Day-trip ideas from Tokyo

I remember the first time I visited Tokyo in 2016, choosing how many days to spend in Tokyo was one of the big challenges. And there is not a correct answer, especially if you are travelling on a 2-3 week trip throughout Japan.

I thought so back then, and I still think so after living in Tokyo for a year. The best part of Tokyo is the accesibility to do many daytrips mainly the countryside. While I do consider myself a city person, Tokyo is very overwhelming, so I often try to get out at weekends.

So what kind of day-trips have I done from Tokyo?

Kawagoe, a "Little Edo"

How to get there?

From Ikebukuro station, take the Tobu-Tojo line to Kawagoeshi or Kawagoe station (the former is a bit closer to the center). Alternatively, from Shinjuku Sanchomae board Fukutoshin line. Depending if you take the express train or not it can take between 20-30 minutes.

Why visit?

It is the closest village to Tokyo that has traditional Japanese houses and temples. Plus, a half-day may be enough too if you are tight on time.

What to do?

I have been there a few times as is very close to where I live, in Wakoshi. Usually after getting off the station I walk along Shintomicho street, the main shopping street.

Going to east, I would visit Kawagoe Kita-in temple, a buddhist temple with gardens and several statues - about 20 min walk from Kawagoeshi station.

Continuing north after 10-15 minutes there is Kawagoe Castle Honmaru Palace. I have actually never been as it was closed or I prefered to visit other places. It is true that most sites close around 5 PM, with last entry at 4.30 PM.

Still going north pretty soon there is Kawagoe Hikara Shrine, the main shrine of the city and where many festivals take place. In Shinto shrines you usually get a "omamori" a protective amulet, and a "omikuji" where you read your luck. Well, here you literally fish your lack by fishing a red fish that has a paper inside with your luck. If you get bad luck, you should hang the paper from a tree.

Walking from behind of the shrine I find the Shingashi river, a quiet riverside with many trees. I recently went during cherry blossom season and it was beautiful with fallen petals on the water.

Then it is time to change directions, going south accross the city center, about 15 min walk you reach Kashiya Yokocho. It is known for traditional candy shops and is quite cute. Finally return back to the main street. There is Kawagoe Matsuri Kaikan if you want to find out about the traditional festival with red parade floats. I was lucky to attend it in October. It gets pretty hectic, with many parade floats along the city, where people are dressed in costums, like kabuki theatre costumes, and dance. When two floats meet, they also did a special dance. It is also typical to get a fox mask.

I really like visiting the Starbucks at Kawagoe Kanetsuki Dori street. It is in a traditional wooden building and even has a zen garden at the back where you can enjoy your coffee.

Next to it is the Toki no Kane clock, it is curious to get just below the bell when it rings.

Finally walk down along Motomachi street. There are many other wooden traditional houses that are shops now.

I like having a matcha ice cream or get some cute bakery or souvenirs.

If you want to visit another temple or shrine, as you continue along the street, turn right to Renkeiji temple, or left to Kawagoe Hachimangu shrine.

Kamakura & Enoshima island

Located in Kanagawa, both are beautiful places to visit for a big Buddha, temples, and beach.

While I have visited them on separate days, and I think it is better to have enough time for both, they can also be combined in one if summer time when days are longer.

If you do choose to do both in one day, it is best to start with Kamakura as it involves more walking and the shrines and temples there close between 4-5 PM.

How to get there?

Special note that if you are planning to visit Hakone too, there is a Kamakura-Hakone pass costing 7520 yen for 3 days, see here for details, although it does not include the fastest way.

The most efficient way is to get the JR Shonan-Shinjuku line from Shinjuku to Kamakura, taking only 1 hour (950 yen one-way).

Between Kamakura and Enoshima, take the Enoden line (30 min). Then to return from Enoshima back to Tokyo, take the Odakyu-Enoshima line from Katase-Enoshima station back to Shinjuku.

Why visit?

Kamakura is known for its Great Buddha (Daibutsu), several historic temples and shrines, and having a beach. Enoshima is a small picturesque island easily connected to Kamakura by the Enoden line, with a variety of shrines, a cave, and terraces.

What to do?

Just after arriving to Kamakura station I walked to Komachi street that starts just outside the station, the main shopping street. There are many, too many, food temptations, mainly snacks. The street took me to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine, the main shrine of the city. Asides the actual shrine it has pretty gardens around the lake.

Then I walked quite a bit going back again along Komachi street, stopping for lunch. I am a big fan of gyukatsu, beef cutlet, but because it is usually more costly, I don't eat it often. However Gyukatsu Kyoto, next to Kamakura station, is quite affordable. I recommend Gyukatsu Motomaru for Tokyo.

...and on to Kotoku-in. If you feel tired you can hop on the Enoden line at Kamakura station and get off at Hase station (only 5 min).

Kotoku-in is the home of the Daibutsu, the Great Buddha of Kamakura. It is a massive bronze statue and the second largest Buddha in Japan, only surprassed by the Nara Daibutsu. It costs 300 yen to enter, and you can also actually visit the inside for the Buddha for another 50 yen!

Exiting the Buddha, about 10 minutes is my favorite temple of Kamakura: Hasedera (400 yen). Asides the temple the gardens are quite sparse with many cute statues.

Reaching the top the views towards the ocean are relaxing, and I would also sit at the terrace to have a vending machine coffee.

Hokokuji temple is another famous one, known for its bamboo forest. If you only have 1 day, it may be difficult to fit it as it is about 20-25 minutes walk from the station, opposite direction to Hasedera or the big Buddha. I did this on a separate trip. Compared to the bamboo grove of Arashiyama in Kyoto, the crowds are very little, there is even a tea house. If you want to fit it in one day, best to do it first.

From Hasedera I finished at Yuigahama beach, a gray-sand beach. It was cloudy when I visited on June, and as in Japan beach season is only in July and August, it was not too entertaining. During my first visit as it was summer there were many people, playing volleyball, chilling, and swimming.

If you are going to Enoshima, take the Enoden line from Wadazuka station as it is closer than Kamakura station from the beach, and get off at Enoshima statino (23 min).

Before reaching the actual island you will see Katase-Higashihama beach. Similar to the one in Kamakura, depending on the season it will be more or less lively. When I visited in summer I could swim and there were many tents selling food and drinks.

To reach the island you need to go across Enoshima Benten bridge, taking about 10-15 minutes.

While the island appears small, I did spend about 5 hours around there, without taking into account the time spent at the beach, which is why for sure a full day is better. If you only have half a day and do not mind not spending much time at the beach though, you can focus on exploring the island.

Enoshima has one main street that you will find as you follow the bridge, with street food, souvenir shops and restaurants. There are actually also some ryokans there, seeing the sunset must be nice.

Enoshima shrine is at the end of the street. In summer they do illuminations as well.

From there you can take the escalator, but I recommend walking around as it is not really steep. I usually start walking from the left-side of the shrine. There are several other shrines on the way, before reaching the top. There is an observation point where, if lucky, you can see Mt Fuji. Several gardens and in summer terraces, I was especially pleased at this as I was really missing terrace life.

Walking from the southern side of the island down there are some rocks next to the sea that you can walk around, and a cave - I have not gone inside myself though. There is also a ferry that takes you back to the frontside of the island.

The best part of the island is to get lost though, I have been about 3 times and I always find something new!! But please if you can see the sunset from the top observation point.

Going back from Katase-Enoshima station I was surprised to see the station looked like a Chinese temple!

Hiking Mt Takao

I was never much of a hiker, but Japan has changed that. I don't think I have ever walked, let alone hiked, like this year. Because surprisingly there are many mountains in Japan, and also reachable from Tokyo as a day-trip!

Mt Takao is probably the easiest to get to, it is a 600 meter mountain located in the western Tokyo.

How to get there?

The best way is to get the Keio line from Shinjuku station to Takaosanguchi station (50 minutes), costing about 350-400 yen.

Why visit?

It is probably the easiest escape from bustling Tokyo to nature, and a hike that can be done by pretty much anyone, as there are different trails and even a cable car to avoid the steepest part. There are also many shrines and temples along the mountain reminding you that you are in Japan.

What to do?

As you exit the station you will see a river, where at weekends families come with their children to play. It is already so relaxing.

Only 5 minutes walk there is the cable car. As mentioned, this allows you to skip the steepest part. For us, as we thought we did not need it, we chose to walk. But I do warn you, it is pretty steep for about 30 minutes straight.

Once that is done the rest is relatively easy. There are different trails, see here the map of the trails.

We started with Trai 1, the red one, but switched to Trail 4 (blue) to visit the Suspension Bridge, in order to reach the top. We had some bento there, but they even had a ramen and ice cream shop.

Then we walked back from Trail 1 to visit some temples of the way. We chose not to visit the monkey park, as not really sure how they are taken cared of, but instead switch to Trail 3 to visit Biwa waterfall.

You can definitely go a few times to Mt Takao to try different trails. It was June when we visited and was already quite hot, so I would say to avoid summer for hiking if possible, but go any other season.

Yokohama and Pikachu Festival

Yokohama is a major port city just south of Tokyo, in Kanagawa Prefecture, and Japan's second largest city.

How to get there?

It takes only 30 min from Shinjuku station on the Shonan-Shinjuku line to Yokohama station. For me it was pretty convenient as from Wakoshi I have the direct line, the Fukutoshin line, taking 1 hour to Yokohama - the same line stops at Shinjuku and Shibuya as well.

Why visit?

While it is also a city, the fact that it is located in the port makes it quite charming. It also has the biggest China Town in Japan, the cup noodle museum, and more importantly, the PIKACHU FESTIVAL every August. You read that right. It is a festival with many people dressed and dancing as pikachu.

What to do?

I usually go first to Minato Mirai station, the main commercial hub of Yokohama. Asides many shops and department stores, it is where you can see the big ferris wheel with other attractions, and walk along the bay.

Crossing the ferris wheel there are many ferries along the bay, including shops and bars. Soon you will see the Yokohama Red Brick Warehouses, red wooden houses with shops inside. In Christmas, they become a magical Christmas Market.

On the way here there is the Cup Noodle Museum, as this is where they were invented. I quite liked it as asides how they were invented you can see a lot of different types of cup noodles, and even create your own.

At the other side I like walking to Yamashita park, still following along the bay. There are often musical performances outside. If you are an anime fan, I recommend checking the moving Gundam at Gundam Factory Yokohama, a real-life moving robot from the anime Gundam. Although I have heard they are closing it down sometime in 2024

Going south from there is Yokohama Chinatown, full of restaurants and street food, including temples. Evenings are the best time to also see the lights. Well, evening is the best time for Yokohama in general as the ferris wheel area is also very pretty illuminated.

From China Town you can take the train back from Motomachi-Chukagai (for Fukutoshin line).

Now, as I mentioned in the beginning, every August for about a week (usually around the 8-10th August) they hold the Pikachu Outbreak Festival. I have already been twice, the first time in 2016 and second time in 2023 during my Working Holiday. It does not matter if you are not a pokemon fan - I am not really- it is simply surreal. So many Pikachu mascots parading and dancing. In 2023 they even held a Pokemon competition so there were many other Pokemon decorations around the city.

If you are not in August, you can still see Pikachu mascots at Tokyo's Pokemon Cafe though!

Hakone

I did a 2-day weekend trip for Hakone, and I strongly suggest you to do the same, also to enjoy a Japanese ryokan and onsen experience. But if you only have 1 day you can take a section of my itinerary here.

Nikko

Similar to Hakone, I spend a weekend here. However, if you only have 1 day I recommend only doing day 1 or 2 of my itinerary - if it is your first, stick to Day 1 which focuses on the temples.

Kawaguchiko

Again, spending a night in Kawaguchiko is worthwhile if you wish to stay in a ryokan or onsen. For me, I did a day-trip to see autumn foliage. It is very important it is sunny in order to see Mt Fuji, the main highlight here, so it is best not to plan in advance and choose to go only if the weather is good. See here for my day-trip, cherry blossom season must also be nice.