Curator’s statement
I first fell for Tokyo on my second trip in 2023, enough that I went back not just to visit but to actually live there during a study abroad. Over four months, I got past the usual checklist: quiet neighborhood cafés, late-night izakayas, incredible hotels, and restaurants that changed how I think about travel. Experiencing it that deeply made me a better traveler (and a better advisor). Most advisors spend a week or two in Tokyo and recommend the same crowded list, but I lived there long enough to learn the city’s worst-kept secret: the best thing to do in Tokyo is eat and drink, and I can tell you exactly where.
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Where to stay in Tokyo, Japan
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Things to do in Tokyo, Japan
Getting lost in Hiroo
Shopping: Ginza and the Omotesando backstreets
The best shopping in Tokyo is in Ginza and around Omotesando, but not on the main streets everyone knows. The best shops, and honestly the priciest, are tucked into the backstreets, so keep a close eye out.
Azabudai Hills, then coffee at Janu
Azabudai Hills is the newest face of luxury Tokyo. Shop the development, then have a coffee at Janu, Aman's younger and more social sister hotel. It is about as current as the city gets right now.
The Imperial Palace 5k
The loop around the Imperial Palace is where Tokyo actually runs: a flat, scenic five kilometers in the dead center of the city. If you are staying nearby at the Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons, Aman, or any of the palace-side five stars, most can set you up with a running guide to take you out.
Yayoi Kusama Museum
A small five-floor museum dedicated entirely to Kusama, and one of the best art experiences in the city. Tickets are timed, and they sell out, so book the moment they release. If you want more, teamLab is genuinely cool too, just be ready for the crowds and skip it if the lines are out of control.
Hunt for vintage watches
Tokyo is one of the best places in the world to hunt for vintage watches, and the backstreets of Ginza are full of them. A friend of mine was after a specific vintage Cartier with a blue crown and only found it here, nowhere else in the world. If there is a piece you really want, vintage Rolex, Cartier, even a vintage Birkin, the move is to walk and hunt. And if you are my client, I will point you straight to the shops that have exactly what you are after.
Get lost on the Yamanote line
My favorite thing to do in Tokyo costs nothing: get on the Yamanote line and step off at a stop you have never heard of. The best version of the city is the one you find when you stop planning.
Visit the parks
Tokyo’s nature is genuinely gorgeous, and the parks are some of the best of the city for free. Ueno Park, Yoyogi over by Shibuya, Shinjuku Gyoen, hit as many as you can. They are where the city slows down and where it looks most beautiful.
Nakameguro and the Starbucks Reserve Roastery
Nakameguro is one of the best neighborhoods to just wander, and the Starbucks Reserve Roastery there is worth a stop even if you think you have seen every coffee shop on earth. It runs like a cocktail bar for caffeine; they shake your matcha to order like a bartender, and it is one of the coolest spaces in the city.
A day in Yokohama
If you are based in Tokyo and want a change of scene, Yokohama is an easy day trip. Go for the Chinatown, the largest in Japan, then the waterfront at Minato Mirai with its big Ferris wheel and amusement park. It is not a dining trip, just a genuinely fun place to spend a day exploring.
Climb Mt. Fuji
Climbing Mt. Fuji is amazing, and you do not need to overcomplicate it. Skip the mountain huts. Take private transport out around 3 a.m., be at the trailhead by 5 or 6, and climb the whole thing in a single day. Then back down, private car home, and you are at your hotel by 6 p.m. ready to pass out. Worth every bit of the exhaustion.
Nikko
Most people rush Nikko as a day trip and miss it. If you are visiting from abroad, give it two or three nights and actually slow down. The shrines, the mountains, and the onsen towns are made for it, so take the time to soak it all in (literally). If you live in Tokyo and can come back easily, one or two nights does the job.
Go clubbing (MUST)
Tokyo's nightlife is one of the best scenes in the world and genuinely underrated. My two favorites: Zouk Tokyo in Ginza, where they will bring fresh sashimi right to your table, and T2 in Shinjuku, the largest club in Japan. Book a table wherever you land, it is the way to do these properly.
Places to eat & drink in Tokyo, Japan
Hedging against inflation
Sushi Arai
Probably the best omakase money can buy in Tokyo, especially at the main counter. It is effectively impossible to book on your own, so you go through a concierge, and even then it is not guaranteed. If you want the same caliber at a guaranteed time slot, the basement counter is genuinely doable, more accessible, and honestly the smartest way in.
Sushiya no Matsukan
Amazing sushi, but the local kind, not the famous-name kind. You tell them what you want and they make it, and it is the spot that reminds you the best meals in Tokyo are not always the hardest ones to book.
Den
Two Michelin stars, but the reason to go is the personality. It is playful, deeply hospitable, and genuinely fun (there is even a dog), more about the experience than chasing pure perfection, though the cooking is excellent. Reservations open two months out by phone, so plan around it.
Ao Nishiazabu
One of the best French restaurants I have ever been to, full stop, and I could talk about it forever. Not the easiest to reserve, but if you are flexible, a last-minute cancellation is sometimes possible.
Pizza Marumo
One of Tokyo's most creative pizzerias, tucked in Ebisu, with wild combinations like teriyaki pizza and an umami pizza built on shiitake and dashi. It made the 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific list, and a hotel concierge can usually get you a table without much trouble.
Menchirashi
The viral carbonara udon spot, and it actually lives up to the hype. No reservations, so just show up, but skip it if the wait runs longer than fifteen minutes.
Bar Benfiddich
Not just good cocktails: this is the Best Bar in Japan, No. 9 in Asia, and No. 18 in the world. It is an apothecary-style room in Shinjuku where the bartender mixes with herbs and tinctures from his own farm. Easiest way in: have someone at Virtu help you reserve and ask for the card they keep with the best Tokyo bars on it. Otherwise just go in person to reserve, which is far easier than booking online.
Virtu
At the Four Seasons Tokyo at Otemachi, and one of Asia's 50 Best Bars. This is the grown-up move: incredible cocktails, no reservation needed, perfect for a romantic night. If you go, tell them Anthony Grushevsky sent you.
Tokyo Confidential
A bar with one of the best views of Tokyo Tower that somehow still feels like you are hanging out at home rather than in a hotel lounge. Great for a low-key night with a view.
Cigar Bar Inochu no Mizu
An incredible little cigar bar with an owner I genuinely love. Pair it with dinner at Sushiya no Matsukan and make a night of it, the two go together easily.
Need to know
Cash still matters. Tokyo is more card-friendly than it used to be, but plenty of the best small spots, especially older sushi counters and local bars, are still cash-only. Carry more yen than you think you need.
The best reservations are not online. A lot of the top restaurants and bars do not take online bookings at all. Some open a phone line two months out, some only take regulars or concierge referrals, and some you simply walk into in person. This is the single biggest thing that trips visitors up, and it is most of what I do for clients.
Book the big ones before you book your flights. The hardest tables (the famous omakase especially) work on tight windows months out. If a specific restaurant is the reason for your trip, lock it first and build the rest around it.
Tipping is not a thing, and trying can offend. No tipping anywhere, restaurants, bars, taxis, none of it. Great service is just the standard, not something you pay extra for.
Get a Suica on your phone. Skip the paper tickets and load a Suica into your Apple Wallet. It works on every train and most convenience stores, and it is the difference between gliding through the city and fumbling at every gate.
Stay central and let neighborhoods come to you. Tokyo is huge and the train map is intimidating, but if you base yourself well, most of the city is a short ride away. Where you stay matters more here than in most cities.
Timing changes everything. Cherry blossom and peak autumn are stunning but crowded and pricey, and they move by a week or two each year. If you have flexibility, the shoulder dates around them are the sweet spot, and I am happy to tell you exactly when to come.
Slow down. The instinct is to cram in as much as possible. Resist it. The best days in Tokyo are the unplanned ones, a neighborhood you wander into, a long lunch, a bar you find by accident. You do not have to do the most.
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Anthony Grushevsky
Anthony Grushevsky
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