Three days in Tokyo: the route
Use day one for Asakusa and Ueno, day two for Meiji Jingu, Harajuku and Shibuya, and day three for Tokyo Station, Marunouchi and Ginza. The first two days cover distinct east and west clusters; the third stays flexible for a booked attraction or a slower interest-led day. This itinerary is for three full sightseeing days, not an arrival afternoon followed by an early flight.
Keep one hotel throughout. With arrival on day one and departure on day five, four Tokyo nights leave three full days in between. A three-day, two-night stay with arrival and departure inside those dates needs a shorter version: choose one cluster each day and omit the museum or paid attraction rather than attempting the whole route.
Day 1 morning: Sensoji and Asakusa
Start in Asakusa with Sensoji and the surrounding streets. Use the morning for the temple approach and a walk towards the Sumida River, then have lunch in the area. Starting early is useful for walking, but do not expect all the shops to be open simply because the temple surroundings are accessible.
Keep the route on the east side of the city. There is no need to visit Shibuya today; it belongs with the western districts on day two. For a shorter walking day, make Asakusa the morning and afternoon base instead of adding Ueno.
Day 1 afternoon: Ueno Park or Ameyoko
Take the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line from Asakusa to Ueno rather than making the inter-district walk compulsory. Choose Ueno Park and one museum if exhibitions are the priority, or Ameyoko for a market-and-shopping afternoon. Museum admission and opening days are separate from access to the park. Leave enough time for a proper visit rather than arriving near closing.
Akihabara is the alternative for electronics, games and anime shops. From Ueno, JR Yamanote Line trains serve Akihabara via Okachimachi. Replace the long museum visit with Akihabara; do not assume there is time for all three afternoons. Finish with dinner near the last stop or back by your hotel. Overnight: the same Tokyo hotel.
JNTO: Ueno, Ameyoko, Akihabara and JR connectionsDay 2 morning: Meiji Jingu before the shops
Begin at Meiji Jingu, approaching from the Harajuku side. The shrine grounds are more than a station-side stop: the shrine advises allowing at least another ten minutes from the entrance to the main buildings. After the shrine, return towards Harajuku for lunch and choose Takeshita Street for youth-fashion shops or Omotesando for larger stores and architecture.
Meiji Jingu opens around sunrise and closes around sunset, with hours changing by month. Its published October closing time is 16:40 and November closing time is 16:10; it is not an evening visit after Shibuya. General shrine access is free, but do not treat that as a promise that every facility inside has the same hours or admission terms.
Meiji Jingu: seasonal opening hours and general admissionDay 2 afternoon and evening: Shibuya
Continue to Shibuya on foot if you want a longer street walk, or use the JR Yamanote Line from Harajuku to Shibuya for the short rail hop. Spend the afternoon around the crossing, Hachiko area and the shops that interest you, then keep dinner in Shibuya. A paid observation deck needs its own ticket and time slot; the crossing-area walk does not depend on securing one.
If vintage shops or a smaller street network appeal more, replace part of the shopping afternoon with Shimokitazawa, reached from Shibuya on the Keio Inokashira Line. Shinjuku is another evening option, not a compulsory additional sightseeing district. Choose it instead of a long Shibuya evening. Overnight: the same Tokyo hotel.
JNTO: Shibuya and the Keio connection to ShimokitazawaDay 3: Tokyo Station, Marunouchi and Ginza
Use the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station for the red-brick station frontage and the surrounding streets. Have lunch in Marunouchi or towards Yurakucho, then continue to Ginza for department stores, galleries or shopping. The useful route is a central-city walk, not a promise of palace admission: any Imperial Palace interior visit needs its own opening and booking check.
Keep the afternoon adjustable. If you leave Tokyo tomorrow, this is a practical day for returning to the hotel early, packing and settling luggage arrangements. If you prefer another neighbourhood, replace Ginza with a focused visit rather than adding it after everything else. A fourth hotel night is needed when all three sightseeing days fall between arrival and departure.
If Ghibli Museum is the priority, replace a day
The Ghibli Museum is in Mitaka, not Ghibli Park in Aichi. Reserve admission before moving the itinerary around it: no tickets are sold at the museum, and entry is tied to the date and time on the ticket. Overseas Lawson sales open at 10:00 JST on the 10th of the month for the following month; availability is not guaranteed.
Replace day three with the museum and a slower western-Tokyo day. Keep the time before and after admission local, rather than racing back to finish the full Ginza plan. If your reserved entry falls on day one or two, swap the whole cluster to another date. The ticket should determine the order, not produce a fourth day squeezed inside three.
Ghibli Museum: reservations, venue identity and release rulesIf teamLab is the priority, choose the venue first
teamLab Borderless is at Azabudai Hills; teamLab Planets is a different venue in Toyosu. Choose the actual museum before buying a ticket or planning the journey. An old Borderless address in Odaiba is not the current destination.
For Borderless, replace much of day three with the Azabudai Hills visit and leave only a short Marunouchi or Ginza stop if it suits the booked entry. For Planets, use a Toyosu-focused part-day instead of treating it as a stop next door to Borderless. Admission prices, available slots and special operating dates belong to the exact venue calendar; they are not included in this itinerary.
teamLab: Borderless at Azabudai Hills and the separate Planets venueLocal transport and what to budget separately
Use the official subway map for the Ginza Line link between Asakusa and Ueno and save the line name, station number and useful exit. JR Yamanote services make the Harajuku–Shibuya and Ueno–Akihabara links straightforward, but those are JR trips rather than Tokyo Metro trips. A Tokyo Subway Ticket covers Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway, not every railway used by this plan. A national JR Pass is not a universal subway ticket either.
Budget for the hotel, meals, airport transfers and local rail separately. Then add the specific museum, observation deck or teamLab tickets you actually choose. A walking-and-shopping version and a version with several reserved attractions do not have the same cost. This guide does not supply an invented daily average or imply a pass saves money without your actual journeys.
Tokyo Metro: line names, station numbers and route mapRain, heat and a day trip: what to cut
In rain, keep one museum or department-store stop and shorten the outdoor portion around it. In hot weather, take the subway between clusters, start the shrine visit in the morning and leave a proper indoor lunch break. These are pacing choices, not reasons to add more sights.
If Kamakura, Yokohama or Nikko is essential during a three-day stay, replace a full city day. Keep the day-two western cluster if Shibuya and Harajuku are priorities, or keep the eastern cluster if Sensoji and Ueno matter more. Hakone makes a different trip when a ryokan overnight is the goal.