3 Days in Tokyo and Beyond
Three days buys you exactly one day trip out of Tokyo. This keeps the 2-day city spine intact and adds Kamakura on day 3, the right pick over Nikko or Hakone here since it’s the shortest ride and the least demanding day of the three.
Book these before you go:
- Your Tokyo hotel on Agoda
- Shibuya Sky tickets , day 2, if you want the paid view
- A guided Kamakura and Enoshima day trip , if you’d rather not navigate the JR Yokosuka Line yourself
| Day | Focus | Distance/time from Tokyo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asakusa/Senso-ji, Akihabara, Golden Gai | In Tokyo |
| 2 | Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku | In Tokyo |
| 3 | Kamakura: Great Buddha, temples, Enoshima coast | ~1 hr each way (JR Yokosuka Line) |
Before you start: card and pass logic
Get Welcome Suica or Welcome Suica Mobile the moment you land at Haneda or Narita. It covers every subway tap and the Kamakura train too. Skip the nationwide JR Pass; at roughly ¥50,000 for seven days (rising for overseas buyers from October 2026) it’s built for cross-country return trips, not a Tokyo base with one coastal day trip.
Day 1: Old Tokyo
Base yourself in Asakusa or Shinjuku, both work. Start at Senso-ji before the crowds arrive, then walk Nakamise street for breakfast snacks rather than a sit-down meal. Take the subway to Akihabara for electronics and anime shopping in the afternoon. For dinner, find a ramen counter, not a “ramen street” tourist trap, the queue length outside a hole-in-the-wall shop is a better signal than any review site. At night, Golden Gai in Shinjuku is the tiny-bar crawl worth doing once.
Day 2: Modern Tokyo
Meiji Shrine first, reached through Harajuku, ideally before 9am. Then Takeshita Street for the fashion chaos and Omotesando next door for the calmer, upscale version of the same street. Cross at Shibuya Scramble at least once. Skip the Shibuya Sky queue if you’re short on time and go instead to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building’s twin observatories in Shinjuku, free, comparable views, plus a free nightly projection show. Dinner in Shibuya or Shinjuku, and don’t tip, it isn’t done here.
Day 3: Kamakura
This is the payoff day. Take the JR Yokosuka Line direct from Tokyo Station, about 57 minutes each way for roughly ¥940 one way. Skip the JR Pass math entirely for this trip, a single return fare is cheap enough that no pass is worth pre-buying. If you’d rather have a guide handle the connections and add Enoshima properly, a Kamakura and Enoshima day tour covers both in one booking.
Once in Kamakura: the Great Buddha at Kotoku-in, a walk through the temple district, and if you have energy left, the Enoden line out toward the beach and Enoshima for a change of scenery. Head back before the last direct trains, which stop running around midnight.
Is Kamakura the best day trip for a 3-day Tokyo visit?
Yes, for a first day trip. It’s the shortest ride of the three main options (Kamakura, Nikko, Hakone), needs no special pass, and rewards a half day just as well as a full one, which matters when it’s your only day outside the city.
Do you need a special pass for the Kamakura trip?
No. A single JR Yokosuka Line return ticket costs about ¥940 one way, cheaper than any pass would justify for one trip. The Kamakura-Enoshima Pass (around ¥700) is worth it only if you want to hop between Kamakura, Kita-Kamakura and Enoshima once you’re already there.
Cash still rules at small shops, older izakayas and shrine stalls, even though your IC card covers trains and konbini everywhere. Tipping isn’t a Japanese custom; leaving money on the table reads as confusing, not generous. And Tsukiji’s tuna auction hasn’t been at Tsukiji since 2018, it’s in Toyosu now, send your sushi-breakfast plans there instead.