I am just back from a trip to Tokyo and I am pleased to say it exceeded my expectations and we had an amazing time.
We flew out from Heathrow via Hong Kong we left at 5pm UK time and finally arrived into Tokyo at 10pm local time the following day. Arriving at this time of night meant we could get straight to our room and get some sleep. We stayed in the Sunshine City Prince hotel in Ikebukuro. The hotel itself was of traditional Tokyo style. Small rooms although comfortable beds, a decent shower and an all singing all dancing toilet! The only downside was the lack of storage space for clothes but as we were only there for 4 nights we managed just fine.
The hotel itself has 1146 rooms and was very modern. Breakfast was good with a mix of local and Western options available. There were 3 restaurants serving Buffet style, Japanese and Chinese options. There was also a take away coffee & cake station located in reception. The hotel was also attached to Sunshine City, this is a huge shopping mall offering a huge choice of shops, arcades and restaurants. We also found Sunshine 60 Observatory (Sky Circus) with great views across the city and on a clear day even Mt Fuji. I would highly recommend a trip up here at night to see the bright lights of Tokyo. We took a visit up the Tokyo Sky Tree and although its much higher and an experience in itself. If you dont have time to get across to Asakusa to the Sky Tree Sunshine 60 will not disappoint.
Once you have walked through the shopping mall you will come into Ikebukuro. This was a great area to stay with links on the JR line and Tokyo Metro line. If I can give any advice to anyone travelling to Japan I would say give the public transport system a go! We used a taxi once and they are very expensive and take so long to get anywhere. The metro, subway, JR line system is so easy to use once you get your head around it. The main thing to note is there are different providers. You can buy a ticket that covers you for all the options and its around 1600 Yen (£11.50) If you have this ticket you can jump on and off at all stations across the city. We used this on our first day and it made things really easy without having to worry about changing trains. On the last day we just used the Metro line and the ticket was 600 Yen (£4) for 24 hours. All this meant was a little more organisation with knowing what line we were getting on and what stop numbers we wanted to get off at. The key to a successful day is just be organised. At breakfast we studied the Metro Map and wrote down what line we needed to get along with what stops we were getting on and off at. We managed to visit several different attractions right across the city using just the Metro line. I am also pleased to say we didnt get lost!
(Insert Subway Map)
Tokyo is split into several different areas and the ones we enjoyed most were Ikebukero, Shinjuku, Shimbashi, Ueno and Asakusa. Each area was different and famous for its on reason, some for the temples, gardens, zoo, shopping or restaurants. I will go into more depth on the areas and what they have to offer on my next blog, including our tour around the city, Mt Fuji, Lake Ashi and the bullet train and some weird and wonderful food. Please make sure you follow me to keep up to date with my Tokyo exploring.
