museum closes at 17:00.

Verified online, September 20269 stops · 09:00 to 22:00¥16,000 · ≈ $101 per personWalking between stops: 62 min · Transport: ¥180Rain-friendlyBook Borderless in advanceNight with a view

The day on a map

9 stops, in order

Stops: 9
Walking minutes: 52

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.

Getting there: Start at Zojo-ji. The nearest stations are Onarimon (Exit A1) and Shibakoen (Exit A4) on the Toei Mita Line, about 3 minutes on foot. If you come on the Hibiya Line, get off at Kamiyacho, which leads straight into Azabudai Hills: from there Tokyo Tower is a 10-minute walk, and the temple is beyond it.

09:0009:45
Stop 1TempleRecommended
Zojo-ji: the temple with Tokyo Tower in the background
You start at the Tokugawa family temple. Behind it stands the red tower, and this is the classic photo of old and new Tokyo. Along the grounds are rows of small Jizo statues with red caps, in memory of unborn children. Entry is free, and it is quiet in the morning.
FreeOpen in Maps About this place
Up to Tokyo Tower
- Walk · 5 minLeave from the west side of the grounds, near Shiba Toshogu shrine, and carry on to the base of the tower. About 450 meters.
On the way you can stop at:
Shiba Toshogu and the great ginkgo: A small Shinto shrine in Shiba Park, with a ginkgo tree more than 350 years old, planted by the third shogun in 1641. Free.
10:0011:15
Stop 2ViewpointRecommended
Tokyo Tower: the Main Deck at 150 meters
The tower from 1958, red and white, inspired by the Eiffel Tower and 13 meters taller than it. The Main Deck is ¥1,500, and the Top Deck (250 meters) on a guided tour about ¥3,300. The view is lower than the one from Skytree, but it is in the center of the city, and you can see the sea. On weekends you can climb the 600 steps instead of taking the elevator, on the same ticket, and at the end you get a certificate.
¥1,500 · ≈ $10Open in Maps About this place
On to Azabudai Hills
- Walk · 10 minFrom the base of the tower walk northwest, up the hill, to Azabudai Hills. About 600 meters.
11:3013:30
Stop 3MuseumMust
teamLab Borderless at Azabudai Hills
The digital museum came back in 2024 in a new location: rooms without borders where the artworks flow from one to the next, an infinite waterfall, the lantern room. The price is dynamic by date, ¥3,600 to ¥5,600, and you book online with a time slot. It takes at least two hours. Wear comfortable shoes, and dark clothes reflect less. The difference from Planets: here you do not get wet.
¥4,200 · ≈ $27Must book online with a time slotOpen in Maps About this place
Down to lunch
- Walk · 3 minThe market is in the neighboring building of the same complex, Garden Plaza C, on the ground floor and in the basement.
13:3014:30
Stop 4LunchRecommended
Lunch break in Azabudai Hills
The complex opened in 2023, and at its center is the tallest building in Japan (330 meters). The gardens between the towers are free. Eat inside the complex, and choose:
- Azabudai Hills MarketAbout ¥2,000
  A food market of 33 shops on the ground floor and in the basement of Garden Plaza C: sushi, yakitori, a bakery and a sake shop, with seating at Kameido Gyoza, Parlor Yazawa (hamburg steak) and the banh mi stall. Pricey for Tokyo, but no lines. Open 10:00 to 20:00.
- AlchemyVegan, not kosher¥2,500 to ¥3,500
  A fully plant-based restaurant, with no meat, fish, eggs or dairy, and a salad bar. On the 4th floor of Tower Plaza, with a terrace. Open 11:00 to 20:00, last order 19:30.
- Kosher or vegan? Every kosher and vegan place in this city
¥2,000 · ≈ $13Open in Maps
14:3016:00
Break
A rest at the hotel, if you are staying on the Hibiya Line
The day starts at 09:00 and ends at 22:00, and the evening still holds the Mori Art Museum, dinner and Roppongi at night. Azabudai Hills is connected to Kamiyacho Station on the Hibiya Line, and that line is your way home: 7 minutes to Ginza, 9 minutes to Ebisu, ¥180 each way. If you are staying in Roppongi or Azabu, walk. At 16:00 head out again on the Hibiya Line to Roppongi Station, which is connected to Roppongi Hills by an underground passage: 10 minutes from Ginza, 6 minutes from Ebisu, ¥180. If you are staying in Shinjuku, do not go back: from Kamiyacho it is a 20-minute ride with a change each way, and with the walking it eats most of the break. Your rest is the next stop, the cafe on top of the inverted cone at the National Art Center.
Over to Roppongi
- Metro · 15 min · ¥180Hibiya Line from Kamiyacho to Roppongi, one station, 3 minutes. The station is connected to Azabudai Hills, and from Exit 4a at Roppongi Station it is about a 5-minute walk to the museum.
- or: Walk · 25 minAbout 2 km, through the Roppongi crossing and from there northwest to the museum.
14:4516:00
Stop 5MuseumIf there is time
The National Art Center: Kisho Kurokawa's wavy building
If you did not go back to the hotel, rest here. A museum with no permanent collection, only rotating exhibitions, in Kisho Kurokawa's wavy glass building. Entry to the building is free, and exhibitions are ¥1,500 to ¥2,200. The cafe on top of the inverted cone on floor 3 is a reason to come even without an exhibition. Closed on Tuesdays.
FreeOpen in Maps About this place
Down to Roppongi Hills
- Walk · 10 minFrom the museum head south, cross Roppongi-dori and go up to the plaza of Mori Tower, where the spider stands. About 800 meters.
16:1517:00
Stop 6District walkRecommended
Roppongi Hills: Louise Bourgeois's spider
If you went back to the hotel, join here, straight from Roppongi Station. The tower complex, with Louise Bourgeois's spider sculpture 'Maman' at the entrance, a small Japanese garden (Mohri Garden) with a pond, and in winter the Christmas lights along Keyakizaka with the tower in the background. All free. The mall is inside, and on the basement floor there are 3 restaurants for a quick meal.
FreeOpen in Maps
Up to the Mori Art Museum
- Walk · 2 minFrom the spider go into Mori Tower, which stands above it, and take the elevator up.
17:0019:00
Stop 7Museum and viewpointMust
Mori Art Museum and Tokyo City View: art on floor 53 and sunset
A contemporary art museum at the top of Mori Tower, open until 22:00 (Tuesdays until 17:00). The combined ticket with the City View observatory, 360 degrees, costs ¥4,500 online, and the museum alone ¥2,800 at the counter on a weekday and ¥3,000 on weekends, and less online. Arrive before sunset and stay until dark: Tokyo Tower is lit up right in front of you. On a weekday there is no need to book.
¥2,300 · ≈ $15On weekends an online ticket with a time slotOpen in Maps About this place
Down to dinner
- Walk · 10 minLeave Roppongi Hills for Roppongi-dori and walk southwest to the Nishi-Azabu crossing, about 800 meters. If you are eating ramen, stay in Roppongi Hills.
19:1520:45
Stop 8DinnerRecommended
Dinner in Nishi-Azabu or Roppongi Hills
Two options, one festive and one quick, a 10-minute walk from each other:
- Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu¥4,000 to ¥6,000 per person
  The izakaya in the big wooden building that inspired the fight scene in Kill Bill: yakitori, soba and tempura. Touristy and fun, and you book a table online in advance. Open every day from 11:30 to 03:30, on the corner of the Nishi-Azabu crossing.
- Afuri, Roppongi HillsVegan options, not kosherAbout ¥1,500
  Yuzu ramen, and the menu also has a vegan ramen. On floor B2 of Metro Hat, the entrance to Roppongi Hills from Roppongi Station. Open 11:00 to 23:00, last order 22:00. No cash: pay by card or phone, and no reservations.
- Kosher or vegan? Every kosher and vegan place in this city
¥4,500 · ≈ $29Book a table onlineOpen in Maps
Up to the Roppongi crossing
- Walk · 12 minFrom Gonpachi head back northeast along Roppongi-dori to the Roppongi crossing, about a kilometer. From Afuri in Roppongi Hills it is about 400 meters.
21:0022:00
Stop 9NightIf there is time
Roppongi at night: a bar with a view or a walk to the lit-up tower
You finish in Roppongi, Tokyo's expat bar district: loud, sometimes pushy, and full of street touts, and you do not go with them. For a quiet finish, walk back toward Zojo-ji: Tokyo Tower is lit until midnight, and from in front of the temple gate you see the whole of it. Ride home from Roppongi Station: the Hibiya Line to Ginza, 10 minutes, ¥180, or the Oedo Line to Shinjuku, 9 minutes, ¥220.
¥1,500 · ≈ $10Open in Maps

Azabudai Hills, teamLab Borderless, Tokyo Tower and Roppongi

9 stops, in order

Zojo-ji: the temple with Tokyo Tower in the background

Tokyo Tower: the Main Deck at 150 meters

teamLab Borderless at Azabudai Hills

Lunch break in Azabudai Hills

A rest at the hotel, if you are staying on the Hibiya Line

The National Art Center: Kisho Kurokawa's wavy building

Roppongi Hills: Louise Bourgeois's spider

Mori Art Museum and Tokyo City View: art on floor 53 and sunset

Dinner in Nishi-Azabu or Roppongi Hills

Roppongi at night: a bar with a view or a walk to the lit-up tower

Shinjuku: a free observatory, Gyoen garden, Omoide Yokocho and Golden Gai

Tokyo DisneySea: the day you plan like a military operation

Old Tokyo on foot: Senso-ji, Ueno, Yanaka, Nezu and Kanda

Asakusa, Ueno and Skytree: old Tokyo in one day

Shibuya, Harajuku and Meiji Shrine: the first day in Tokyo

Tsukiji, Hamarikyu Gardens and Ginza: fish in the morning, luxury in the evening