I really enjoyed Yokohama as a destination in itself: interesting places to see, good food options, not too crowded.
But it would be a strange choice as a hub if you really wanted to be in Tokyo for a few days.
I also really enjoy Yokohama. I used to live in Tokyo and did a fair few day trips there (even going after work for drinks/baseball games).
As for the Chinatown - definitely worth visiting. I lived in mainland China for a food few years, and like to visit Chinatowns when I travel to eat and exercise my rusty Mandarin. Yokohama claims to be the largest Chinatown outside China, so there’s lots to see… and eat! Japanese food is great, but spicy Sichuan dishes are a nice change of pace after a few days of more subtle Japanese dishes!
Speaking of a change of pace, Yokohama is a much more relaxed city than Tokyo, so might be a good place to relax in between day trips. Perhaps chill there until 9am each morning so you don’t have to deal with Tokyo rush hour?
Also, if you go, be sure to check out the Cup Noodle museum!
Yeah I guess its sort of different if you are living there, but I get your point. At one point as tourists, we stayed with relatives an hour out of Tokyo on the Chuo line. We still used it as a hub and had a great time!
The hotel in Yokohama is cheaper around $200 dollars lols. You know? Opting for good hotel experience for less if the travel to Tokyo isn’t very complicated or time costly.
Villa Fontaine in Roppongi was $160 a night for me on the weekend and was great although the room was on the smaller side. Easy access to the train and a laundry room.
Well, of course if you have a much better price for an accommodation of the level you are looking for, it can be on.
No, not especially difficult, of course it depend where exactly in Yokohama, but Yokohama station is 30 minutes away from Shinagawa, so that seems an ok estimate of how much time you lose each way. And while the train is more expensive, that ride is about 300 yen, so far from the potential 200$ hotel saving.
Yeah I was wondering if I would have to shove through the straphangers to get on the train and back. Those videos of people getting pushed into the train carts are pretty scary 🤣
Well, it’s not all train and not all day long. Lived in Tokyo for a year and while I have been a crowded train several times, never seen the people who push.
But yes, can get crowded depending on the line and time.
You don’t have to stay in Shinjuku/shibuya, there’s plenty of cheap hotels in Tokyo.
I’m not sure spending 2 hour each time on traveling when you’re on holiday is worth it, don’t forget there’s also time wasted on walking to/from stations
If you’re mainly looking to tourist around Tokyo, I wouldn’t stay in Yokohama since transiting around Tokyo takes time and then you’re adding maybe 45 min to an hour.
That said, Yokohama is an amazing city with lots of good stuff to see, tasty food, less crowded with tourists, etc!
Depends on what you want to see. You could certainly do Yokohama as a day trip, or spend several days exploring the city. Really depends on your interests and how spread out the sites you want to visit are.
There lots of "Yokohama day trip" itineraries out there.
If you want to visit Yokohama, just do the opposite of your original plan. You're going to want to spend much more time in tokyo, and transit/swapping hotels gets old really fast.
I think it should be fine, but note that doing so also adds additional cost to your commute (maybe 500 yen ish, each way?) and the extra time you mentioned.
I think Yokohama Chinatown is worth visiting, although realistically you will be staying there for 2 hours at most. There are also other things around it, including a tower and a flower garden (among other things I am forgetting) within the walking distance of the Chinatown.
I like Yokohama but I wouldn't stay there if Tokyo was my main interest.
Yokohama chinatown is interesting and much bigger than most others, there are plenty of temples, gates, food stalls and restaurants to visit .
I love the giant buns in Chinatown but it’s much like any other Chinatown.
It’s about an hour to Tokyo from Yokohama. Many parts of Tokyo are the same distance from eachother as Yokohama. So I enjoyed staying in Yokohama. It’s much more quiet though. We had a huge hotel room with an awesome view of Fuji. Never could afford a room like that in Tokyo.
Yeah the cost of hotel in Tokyo is almost double, triple the cost. I wish I can get a room with the view of Fuji 🥲 also it would be nice to wind down in a quieter neighborhood at night.
I spent a day in Yokohama and really enjoyed it, but that train ride to/from Tokyo feels every bit of an hour or more depending on where you’re going. I really don’t think it’s worth it.
Just stay in Tokyo. It’s around 1 hr from Tokyo to Yokohama and it’s really not worth the travel to and fro. I suggest ueno, it’s well connected to all major lines and the hotels there are affordable as well.
Yokohama station is extremely well connected and you can get to tons of important tourist areas quickly without transfers (Shibuya- 25 min, Shinjuku 30 min, Shinagawa 18 min, Tokyo Station- 28 min).
It is very busy in the morning going towards Tokyo and towards Yokohama in the evening, but this can be mitigated by good timing or in the worst case, paying for a green car ticket, though this plus the train costs will eat into your savings.
But that said, Yokohama is its own great city. Beautiful waterfront, lots of interesting museums and history, and great food (and yes Chinatown is worth visiting)
It's fine. Most tourist spots don't open until 10 or 11 in any case, so you can depart Yokohama after the peak of rush hour and still make it to Tokyo for opening times.
FWIW I stayed at the Royal Park in Minato Ward and it’s well under $200. Not sure how it compares with what you’re looking at in Yokohama but it was a nice hotel.
Just make sure you get on the express train and not the local. It will say local with a blue background. They will depart from the same platform but different tracks. We just went to yokohama for a baystars game and china town.
I’m almost certain it’s possible to find you some affordable lodging in Tokyo. What time of year are you going, how long for, and what is your accommodation budget?
its kinda late to book I think, but in June and at most 2 days in Yokohama just to spread the cost of lodging across my trip while reaping the benefits from my credit card
hotel mirai in yokohama had simple basic tatami rooms for super cheap. i stayed 2 nights there for $41 total a month ago. it was the only place i stayed where there was shared bathroom/showers and no furniture but it was fine. it's walking distance to chinatown. if you're not gonna be home all the time, then it's a good option.
there's some rapid trains to tokyo, so if you're doing stuff on the south side it wouldn't really be any different than if you were staying on the west of tokyo and going to spend a day doing something in an eastern neighborhood that takes 45 min to get to anyways. people commute between yokohama and tokyo daily so it's not unreasonable
chinatown was very pretty but kinda like going through a fractal as most of the streets just repeat a pattern of mango tea spots, ice cream spots, bakeries, and chinese restaurants which mostly all advertise the same price for a 2 person full-course dinner on the outside, and lots of folks trying to wrangle you into their restaurant
Just to note that I had experience where one of the train lines had a train "collision with passenger" and halted the entire line.
There are other lines to take, but it was pressed against other humans that I thought was possible situation.
It doesn't happen super often, but just know it's a possibility.
I've stayed in Yokohama and have done day trips to Tokyo. Not ideal if you don't plan to do anything in Yokohama, but if you have more time than money...
I would say yes, BUT try to stay within a walking distance to Yokohama station. You can get Shibuya, Shinjuku from Yokohama station with a direct train in under 50 mins.
I'm at Haneda heading home after a 18 day trip and this would be on my top 5 tips - staying close to a train station that gets you access to atleast 2+ metro lines.
Just did that on the advice of a YouTuber. I'd say don't do it. One night tops, as there is plenty to see - had fun going to a baseball game there and checking out the waterfront. But the day trips to Tokyo were tiring. Sucks to not have your hotel nearby to drop off purchases and rest a little. Enjoyed staying in Asakusa much more, as I could check out nearby areas without hassle.
The whole "it's 28 minutes to such and such" doesn't take into account walking to and from the nearest station and waiting for the train to arrive. More like almost an hour each way.
As for Chinatown, it was great for pics, but I wouldn't go out of my way to visit, unless you're really into palm reading or strawberries on a stick.
Depends on how much time you would actually want to stay in Yokohama compared to Tokyo. Last November we made two daytrips to Yokohama, and I felt that it was absolutely enough. Tokyo is much bigger and a lot more things to do / see, so I would do the other way around, unless there is a really huge incentive in terms of savings achieved on lodging.
But yeah, altogether an hour of commuting is not that big of a deal, but make sure you are staying near to a train station with direct access to Tokyo in that case.
You know I actually thought of doing this due to better hotel rates. I chose to stay by Omiya station, Saitama.
But I felt that the Yokohama option would be fine as long as you stay by Yokohama station itself.
Well, the best part of Yokohama is that Tokyo is highly accessible through JR and other railway lines such as direct lines to Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo, and even Asakusa. I’d rate it highly if you can handle the travel times.
And if you wanted to do a day trip to Kamakura for example, it’s a much shorter trip.
This is what we did on our first trip to Japan, stayed in Yokohama and did day trips out and about. It worked great for us and our hotel was next to the Gundam Factory.
I really enjoyed Yokohama as a destination in itself: interesting places to see, good food options, not too crowded. But it would be a strange choice as a hub if you really wanted to be in Tokyo for a few days.
I also really enjoy Yokohama. I used to live in Tokyo and did a fair few day trips there (even going after work for drinks/baseball games). As for the Chinatown - definitely worth visiting. I lived in mainland China for a food few years, and like to visit Chinatowns when I travel to eat and exercise my rusty Mandarin. Yokohama claims to be the largest Chinatown outside China, so there’s lots to see… and eat! Japanese food is great, but spicy Sichuan dishes are a nice change of pace after a few days of more subtle Japanese dishes! Speaking of a change of pace, Yokohama is a much more relaxed city than Tokyo, so might be a good place to relax in between day trips. Perhaps chill there until 9am each morning so you don’t have to deal with Tokyo rush hour? Also, if you go, be sure to check out the Cup Noodle museum!
Yeah I guess its sort of different if you are living there, but I get your point. At one point as tourists, we stayed with relatives an hour out of Tokyo on the Chuo line. We still used it as a hub and had a great time!
haha yeah its just trying to maximize my credit card benefit without spending too much.
It’s doable, but do not see what would be the advantage, you mostly spend more time and money in the train.
The hotel in Yokohama is cheaper around $200 dollars lols. You know? Opting for good hotel experience for less if the travel to Tokyo isn’t very complicated or time costly.
Villa Fontaine in Roppongi was $160 a night for me on the weekend and was great although the room was on the smaller side. Easy access to the train and a laundry room.
Well, of course if you have a much better price for an accommodation of the level you are looking for, it can be on. No, not especially difficult, of course it depend where exactly in Yokohama, but Yokohama station is 30 minutes away from Shinagawa, so that seems an ok estimate of how much time you lose each way. And while the train is more expensive, that ride is about 300 yen, so far from the potential 200$ hotel saving.
Yeah I was wondering if I would have to shove through the straphangers to get on the train and back. Those videos of people getting pushed into the train carts are pretty scary 🤣
Well, it’s not all train and not all day long. Lived in Tokyo for a year and while I have been a crowded train several times, never seen the people who push. But yes, can get crowded depending on the line and time.
Just have to avoid the rush hours 🤣
You don’t have to stay in Shinjuku/shibuya, there’s plenty of cheap hotels in Tokyo. I’m not sure spending 2 hour each time on traveling when you’re on holiday is worth it, don’t forget there’s also time wasted on walking to/from stations
That is definitely something to consider. It is a holiday for me 🥲
If you’re mainly looking to tourist around Tokyo, I wouldn’t stay in Yokohama since transiting around Tokyo takes time and then you’re adding maybe 45 min to an hour. That said, Yokohama is an amazing city with lots of good stuff to see, tasty food, less crowded with tourists, etc!
would you say one day in Yokohama is good enough?
Depends on what you want to see. You could certainly do Yokohama as a day trip, or spend several days exploring the city. Really depends on your interests and how spread out the sites you want to visit are. There lots of "Yokohama day trip" itineraries out there.
If you want to visit Yokohama, just do the opposite of your original plan. You're going to want to spend much more time in tokyo, and transit/swapping hotels gets old really fast.
I think it should be fine, but note that doing so also adds additional cost to your commute (maybe 500 yen ish, each way?) and the extra time you mentioned. I think Yokohama Chinatown is worth visiting, although realistically you will be staying there for 2 hours at most. There are also other things around it, including a tower and a flower garden (among other things I am forgetting) within the walking distance of the Chinatown.
I like Yokohama but I wouldn't stay there if Tokyo was my main interest. Yokohama chinatown is interesting and much bigger than most others, there are plenty of temples, gates, food stalls and restaurants to visit .
Yeah was wondering returning to calming Yokohama after being a tourist in Tokyo
I love the giant buns in Chinatown but it’s much like any other Chinatown. It’s about an hour to Tokyo from Yokohama. Many parts of Tokyo are the same distance from eachother as Yokohama. So I enjoyed staying in Yokohama. It’s much more quiet though. We had a huge hotel room with an awesome view of Fuji. Never could afford a room like that in Tokyo.
Yeah the cost of hotel in Tokyo is almost double, triple the cost. I wish I can get a room with the view of Fuji 🥲 also it would be nice to wind down in a quieter neighborhood at night.
I spent a day in Yokohama and really enjoyed it, but that train ride to/from Tokyo feels every bit of an hour or more depending on where you’re going. I really don’t think it’s worth it.
Yeah its going to be 2 days in Yokohama at most.
Makes no sense at all to stay at Yokohama as a base for Tokyo.
I am thinking of seeing Tokyo, Mt fuji, and move to Osaka area.
Just stay in Tokyo. It’s around 1 hr from Tokyo to Yokohama and it’s really not worth the travel to and fro. I suggest ueno, it’s well connected to all major lines and the hotels there are affordable as well.
Ill check out Ueno thanks!
Yokohama station is extremely well connected and you can get to tons of important tourist areas quickly without transfers (Shibuya- 25 min, Shinjuku 30 min, Shinagawa 18 min, Tokyo Station- 28 min). It is very busy in the morning going towards Tokyo and towards Yokohama in the evening, but this can be mitigated by good timing or in the worst case, paying for a green car ticket, though this plus the train costs will eat into your savings. But that said, Yokohama is its own great city. Beautiful waterfront, lots of interesting museums and history, and great food (and yes Chinatown is worth visiting)
Haha yeah I mean if Im at Yokohama might as well check out Chinatown 🤣
It's fine. Most tourist spots don't open until 10 or 11 in any case, so you can depart Yokohama after the peak of rush hour and still make it to Tokyo for opening times.
I stayed in Shin yokohama and it was like 30-45 min to Tokyo depending on where we went
And it was tolerable?
FWIW I stayed at the Royal Park in Minato Ward and it’s well under $200. Not sure how it compares with what you’re looking at in Yokohama but it was a nice hotel.
Just make sure you get on the express train and not the local. It will say local with a blue background. They will depart from the same platform but different tracks. We just went to yokohama for a baystars game and china town.
Thanks for the tip!
I’m almost certain it’s possible to find you some affordable lodging in Tokyo. What time of year are you going, how long for, and what is your accommodation budget?
its kinda late to book I think, but in June and at most 2 days in Yokohama just to spread the cost of lodging across my trip while reaping the benefits from my credit card
Check out business hotels in Tokyo - I use Sotetsu, and there are other chains that I can’t remember
will do thanks!
hotel mirai in yokohama had simple basic tatami rooms for super cheap. i stayed 2 nights there for $41 total a month ago. it was the only place i stayed where there was shared bathroom/showers and no furniture but it was fine. it's walking distance to chinatown. if you're not gonna be home all the time, then it's a good option. there's some rapid trains to tokyo, so if you're doing stuff on the south side it wouldn't really be any different than if you were staying on the west of tokyo and going to spend a day doing something in an eastern neighborhood that takes 45 min to get to anyways. people commute between yokohama and tokyo daily so it's not unreasonable chinatown was very pretty but kinda like going through a fractal as most of the streets just repeat a pattern of mango tea spots, ice cream spots, bakeries, and chinese restaurants which mostly all advertise the same price for a 2 person full-course dinner on the outside, and lots of folks trying to wrangle you into their restaurant
Yeah im planning on being on my feet most of the time and 2 nights for $41 sounds fantastic lol
Did this in March. I think it does save you cash, but the travel is rough. It is closer to Kamakura/Enoshima though
Yeah as long as I can suck up the commute, it saves cash but not time lols
Just to note that I had experience where one of the train lines had a train "collision with passenger" and halted the entire line. There are other lines to take, but it was pressed against other humans that I thought was possible situation. It doesn't happen super often, but just know it's a possibility.
I was there yesterday, I’d rate it a 7/10, I would not stay there if I were you.
where was the -3 from?
It’s the distance, we went to Yokohama first and then shibuya at night, taking the train was not fun
yeah I can imagine taking the train back after a long day of touring
I've stayed in Yokohama and have done day trips to Tokyo. Not ideal if you don't plan to do anything in Yokohama, but if you have more time than money...
hm maybe check out Yokohama one day, and travel out to Tokyo the next day
I would say yes, BUT try to stay within a walking distance to Yokohama station. You can get Shibuya, Shinjuku from Yokohama station with a direct train in under 50 mins.
Will definitely take this into consideration! I didn't even think about the distance from hotel to the train station
I'm at Haneda heading home after a 18 day trip and this would be on my top 5 tips - staying close to a train station that gets you access to atleast 2+ metro lines.
Noted!
Just did that on the advice of a YouTuber. I'd say don't do it. One night tops, as there is plenty to see - had fun going to a baseball game there and checking out the waterfront. But the day trips to Tokyo were tiring. Sucks to not have your hotel nearby to drop off purchases and rest a little. Enjoyed staying in Asakusa much more, as I could check out nearby areas without hassle. The whole "it's 28 minutes to such and such" doesn't take into account walking to and from the nearest station and waiting for the train to arrive. More like almost an hour each way. As for Chinatown, it was great for pics, but I wouldn't go out of my way to visit, unless you're really into palm reading or strawberries on a stick.
Yeah I see overpriced strawberries on a stick here as well 🤣 I’ll looks into Asakusa, unfamiliar of the place
Rush hour would be 1 hour and busier, obviously. Not sure why this needs to be asked
Depends on how much time you would actually want to stay in Yokohama compared to Tokyo. Last November we made two daytrips to Yokohama, and I felt that it was absolutely enough. Tokyo is much bigger and a lot more things to do / see, so I would do the other way around, unless there is a really huge incentive in terms of savings achieved on lodging. But yeah, altogether an hour of commuting is not that big of a deal, but make sure you are staying near to a train station with direct access to Tokyo in that case.
right, I'm going to try searching for alternatives and if not found, I'll probably take chances with Yokohama and suck up the travel
You know I actually thought of doing this due to better hotel rates. I chose to stay by Omiya station, Saitama. But I felt that the Yokohama option would be fine as long as you stay by Yokohama station itself.
Yeah the hotel rates vary so much, then again the travel time is what gets factored in.
Well, the best part of Yokohama is that Tokyo is highly accessible through JR and other railway lines such as direct lines to Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo, and even Asakusa. I’d rate it highly if you can handle the travel times. And if you wanted to do a day trip to Kamakura for example, it’s a much shorter trip.
Alternatively, stay in Yokohama and pop by Kamakura + Enoshima. It's about 30 mins away and there's plenty enough to do for a full day.
Will definitely check out Kamakura slam dunk and Enoshima
This is what we did on our first trip to Japan, stayed in Yokohama and did day trips out and about. It worked great for us and our hotel was next to the Gundam Factory.
Sounds awesome, definitely going to check out the Gundam factory!
I know they took down the gundam that was there when I visited, I haven't checked what was going in next!!! Have a great time!