Just booked a 2 week trip to Tokyo, Japan for early April. Currently looking for recommendations as to the best area to stay in. Not looking for things to do as im sure we will be plenty of things to do in such a large place.

1/ Make sure you are close to a station

Tom I'd go one step further and suggest you are close to a METRO station. I made the mistake of thinking I was near a station but it was on the Seibu ikebukuro line which meant I was paying twice for transit every single day, which really added up. There are half a dozen different public transits in Tokyo and each one you have to pay for separately. You want to make sure you areon a line that will go where you want to go without having to pay for 2-3 different companies each trip, just going somewhere and back home was almost 30$ for two people every day being on the wrong line.

Kayla

Kayla So many lines.. you need to do the homework.

Genevieve Landry
Catherine Rendell-Green

I'd recommend Shinjuku if it's your first trip. Touristy, but it's what you imagine Tokyo to be. Ueno area a bit slower and cheaper hotels, longer distance to stuff.

I agree

I’d suggest Shibuya. And again, close to a subway. Shibuya station has great access to the lines that go all over the city.

Melisa shibuya 100%. The shibuya Tokyo excel hotel is amazing. We stayed there the first time we visited Tokyo and have stayed there twice since. Can't beat the location, literally on top of the train station, and views of the shibuya scramble from the rooms (request this)

I enjoyed staying in Asakusa, but there are lots of great spots. Our route back to the hostel from the station had us pass by Senso-ji temple and at night it was empty and ethereal.

Janna I love the hot spring hotel I stay in Asakusa too! My husband go for a run in the early morning and come back for a super nice hot spring everyday! Love that area at night, very quiet and peaceful

Janna I would absolutely stay in asakusa too. Although I usually visited ikebukuro when in Tokyo if I had to stay overnight it was in Asakusa. So much good street food!

Once in Tokyo and after dropping off your luggage location is irrelevant because you will travel all over Tokyo. You go to Shinjuku and Shibuya for fun but you don’t want to stay where the hassle is.
I prefer Ueno because it’s relatively less busy and there is a direct train from Narita airport. Transportation from Ueno to all directions is easy.

Did you find a deal? I’m looking for the same trip.
As others have said, depends on the vibe you want, but Shinjuku/Shibuya is great. Consider hostels as they’re very safe, or at least the one I stayed at was well maintained.

Karman If you consider having to use Calgary as the jump off point and 800$ return is a deal then I guess so. I'm flying out to Calgary a few days before and catching flight from there. Doing it that way is about 50% cheaper then what I see advertised. When searching yyz to Tokyo was coming up 1800 to 2100. I believe even with my return ticket to T.O I'm at just under $1000

Anthony Wow good deal! So your return ticket to and from Calgary is only $200?? We flew from YYZ to YYC to NRT return for around $1800 back in May and that was the best deal we could find at the time of booking.

Stephani When I got the deal a few days ago. It was 1 stop from $836 from Calgary. I see today the cost has went up but still pretty cheap for April. On google flights still showing in the 950 to 1k range. For me it still works out cheaper to take a flight to YYC direct from YYZ 2 days before and 2 days after I return ...then paying for a yyz to nrt with 1 or 2 stops.
The downfall is 2 different bookings 1 for yyz to yyc and then a separate one for yyc to nrt. I know that won't work for most but I'm pretty flexible with my time off in the spring and couldn't pass up the trip at about 1k cheaper.

Stephani

Anthony I will check that out thanks

Anthony I checked with those dates yesterday and it was coming up to almost $1400! Anyway, I'm not going since we just came back but if I find a good deal there's is no reason not to go. Have a wonderful time there next year!

I prefer staying away from busy areas... As long as you are close to a train stn, you are good. In the past. I've stayed in Ueno, even as far as chiba (bigger hotel rooms for cheaper)... Ofc.. Depends on what kind of traveller you are. The train system is great... Even if you rent a car, I'd recommend picking a place around a station just to avoid traffic. Good luck.

Mo Come on, Mo, who rents a car in Tokyo¿

Stephani
We stayed in two locations when we were in Tokyo recently. First was an airbnb in a very nice residential area close to the JR Tabata Station which is at the north end of the JR loop. We found it was super convenient because it was only a few stops in one direction for Shinjuku and Shibuya areas. And it's a few stops in the other direction to Ueno. The second place we stayed was by Asakusa and although it was nice and convenient for other reasons, it wasn't as convenient to get around to other areas because you had to change trains or walk quite a distance to get to a train to avoid the transfers. We had a JR Pass so did prefer to use those trains versus the others.

Shibuya or asakusa unless you really want the busy area... then shinjuku.

Stay away from Tokyo... go to Omiya in Saitama... it's where the JR hub is. From there, you can go to any point in Japan. It has Direct train or bus to both Haneda and Narita. No hassle nd a bit cheaper. It's only 20 mins to Shibuya. You can take the Shinkansen to anywhere from Omiya station.

Currently staying at Shinagawa Prince Hotel, it's not bad, it's a huge hotel with many different level rooms, so you can spend a bit more to pick the newer/renovated rooms, or be cheap like us and pick the cheapest to get the best deal

Following post, going to Tokyo Sep 29th from YYZ

Shinjuku Washington Hotel is good as there's an airport shuttle bus straight from HND, and it's relatively convenient to get to Shinjuku station which connects to many other stations. As others have mentioned, Shinjuku has good night life.
Quintessa Hotel in Ginza is also very convenient. Lots to do in Ginza or close by.

Shibuya is a very busy place to stay so it's fairly loud at all hours of the night. I'd suggest somewhere less popular that's still on the Yamanote train line like Takadanobaba! It's only 1 or 2 stops from Shinjuku so it's really convenient but nicer to come back to at the end of a busy day

Asakusa sure. Quiet, less touristy. Can walk to lots of restaurants.

I recommend staying near Shinagawa station for a few reasons 1) direct access to NRT or HND, convenient with luggage. 2) mega station that gives you access to JR lines & local lines 3) safe area/not as loud. In order to explore the different neighborhoods/areas, you will be commuting via transit every day. Shinagawa Prince Hotel has multiple buildings across the station, 24 hrs 7-11 inside the hotel. I travel frequently to japan, incl Tokyo, and I’ve stayed in most of the main areas mentioned and would be remiss not to mention Shinagawa.

Late March / early April is cherry blossom season in Japan. It tends to be high time for tourists who visit just for this occasion. Hotel prices can skyrocket during this period. Highly recommend getting your hotel accommodations locked in asap.
Edit: as others mentioned - try and book a hotel near a JR train station. (Shibuya/Shinjuku) It will make commuting around very easy