Going to Tokyo - first timer!

I%26#39;ve been reading through this forum and so far it%26#39;s been really helpful, but I still need some suggestions.

My boyfriend and I just decided to buy tickets to go to Tokyo from March 21-29. So now we%26#39;re scrambling to line up hotels and some sort of itinerary. We haven%26#39;t ever been to any asian country, so this will be a new experience for us. We%26#39;re in our late 20%26#39;s and want to check out both the traditional side to the Japanese culture as well as the pop culture side of things. We love to eat, drink and shop too.

Hotels: Our budget is up to $130 a night on hotels, but I%26#39;d like to keep it around $100 a night, if that%26#39;s possible. From what I%26#39;ve read I am looking at staying in the Ebisu, Shibuya area. Or in that area off the JR line. I%26#39;m looking to stay somewhere with good food and bars so that we can just want back to our hotel after going out at night. We%26#39;re not into clubs though, so that is not important. We will also require a private bathroom, non smoking and a mini fridge in the room would be outstanding but isn%26#39;t a requirement.

Places to go: I haven%26#39;t researched too much about what we%26#39;re do yet, besides some of the obvious things. I found freetokyoguides.com and have emailed them a request for a guide for two days. We want to see a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome and believe the Tokyo Giants are playing. Do we need to buy tickets in advance for the baseball game or can we buy them when we get there? How do we buy them?

Can anyone suggest a place to go on a daytrip outside of Tokyo. Or maybe somewhere for one night out of the city?

Thanks for all of your input!! I%26#39;m mostly concerned about getting a hotel at this point and being able to book it - I%26#39;ve had some trouble with the websites of some hotels and figuring out how to book a room so help with that would be appreciated too.

Thank you!!!

Going to Tokyo - first timer!

Metropolis is a good place to start for events and places to go in Tokyo - its updated weekly, also has a free print version like Time Out. Visitor guide is the best I%26#39;ve found yet. http://metropolis.co.jp

The most popular day trips are Kamakura, Hakone, and Nikko. This time of year, particularly the time you are visiting, Kamakura would be the place to go - there will be many cherry blossoms there at that time.

You want to go to Shibuya/Harajuku/Omotesando for pop culture. There are so many places to eat, its hard to recommend without specific requests.

If you want to see the Giants, looks like the only games you can make are 3/25 vs Chunichi (Nagoya) and 3/28 vs Lotte at Tokyo Dome. Games routinely sell out, and Lotte is another local team (from Chiba) so best to get tickets in advance, if possible. These are also opening games, so baseball starved fans will be out in force. There is a ticket sales office at the stadium. I always buy at convenience stores, which is a little complex in Japanese. I%26#39;ll let somebody else contribute on how to do this in English.

Going to Tokyo - first timer!

Also check out:

http://www.tokyoessentials.com/

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html

chrystie,

%26gt;%26gt;%26gt; We want to see a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome and believe the Tokyo Giants are playing. Do we need to buy tickets in advance for the baseball game or can we buy them when we get there? How do we buy them %26lt;%26lt;%26lt;

If you want to see a Giants game at Tokyo Dome, you can purchase and print tickets online at

gticket.e-tix.jp/english/ticket_pc_en.html

As yamanote suggested, get the tickets in advance.

Have fun!

Can you not do 3 days Kyoto %26amp; 5 days Tokyo.

8 days in Tokyo may not be the best plan.

At US$100, your best bet is the always reliable Toyoko Inn. The rooms aren%26#39;t so big but they are always clean and has all the basics you need. There are also free internet terminals in the lobby. A simple free breakfast is included as well.

http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/index.html

If you don%26#39;t go to Kyoto (a good suggestion), then you can go to Kamakura as a daytrip. Hakone can be done as an overnight trip if you want to experience onsen.

Christie,

If you have yet to find a hotel, try going through travel sites like Orbitz or Expedia. If you book though the hotel site, you%26#39;ll pay the top rate and my run into communication problems on top of that. With the drop in tourists, rates are dropping. You should get a nice room for under $100.

Macsubi

Thank you for the link to buy baseball tickets!!

Now - very important - I need a hotel.

Not being too familiar with the neighborhoods I%26#39;ve seen a lot about needing to stay off the JR line anywhere from Shinagawa to further north. I%26#39;ve also seen a lot about Shibuya and Shinjuku so think I want to stay near these stations.

Can anyone please suggest accomodations that are no more than $140 per night in these neighborhoods?

I%26#39;ve also read that the Hotel Excellent Ebisu is a good hotel but their website won%26#39;t let me make a reservation and is hard to navigate. Any suggestions on that?

Mostly, I%26#39;m becoming overwhelmed with the amount of hotel choices, and I%26#39;m running into trouble using hotel websites, finding availability and staying in budget, can someone please help with this?

Thank you!!

My vote goes to Shinjuku for a first-timer. It has convenient access to all major rail and subway lines. You can reach the area directly from Narita Airport on the Narita Express train. There are tons of shopping and dining options well into the night.

Based on your budget, you might want to try Sunroute Plaza Hotel. The location is very convenient and the hotel is relatively new. As long as you don%26#39;t go in expecting a large room (most Japanese rooms are on the small side), you should find it pleasant enough.

http://www.sunroute.jp/HotelInfoSVE

Shinagawa has good hotels as well and tends to be a little cheaper. The drawback is there really isn%26#39;t anything interesting around the area.

edokko,

i am loking for a ticket for either 7 or 8 Apr Nippon-Ham Fighters at Tokyo Dome. do you have the link to similar website where i can buy online tix?

or if this game will not probably be a sold-out, which convenience shop can i buy tix from?

thanks in advance.

chrystie,

we%26#39;re going exactly the same week you%26#39;re going =)

I was scrambling to book hotels and we ended up booking the Best Western Shinjuku for $129/night (supposed to be ~5min from an entrance to Shinjuku station). It would have been cheaper but we have a 2 night break inbetween for an overnight trip to Hakone.

Also I looked into the Sunroute in Shinjuku which you can book at $110/night if you book for 5 nights or more. There%26#39;s something like a 40% discount if you do that, can%26#39;t remember if it was expedia or a different site. Just look up the sunroute shuinjuku hotel on trip advisor, and click on the link to book and it should pop up about 4-5 windows to orbitz, expedia, travelocity, venere, etc. Look for the one that gives you the lowest rate. Sunroute is right around the corner from Shinjuku. Unfortunately if we only booked 2 night stays it would cost us $186/night at this time.

For a day trip I%26#39;d recommend Hakone or Kamakura this time of year, since it looks like the sakura may be in bloom.

If you check out the my tentative itinerary I posted on the forums (mar 22-28) it might give you some ideas about what to do.