Budget The Big City, Top Tokyo Tips! Not As Expensive As You Think 💰 🤩

Tokyo has a reputation of being expensive and it puts a lot of people off, but honestly if you follow some tips before you go it’s a very doable city. There are certainly things that can cost a lot but most of them are optional extras, having been to tokyo a few times now here are some tips and routines I follow to keep in budget. ⭐️ Airport transfer - Both Aiports Narita and Haneda have good metro links to the city center and you can book in advance online. Booking is advised as you need a reservation to travel and some services will not accept bookings if the seats are all reserved. Airport transfers and taxis are very expensive so avoid those, I have even paid a little more for a flight with a better arrival time to avoid a taxi transfer. ⭐️Hotels - Hotels in Japan can be very expensive, especially western branded hotels. I always look for Japanese business hotels to save money, they are very generic and clinical hotels but they are well equipped and always in good locations. The rooms will be small but they have good wifi, lots of plugs and often offer breakfast. (bento box style) I find in Tokyo I spend 12 hours a day walking around so don’t need a fancy hotel, it is just to sleep and shower! Tokyustay is one I often book. ⭐️Transport - Tokyo is surprisingly walk-able, I find a lot of the tourist attractions are clustered in certain areas and districts. So I tend to get the metro the main station in the area and plan a walking route to complete that area, then get the metro into the next one. You can get a multi day metro pass on trip ahead of time, this is advisable as the metro is run by separate companies and can be quite confusing. ⭐️Food - This is where Tokyo can be expensive, things like sushi or western style restaurants can get very pricey and I find the portions can often be smaller than expected which makes them feel even more expensive. There are amazing districts such as Ginza, Shinjuku and Shibuya for food - every type of food you can think of for every type of budget. Some of them are very small and have limited seating but they are worth a wait, people eat and leave quite fast. Japanese chains such as coco ichiban, Yoshinoya, Komeda Coffee & Doutur offer lots of cheap food options and have multiple locations across the city. ⭐️Wifi - Most big shops and department stores will offer free wifi along with some of the bigger metro stations. ⭐️Convenience stores - This has been all over social media recently and they really are worth the hype - 7/11, lawson and family mart stores here are on a whole other level. You can get all the viral snacks and drinks along with lots of hot and cold meal options. They have microwaves and toastie makers so they can heat all the food for you, then you can eat outside or take it back to you hotel room. The easiest way to save money in Tokyo for sure! Parks and temples - These are all free and located throughout the city #cheaptravel