Which area should I stay in for a first visit to Tokyo?

Shinjuku or Shibuya if you want the city at full volume, Asakusa or Ueno if you want to sleep and pay less. Anywhere on the Yamanote loop works, because the loop is how you will move.

Where is the cheapest place to stay in Tokyo?

The eastern side, broadly: Asakusa and Ueno are calmer and cheaper at night than Shinjuku, Shibuya or Ginza, and they are still on the loop. We do not publish rates, so compare on the day you book.

Which area is best with children?

Ueno or Asakusa. You get a park, museums, a temple within walking distance and quiet streets after dark, and you are still a short train from everything else.

Should I stay near Narita or Haneda?

Only for a flight that leaves before the first train. Narita is about 60 km east of the city, with the Narita Express reaching Tokyo Station in about an hour and the Keisei Skyliner reaching Ueno in around forty minutes; Haneda is the closer airport.

Where to Stay in Tokyo: Best Areas by Traveller

Q: Is Shinjuku safe to stay in?

Yes, with one line of care. Kabukicho, inside Shinjuku, is one of the areas police treat as high risk at night for drink spiking and inflated bills, and touts approach visitors in English. Never follow a tout, and see a menu with prices before you sit down.

Q: Will I have internet in my hotel, or do I need my own data?

The hotel is not the problem; the walk from the station is. You want data in the street, for exits, platforms and the restaurant that does not take bookings. Goodbars sells a Japan eSIM you install at home and switch on when you land; it runs on NTT docomo, Japan's largest mobile network by mobile contracts, and our Japan coverage page shows where it reaches and what independent speed tests measure.

Pick the station first, then the district

Stay near a Yamanote line station and the rest of Tokyo becomes a train ride rather than a project. The JR Yamanote loop circles the main districts and the Tokyo Metro and Toei subways fill in everything inside and around it, so a five-minute walk to a loop station is worth more than a pretty street. Check the walk from the station exit rather than the distance on a map, because the big stations are buildings in their own right and the wrong exit costs you ten minutes every time. Load a Suica or Pasmo, and treat the areas below as one decision: noise now, or quiet and a short ride.

Shinjuku: the obvious base

Shinjuku is the default answer for a first trip: a station that swallows you whole, department stores above it, trains to everywhere, and food at every price. Behind it sit the alley bars of Golden Gai, a network of six narrow lanes in Kabukicho with over 200 tiny bars, most of which open at nine or ten. That is also the caveat. Kabukicho is one of the areas the police treat as high risk at night for drink spiking and inflated bills, and touts work the streets; staying here is fine, following anyone into a basement bar is not. Ask for a room away from the street side if you are a light sleeper.

Shibuya, Harajuku and Omotesando

Shibuya is younger and louder, built around the scramble crossing where up to 3,000 people cross on a green light that comes every two minutes, and it is a short walk from Harajuku and the boutiques of Omotesando. Stay here if you want to be out late without a train home, or if shopping is part of the trip. It is also the ward that holds Meiji Shrine and its 70-hectare forest, which is the best morning walk in the city and ten minutes from your bed. The trade is noise, price and crowds on the pavement all evening. Harajuku and the streets north of Omotesando are the calmer version of the same location.

Asakusa and Ueno: old Tokyo, and the cheaper end

Asakusa is old Tokyo: low buildings, a shopping street that ends at Senso-ji, founded in 645, and evenings that are calmer and cheaper than the west side. It suits anyone who wants to walk to a temple before breakfast and does not need a bar at one in the morning. Ueno, one stop along, adds the park, the museums and market streets, and it is the natural base if you are arriving on the Keisei Skyliner from Narita, which reaches Ueno in around forty minutes. Both are further from the nightlife districts, which is the point. Families and anyone travelling with a big case tend to be happiest here.

Ginza, Tokyo Station and Akihabara

Ginza is where the money shops: wide streets, department stores, quiet pavements after the shutters come down, and the Tsukiji outer market a walk away for breakfast. It suits couples, short trips and anyone who wants a calm evening in the centre. Around Tokyo Station you are in the business end, which is dull at night but unbeatable if you are taking the shinkansen out to Kyoto or Osaka, or the Narita Express in from the airport in about an hour. Akihabara is the specialist choice: electronics and anime over several floors, well connected on the loop, and busier at night than it looks by day.

Roppongi, the airport question and booking sense

Roppongi is the nightlife base, with the caveat attached. It sits in Minato around the Roppongi Hills complex, has embassies as neighbours and draws visitors from abroad, and it is also on the police's list of high-risk areas at night, along with Kabukicho, Shibuya and Ikebukuro, for drink spiking and card fraud. Stay there for the bars if you want, and keep your drink in sight. On the airport question: do not book near Narita, which is about 60 km east of the city, unless your flight leaves before the first train. Book early for cherry blossom from mid-March into April and for autumn colour from late October to early December, and avoid Golden Week from 29 April to 5 May, Obon in mid-August and the New Year days.

Goodbars sells a Japan eSIM you install at home and switch on when you land; it runs on NTT docomo, Japan's largest mobile network by mobile contracts, and our Japan coverage page shows where it reaches and what independent speed tests measure.