Price ranges are typical double rooms per night and move with the season. Station lines are listed so you can plan your transfers.
🌃 Shinjuku
The Tokyo of the movies: neon canyons, a station that moves millions of people a day, and a free observation deck in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. It is the most convenient base for first-timers and a lot of fun after dark.
Pros
- Unbeatable rail links in every direction
- Golden Gai and Omoide Yokocho for tiny bars
- Free city views from the Metropolitan Government Building
Cons
- The station is a maze; learn your exit
- Kabukicho touts: politely ignore invitations
- Loud and busy late at night
🚦 Shibuya
The scramble crossing, Shibuya Sky above it and an enormous youth-fashion and nightlife scene around it. Younger, louder and more compact than Shinjuku, with excellent restaurants tucked behind the department stores.
Pros
- Walk to Harajuku, Omotesando and Yoyogi Park
- Great food and cocktail bars after dark
- Direct trains to Haneda connections via Shinagawa
Cons
- Hilly, with confusing multi-level streets
- Hotels cost more than Shinjuku for similar quality
- Weekend nights are rowdy
⛩️ Asakusa
Old Tokyo: Senso-ji temple, rickshaw drivers, small shops and a river view of the Skytree. Among the cheapest well-connected bases, and calm by 9 pm, which for many travellers is a feature.
Pros
- Many hostels and ryokan-style stays
- Senso-ji is gorgeous early or after dark
- Tobu line runs direct to Nikko
Cons
- Not on the JR Yamanote loop
- Quiet nightlife compared with Shinjuku or Shibuya
- Mid-day crowds around the temple
🚄 Ginza & Marunouchi
Polished, central and sitting on top of Tokyo Station, where the Shinkansen leaves for Kyoto. Wide boulevards, serious department stores and the Imperial Palace East Gardens on your doorstep.
Pros
- Walk to Tokyo Station for bullet trains
- Safe, tidy and elegant
- Excellent depachika and sushi counters
Cons
- Quiet at weekends and late evenings
- Highest prices in the city
- Less youthful energy than Shibuya
🌳 Ueno
A big park, several major museums, the Ameyoko market and the Skyliner terminus from Narita. Nearby Yanaka offers some of the few remaining old streets. Good value and surprisingly easy.
Pros
- Skyliner from Narita runs straight to Ueno
- Park, zoo and museums in one cluster
- Cheaper than Shinjuku for the same standard
Cons
- Slightly tired streets around the station
- Fewer upscale dining options
- Further from Shibuya-side nightlife
🎮 Akihabara
Electric Town: arcades, retro games, anime and manga shops, and towering electronics stores. A great base for fans, and a quick hop to Tokyo Station and Ueno on the same line.
Pros
- Arcades and figure shops that run late
- Easy to reach Tokyo Station and Ueno
- Value business hotels nearby
Cons
- Not much for non-fans after the shops close
- Pushy touts around the maid cafés
- From 1 Nov 2026 tax-free shopping means paying tax first
🌸 Harajuku & Omotesando
Takeshita Street's teen fashion, Omotesando's architecture and the forest around Meiji Jingu. There are very few hotels, so most visitors stay in nearby Shibuya or Shinjuku and walk over.
Pros
- Meiji Jingu's forest is genuinely calming
- Stylish cafés and design shops
- Walkable to Shibuya
Cons
- Very limited hotel choice
- Weekend crowds on Takeshita Street
- Pricey for what you get
🎸 Shimokitazawa
Vintage shops, small live-music venues, curry cafés and a village feel a few minutes by train from Shibuya. Not the place for your first night in Tokyo, but a lovely second-trip base.
Pros
- Walkable, relaxed, full of independent shops
- Quick hop to Shibuya and Shinjuku
- Great coffee and curry
Cons
- Few hotels; most are small guesthouses
- Not on the Yamanote loop
- Quiet outside the main lanes at night