7 Days in Tokyo and Hakone: Neon Nights, Hot Springs and Mount Fuji

Keep the first day light. Drop your bags at Hotel Gracery Shinjuku, the one with a life-size Godzilla head on its terrace, and wait for dark. The city is at its most dramatic from above at night, and the best free view is a ten-minute walk west.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building has observation decks on the 45th floor that cost nothing to visit. Tokyo runs to the horizon in every direction. Afterwards, walk back toward the station to Omoide Yokocho, a tangle of narrow alleys where yakitori counters seat half a dozen people under a haze of charcoal smoke.

Sensō-ji is Tokyo's oldest temple, and it is busiest from late morning, so aim to walk under the giant red lantern of the Kaminarimon gate by 9:30. The approach, Nakamise-dori, is a few hundred meters of snack and souvenir stalls. Try ningyo-yaki, small sponge cakes filled with red bean paste, while they're still warm.

Lunch is gyukatsu, a beef cutlet fried quickly so the inside stays rare, which you finish on a hot stone at the table. Then hop over to Akihabara for multi-story electronics stores, retro game shops and arcades stacked six floors high. Dinner is soba at Kanda Matsuya, served from the same pre-war wooden building for generations.

Start somewhere quiet. Meiji Jingu sits in a forest of around 100,000 trees donated from across Japan when the shrine was built, and it takes ten minutes of gravel paths under huge wooden torii to reach the main hall. Leave through the south gate and you are a block from Takeshita Street, Harajuku's narrow lane of fashion shops and giant crepes.

Harajuku Gyozaro keeps its menu short: pan-fried or steamed gyoza, a few sides, and a line that moves quickly. Walk down to Shibuya Crossing after lunch. Crossing it is the experience, but the view from above explains it, so book a sunset slot at Shibuya Sky on top of Shibuya Scramble Square. End with live music in Shibuya's small clubs.

Take the Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Odawara, about 35 minutes on the faster trains, and buy a Hakone Freepass when you arrive. It covers the mountain railway, cable car, ropeway, Lake Ashi boats and most local buses, which turns Hakone into one loop instead of a stack of tickets.

The Hakone Tozan Railway climbs slowly through forested switchbacks to Gōra. Stop for lunch at Gyoza Center, then ride the ropeway over Ōwakudani, an active volcanic valley where steam pours out of yellow rock. The black eggs sold at the top are boiled in the hot springs, and local legend says each one adds seven years to your life. End the day in a hot spring. If your hotel in Gōra has its own baths, use those and skip the ride back down to Yumoto.

Mornings are when Fuji is most likely to show itself, so be at Hakone Shrine early. Its red torii stands in the shallows of Lake Ashi, and a forest path of cedars leads up to the main shrine. Then board the sightseeing cruise across the lake and watch for the mountain at the far end.

Lunch is at Bakery & Table near Moto-Hakone, where the terrace has a footbath you can soak in while you eat. In the afternoon, walk a section of the old Tōkaidō, the Edo-period highway between Tokyo and Kyoto. The stones are still there under giant cedars, and the path leads to Amazake-chaya, a thatched teahouse that has served travelers for around 400 years.

Take the Odakyu Romancecar from Hakone-Yumoto straight to Shinjuku, about 85 minutes. Shimokitazawa is a few minutes away on the same line: Tokyo's best neighborhood for vintage clothes, record shops and small cafés in narrow lanes.

Eat early at Shirube, a loud and cheerful izakaya known for its blowtorched mackerel. Then cross town to Roppongi for craft beer at BrewDog and a late set at Bauhaus, a tiny rock bar where the staff are the house band.

The famous tuna auction moved to Toyosu in 2018, but the Tsukiji outer market is still the best breakfast in Tokyo. Graze from stall to stall: sea urchin, wagyu skewers, thick slices of tamagoyaki and sushi at a counter. Most stalls wind down by early afternoon.

Walk to Ginza Six for its free rooftop garden, then join the line at Ginza Kagari for creamy chicken paitan ramen before the airport. Haneda is about 30 minutes from Ginza by train.