Is three days enough for Tokyo?

It covers the four stops first-timers name and one market morning. The subway pass pays from the second day, so a three-day trip is the shortest one where the 72-hour ticket is worth buying at 2,000 yen rather than paying single fares.

How much does three days in Tokyo cost in entry fees?

Between about 6,500 and 11,000 yen a person for the paid stops: Shinjuku Gyoen at 500 yen, Shibuya Sky at 2,700 or 3,400 yen, Tokyo Skytree from 3,000 yen for the deck-and-galleria combo, and teamLab Planets from 3,800 yen. Senso-ji, Meiji Jingu, Ueno Park, Toyosu Market and the Tsukiji outer market cost nothing to walk into.

Should I take the Narita Express or the Skyliner?

It depends which side of the city the hotel is on. The Skyliner reaches Keisei-Ueno in 41 minutes for 2,470 yen, which suits Ueno, Asakusa and the east. The Narita Express reaches Tokyo Station in about 53 to 60 minutes for roughly 3,070 yen one way, or 5,000 yen return, and suits Shinjuku, Shibuya and the west.

What is closed in Tokyo in November 2026?

teamLab Planets is closed on Thursday 5 November and Thursday 3 December 2026. Some Narita Express services are suspended from 6 to 8 November 2026 for Yokosuka Line work. Shinjuku Gyoen may require an advance reservation on busy weekends and holidays.

Do I need to book Tokyo Skytree in advance?

Advance online booking opens thirty days before the date and Skytree has moved to variable date-based pricing, so booking early is how you see the price before you travel rather than at the gate. The deck-and-galleria combo starts at 3,000 yen for adults.

Can the Chureito pagoda and Lake Kawaguchi be done in one day from Tokyo?

Yes, and they sit on the same railway line. The 07:30 Fuji Excursion from Shinjuku stops at Shimoyoshida at 09:13, which is the pagoda's station, and reaches Kawaguchiko at 09:28. The two stations are 310 yen and fifteen minutes apart, so the day is the pagoda in the morning, lunch by the lake, and the northern shore in the afternoon. The last express back to Shinjuku leaves Kawaguchiko at 17:41.

Which station do I get off at for the pagoda?

Shimoyoshida, on the Fujikyu line. The Fuji Excursion calls there, and so does every local train, so you do not have to ride to Kawaguchiko and come back. It is a ten-minute walk to the foot of the stairs, 398 steps up, and the city's own figure is twenty-five minutes on foot from the platform to the tower. Honcho street, the shopping street with the mountain at the end of it, is five minutes from the same platform on the other side.

Is the pagoda free, and does it close?

Sengen Park is free and open around the clock, with toilets on site. The observation deck was rebuilt in 2022 and looks over Fujiyoshida towards the mountain. From 17:00 to 21:50 in October and November the park is lit, but the last express leaves Kawaguchiko at 17:41, so the light-up belongs to a night at the lake rather than a day trip. If you drive, the four city car parks cost 1,000 to 1,500 yen for six hours; buses and microbuses cannot enter the street at all.

How much is the Lake Kawaguchi ropeway, and when does it shut?

A return ticket is 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for children, and it rises to 1,200 yen and 600 yen on 1 November 2026. The line runs 8:30 to 17:00 with the last car down at 17:20, and to 18:00 from 20 July to 31 August. From 1 December to 28 February the last car up is 16:20. The swing and the lookout tower beside the summit station open 9:30 to 16:00 and close in rain or wind.

Do I need the bus day pass?

The one-day pass is 1,500 yen for adults and 750 yen for children, 2,000 yen for two days, and single rides start at 180 yen. It covers the red line, which runs from Kawaguchiko Station to the ropeway entrance in 11 minutes and to Oishi Park in 27. The pass turns on the third ride, so it pays for the ropeway and the lake in one afternoon. It is sold at the station window and on the bus itself, one-day tickets only.

What happens if the mountain is in cloud?

The pagoda is the safer half of the day, because the deck looks over the town whatever the summit is doing, and the morning is the clearest part of it. The ropeway publishes a live camera and the day's operating notices at the top of its own site, so check before you ride the bus out. Strong wind stops the gondola altogether, and then the deck at Sengen Park is the fallback rather than the summit.

Train or bus from Tokyo?

The Fuji Excursion is 4,010 yen to Shimoyoshida and 4,200 yen to Kawaguchiko, all seats reserved, four round trips a day, and it never sits in traffic. The highway coach is about 1 hour 45 minutes for 2,200 yen at the counter or 2,000 yen booked online, also reserved, and it stops at Chuo-do Shimoyoshida, five minutes on foot from the station. Its weakness is the way home: the Chuo Expressway into Tokyo on a Sunday afternoon is a queue.

Tokyo in three days: what to see, and what it costs

Q: What does the Tokyo Subway Ticket not cover?

The JR lines, including the Yamanote loop, and the airport trains. It covers all nine Tokyo Metro lines and all four Toei Subway lines for 24, 48 or 72 hours from the first tap, at 1,000, 1,500 and 2,000 yen for adults.

¥2,000

Three days is two days of Tokyo and one day of deciding what you skipped. This is the order that keeps the fares down and the tickets open, with the 2026 prices on every stop.

Shape Day 1 is west of the city (Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya), Day 2 is the old east (Asakusa, Ueno, Skytree), Day 3 is the bay and the markets. The subway pass pays from Day 2 onward; Day 1 is the JR half of the trip.

Subway pass, 72 hours: ¥2,000
Paid entry, three days: ¥6,500–¥11,000
Airport transfer: ¥2,470–¥3,070

1The three days in 2026, and what each stop charges

Four stops want a ticket in advance and the rest are free to walk into. The prices below are adult rates as published for 2026, and two of them move by the hour you arrive.

Day	The route	What it costs
1 — west	Shinjuku Gyoen garden in the morning, Meiji Jingu and Harajuku at midday, Shibuya Sky for the last light	Shinjuku Gyoen ¥500; Meiji Jingu free; Shibuya Sky ¥2,700 before 15:00, ¥3,400 from 15:00
2 — east	Senso-ji and Nakamise before the crowds, Ueno Park and its museums, Tokyo Skytree after dark	Senso-ji free, main hall from 6:00; Ueno Park free; Skytree combo from ¥3,000
3 — bay and markets	Toyosu Market at opening, the Tsukiji outer market for lunch, teamLab Planets in the afternoon, Odaiba if the weather holds	Toyosu free, visitor passages from 5:00; Tsukiji free, most shops done by about 14:00; teamLab from ¥3,800

A three-day paid-entry total lands between about ¥6,500 and ¥11,000 depending on how many paid decks you add and when you book them.

2The pass that covers two operators, and the one it leaves out

The Tokyo Subway Ticket gives unlimited rides on all nine Tokyo Metro lines and all four Toei Subway lines for 24, 48 or 72 hours from the first tap: ¥1,000, ¥1,500 and ¥2,000 for adults, with the QR version starting at ¥1,000. It doesn't touch the JR Yamanote, which is the line Day 1 lives on, nor the Keisei or Keikyu airport trains.

Single fares run in distance bands, and the IC card takes about ¥10 off each one: ¥180, ¥210, ¥260, ¥300 and ¥330 as paper tickets, one step lower by Suica or PASMO. So the pass earns its keep on Day 2 and Day 3, where a day of hopping between Asakusa, Ueno and the bay is five or six rides and ¥1,300 or so of fares.

Ticket	What it covers	Buy
Tokyo Subway Ticket (24/48/72 h)	Every Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway line, sold as a QR e-ticket	Klook KKday Trip.com
Shibuya Sky	Timed entry, ¥2,700 before 15:00 and ¥3,400 after	Klook KKday Trip.com
Tokyo Skytree	Tembo Deck at 350 m, or the combo with the 450 m Galleria	Klook Trip.com
teamLab Planets	Timed date entry, from ¥3,800 adult, higher in autumn weeks	Klook Trip.com

3Getting in from Narita or Haneda in 2026

Two trains decide the first hour of the trip. The Keisei Skyliner runs Narita to Keisei-Ueno in 41 minutes for ¥2,470 adult, or ¥2,465 tapping an IC card, and it lands you on the Asakusa-Ueno half of Day 2. The Narita Express goes to Tokyo Station in about 53 to 60 minutes for roughly ¥3,070 one way, with a ¥5,000 round-trip ticket, and it's the better buy if the hotel is on the west side.

The fixed-fare taxi is the third option: a flat rate by destination zone, ¥21,500 upward, which is worth splitting between two or more people arriving late. From Haneda the monorail and the Keikyu line both reach the city in under half an hour for the cost of a subway ride.

4The 2026 changes that break older itineraries

Four of them, all dated. Tokyo Skytree moved to variable date-based pricing and opened advance online booking thirty days out, so the price on the gate on the day is the one you get. teamLab Planets closes on Thursday 5 November and Thursday 3 December 2026, and a booked date can't be swapped. Some Narita Express services are suspended on 6–8 November 2026 for Yokosuka Line work. And Shinjuku Gyoen may ask for an advance reservation on weekends, holidays and other busy days.

5What I would do

Buy the 72-hour subway ticket before landing and load a Suica in the phone at the airport, so Day 1 runs on JR and Day 2 and 3 run on the pass. That splits the transport cost roughly in half. Book Shibuya Sky for the 15:00-and-after slot and pay the extra ¥700 — the daylight view is the same city you can see from the ground. Put the Skytree on the evening of Day 2 rather than the afternoon, and give teamLab the whole afternoon of Day 3.

Keep reading

A traveller queueing at an airport arrivals gate

Visit Japan Web 2026: the codes and the terminals

Suica cards fanned out on a plain surface

Suica, PASMO or Tourist PASMO: which card to buy in 2026

Sources

Tokyo Metro — the 24/48/72-hour Tokyo Subway Ticket price list and line coverage (tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/travel), and the QR e-ticket sales page (tokyometro.jp/tst/en)
Tokyo Metro — distance fare bands and the 10-yen IC discount against a paper ticket (tokyometro.jp/en/ticket)
Senso-ji, Meiji Jingu, Shinjuku Gyoen and Ueno Park — 2026 opening hours and admission, from the temple, shrine, Environment Ministry garden and Tokyo Park pages
Shibuya Sky and Tokyo Skytree — timed-entry pricing, the before-15:00 and from-15:00 bands, and the 30-day advance booking window
teamLab Planets and Toyosu Market — dated entry pricing, the 5 November and 3 December closures, and the 5:00–17:00 visitor passage hours
JR East and Keisei — Narita Express fare and journey time, the 6–8 November 2026 service suspensions, and Skyliner fares of 2,470 yen (2,465 by IC) in 41 minutes
Narita Airport and JR Central — flat-rate taxi zones from 21,500 yen, and the Tokyo–Shin-Osaka Nozomi fare of 14,720 yen in about 2h30

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