How to have a really cheap vacation in Tokyo

Tokyo has a reputation as being one of the most expensive cities on earth.

I am famously frugal with my money, so I have researched ways of going to Tokyo, Japan without having to spend your life savings in the process!

It's easily possible to have a great time in Tokyo without spending a fortune.

The airfare is normally the greatest expense when going. A good way to save on the air fare is to play around with the flight booking function of your favorite travel agency website. Many flights are much cheaper during the week compared to weekends. Flights are also more expensive during certain times of year, particularly around Christmas. If you don't have kids it's also a good idea to travel during term times.

Flights are often cheaper if you fly to your destination indirectly. If you do this, you might like the idea of saving money, but you might not like the stress of worrying if you'll miss your connecting flight. Catching a connecting flight also means hanging around another airport for several hours which can extend journey times substantially.

Tokyo has a reputation as one of the most expensive cities on the planet. Thankfully hotel rooms are not in short supply, and Tokyo hotels generally cost much less than hotel rooms in cities such as London or New York.

Whenever I stay in Tokyo I usually stay at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. This is an enormous hotel with four different tower blocks of hotel rooms. All the rooms are clean and have pretty good facilities. Shinagawa isn't the liveliest district of Tokyo (so it might not be the best choice if you want to go out clubbing every night), but it has excellent transport connections to Narita International and Haneda airports, as well as to the main entertainment districts of Tokyo.

Many people think that visiting Japan is impossible without spending loads of money on an expensive tour guide. Yes if you go on an escorted tour you'll see the usual sites. But will you have such a good experience compared to wandering around at your own pace? Probably not!

Tokyo is actually a lot easier to find your way around than you might think.

Most trains use the SUICA cashless card system so you can pay for journeys as you take them. You can get a SUICA card at the airport - ask one of the English speaking guides to show you how to put more money onto it.

Most train journeys within Tokyo are fairly cheap. A good way of saving money is to take the subway system, or use the private commuter railways instead of the Japan Rail lines. Private lines tend to be much cheaper, especially on longer journeys such as to Mount Takao - the Keio train line to Mount Takao is extremely cheap. The disadvantage is that the private lines tend to have less in the way of English signage or announcements (although station stops have English signs to show you where you are!)

Many visitors to Japan buy a Japan Rail Pass. These are good value if you want to travel all over Japan. However, it's probably hard to justify their purchase if you just want to travel within Tokyo itself.

My top travel tip - take any medication you are likely to need, as Japanese pharmacies are quite difficult to use if you don't read or speak Japanese and you don't use a tour guide.

My best tip for eating cheaply in Tokyo is to dine in one of the fast food establishments inside the ticket gates of major stations. Noodle restaurants and Japanese curry restaurants are extremely cheap. Unfortunately a lot of the restaurants only accept payment via a vending machine. You have to select what you want to order from the vending machine, then give the ticket to the chef. Often the vending machines are only in Japanese characters so it can be hard to determine what you're ordering. Fear not! One way of using the vending machine is to watch someone else using one, order the same as them and hope they have excellent taste! Some machinese do have pictures of the popular dish. Failing that you could see if one of the restaurant's staff members can help you!

In Japan many restaurants also have detailed plastic representations of their meals displayed outside the restaurant. If you don't read or speak Japanese, you can easily order food at these kinds of places by simply pointing to what you want to eat.

Other ways of eating cheaply in Tokyo include going to one of the popular restaurant chains such as Jonathans, or one of the many gourmet burger chains.

Failing that there is always a supermarket or a convenience store like the many 7/11's. These stores are a good source of sushi, sandwiches and other snacks, not to mention instant noodles. Some even sell fish and chips! As far as instant noodles go, Cup Noodles are particularly good! Many Japanese hotels have facilities for heating up instant noodles. Unlike many Western countries, the standard of fast food from convenience stores is much higher than you might think!

Once you're in Tokyo there's loads of things you can do that don't cost much money...

• If you want to have a look at the countryside then a trip to Mount Takao is a reasonable day out, especially if you take the Keio privately operated train line.
• On Sundays there's always something going on in Harajuku. Yoyogi Park is also a must visit on a Sunday afternoon. Many locals go to the park to play music and play games, and it's a lot of fun.
• For people spotting it's good to visit Harajuku, Akihabara and Shibuya. There's usually more going on during weekends.
• Exploring the many parks in Tokyo is a cheap way to enjoy the city.
• Crossing the rainbow bridge to Odaiba is a good excursion for a late afternoon. It's worth exploring the sea front for the fantastic views over the river to the Tokyo Tower, not to mention the minature version of the Statue of Liberty!
• Art galleries are free on some days of the week, so check your guidebook.
• Resonably priced days out from Tokyo can be had by going to Kamakura and Enoshima, Kawagoe and Kawasaki Daishi. Yokohama is also great, particularly Chinatown.

Enjoy your trip to Tokyo! If you found this page useful please vote for it below, and leave comments if you wish: