By tighttravellers, May 2026
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Japan has been a dream destination for years and talks of it have always ended in “well we canny afford that!“. But we’re here, and we’re trying to stretch our pounds as far as they’ll go. We budgeted £100 a day for the two of us, with the obvious hopes of keeping well under.
Tokyo was our base for two separate stints during our Japan trip, and it proper surprised us. Not just wi’ how much there were to do, but wi’ how much of it were either free or dead cheap. Here’s everything tha needs to know.
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Where to stay in Tokyo on a budget
Honestly, finding affordable accommodation in Tokyo is where the stress begins. We were scrolling through Booking.com, Trip.com, Hostelworld, and even Facebook trying to find owt decent that wouldn’t clean us out before we’d even left the airport. The prices were making us weep! £25 each a night for a bunk in a 12-bed dorm? You what?
After a fair bit of searching we landed on two options that worked reyt well for us.
Koko Hotel, Nishikasai
Our first Tokyo stay was at Koko Hotel, located in Nishikasai; only a 5-minute walk from the train station and well connected to everywhere tha’d want to be. Proper boujee, and we definitely filled our boots on the free amenities (we had a 3.5-week road trip to stock up for). Clean, comfortable, and honestly better value than we expected for the price. We booked through Booking.com as always. Worth checking them first for Tokyo hotels as they regularly have the best rate.
Flexstay Inn Tamagawa
For our second stint in Tokyo we stayed at Flexstay Inn Tamagawa. A bit more worn around the edges if we’re being honest, but it had a small kitchen so we could make our own breakfast and the odd meal, which saves a fair bit of brass over a week. Also a short walk from the train station. If tha’s watching every penny, having a kitchen is worth more than a fancy lobby. Again, Booking.com had it at the best price when we were booking.
Budget tip: Stay one or two stops outside the main tourist areas (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Asakusa) and tha’ll find prices drop noticeably. Tokyo’s train network is that good that being a few stops out makes barely any difference to how long it takes to get anywhere.
Getting around Tokyo
Right, this is where Tokyo proper comes into its own. The public transport network here is, without exaggeration, the best we’ve ever used anywhere in the world. Clean, punctual to the second, and goes absolutely everywhere. And for a city this size, it’s surprisingly affordable.
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Get a Suica or Pasmo IC card, first thing, before owt else
The single most important thing tha can do on day one in Tokyo is get an IC card, either a Suica or Pasmo card. It works like a contactless Oyster card for London; just tap in, tap out, across virtually every train, subway, and bus in the city. No faffing with tickets, no queuing at machines trying to work out which zone tha needs. Just load some yen on it and go.
Tha can pick one up at any major train station on arrival, Tokyo Station or Shinjuku are the easiest spots. Load it with ¥2,000–¥3,000 (about £10–£15) to start and top up as needed.
Or, if you’re an Apple user, add it easily to your Apple wallet. Samsung users can’t get to this with Suica, so when we visited I added one card to my iPhone and another to my Apple Watch.
What it actually costs to get around
Most journeys within central Tokyo cost between ¥170–¥300 (roughly 80p–£1.50). A full day of exploring, say four or five different parts of the city, might cost tha £5–£7 all in. For a city of this scale and quality, that’s nowt short of remarkable.
For getting to Tokyo from elsewhere in Japan, or booking onward travel from Tokyo, we used 12go Asia throughout our trip. It lets tha compare trains, buses and ferries all in one place and book in pounds rather than yen, which makes budgeting a lot less headache-inducing.
Google Maps also became our saviour. You can find the cheapest way to get from A to B using this.
Free things to do in Tokyo
We were genuinely gobsmacked at how much there is to do in Tokyo for absolutely nowt. This is not a city tha needs to spend a fortune in to have a brilliant time. Here are some of our favourites, all completely free unless we say otherwise.
1. Imperial Palace East Gardens, Chiyoda
Enter through the Ōte-mon Gate and the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace are completely free. It’s a proper beautiful spot; manicured gardens, old stone walls, and a real sense of calm right in the middle of one of the world’s biggest cities. There are rest stops and toilets dotted throughout. Follow the QR codes along the paths for a free self-guided audio tour, or join the free guided walking tour on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 11am or 2pm. Note: the gardens close on Mondays and Fridays.
2. Tokyo Skytree, Sumida City
Right, we want to be clear here, going up the Skytree costs brass. But just visiting the building itself is free and completely worth it. We reckoned it’d be a quick look and carried on. Ended up spending an hour wandering floors upon floors of restaurants, shops, and a small museum inside the base. Brilliant architecture, great atmosphere, and nowt to pay. If tha does want to go up to the observation deck, book in advance online – it’s cheaper than buying at the door.
3. Senso-ji Temple and Nakamise Shopping Street, Asakusa
Tokyo’s oldest and most famous temple is completely free to enter and honestly one of the most impressive things we saw in the entire city. Get there early, before 8am if tha can, and it’s peaceful and magical. By 10am it’s rammed. The Nakamise shopping street leading up to the temple is a brilliant browse even if tha buys nowt, wi‘ street food stalls selling ningyo-yaki (little filled cakes) for about 50p each.
Check out our 10 favourite free things to do in Tokyo!
10 Free Things to Do in Tokyo
10 free things to do and see in Japan to help you stick to your budget. From shopping streets to beautiful gardens, Japan seems to have it all!
Where to eat in Tokyo without spending a fortune
Food in Tokyo is, and we cannot stress this enough, absolutely mint and remarkably affordable if tha knows where to look.
Convenience stores (conbini) FamilyMart, 7-Eleven and Lawson are on every corner and the food is genuinely brilliant. Fresh onigiri from about ¥130 (65p), hot karaage chicken behind the counter, proper sandwiches, decent coffee. Breakfast for two for under £3 is completely doable from a conbini.
Ramen shops
A bowl of proper ramen in a local restaurant costs ¥800–¥1,200 (£4–£6). Look for the vending machine ticket systems outside. Insert coins, press thy choice, hand the ticket to the chef. No language needed, no awkwardness, cracking food.
Teishoku set lunches
Many local restaurants offer a set lunch (teishoku) during the day: rice, miso soup, pickles and a main for ¥900–¥1,400 (£4.50–£7). Restaurants that are busy with office workers at lunchtime are always a good sign.
Depachika food halls
The basement food halls in department stores (especially in Shinjuku and Shibuya) are brilliant for discounted food after 6pm when shops start reducing prices on anything that needs selling that day. We had some of our best Tokyo meals this way for next to nowt.
Our Tokyo budget breakdown
Here’s roughly what we spent per day in Tokyo across both our stays:
| Category | Daily spend (2 people) |
|---|---|
| Accommodation | £35–45 |
| Food and drink | £20–30 |
| Transport | £8–12 |
| Activities | £0–10 |
| Total | £65–95 |
Tokyo is slightly pricier than the rest of Japan,particularly for accommodation. But between free activities, cheap food and the brilliant public transport, it’s absolutely achievable to keep things reasonable. Our cheapest full day in Tokyo cost us about £58 for both of us. Our most expensive (a special dinner out to celebrate) came in at about £95. The average across our two stays worked out at about £72 a day for two.
The honest verdict. Is Tokyo worth it on a budget?
Reyt. Absolutely, definitively, without any question, reyt.
Tokyo has a reputation for being impossibly expensive that’s honestly not deserved if tha does a bit of research before going. Yes, it costs more than Chiang Mai or Bangkok. But for the sheer scale of what tha gets; the food, the culture, the architecture, the transport, the organised chaos of it all, it’s extraordinary value compared to any equivalent city in Europe.
Do thy research, eat where the locals eat, use the trains, and take full advantage of everything that costs nowt. Tha’ll come home wondering what all the fuss about Tokyo being expensive were about.
If tha’s heading to Japan and wants a head start on planning beyond Tokyo, we’ve put together a Northern Japan Road Trip Map with 286 points of interest across 11 prefectures. Free camp spots, hidden gems, budget eats and scenic spots; all on one Google Map for £8.99, instant download. It’s the best thing on our website and we’re only a tiny bit biased.
Any questions about Tokyo, costs or where we stayed, drop them in the comments. We read every single one and we’ll give thee a proper honest answer.
Reyt then. Safe travels.
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