Tokyo Free Walking Tours

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If you’ve been following me for any amount of time you will know I love free walking tours and I usually do one on our first day in a new place.

That didn’t work out for Osaka because our first three days were spent at the Osaka Expo, but we certainly hit the ground running in Tokyo.

I love these tours because they are an economical way to get some of the history of a place, see some of the sights, get your bearings, and have access to a local who can answer questions. They also often help me plan out the rest of my stay with things to do I may not have thought of.

We did three free walking tours in Tokyo, one the evening we arrived and two the next day. Here are the tours we did and my thoughts about them.

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Tokyo Free Walking Tour – Asakusa

A man in a yellow jacket holds a sign reading "A-sa-ku-sa" with Japanese characters, standing on a busy street near a traditional gate before the start of a Tokyo free walking tour.

We arrived in Tokyo and had checked into our room and I thought now what? A look on Guruwalk – my go-to platform for free walking tours – showed that this tour was happening in just a couple of hours, so what better way to dive right into Tokyo.

Asakusa is the old part of Tokyo. It’s home to Sensō-ji, the city’s oldest and most famous temple, with its giant red lantern and bustling Nakamise shopping street packed with traditional snacks and souvenirs.

But we were there in the evening when the market stalls were closed, which meant we could explore without the crowds.

We saw the temple, and the Shinto shrine next door, learning how locals worship at each and participating if we wanted to. We then explored some of the nearby streets, learning about the local non-alcoholic beer Hoppy – which of course is then served with Soju 😂

The tour finished outside the original Don Quijote store – which meant we could dive into the chaos of this popular bargain hunter’s paradise right after.

A Japanese restaurant with bright lanterns, colorful banners, and posters of performers on the exterior, photographed at night.
A person in a red jacket walks down a brightly lit city street at night, surrounded by buildings, signs, and a few other pedestrians.
Colorful Don Quijote store in Asakusa, Tokyo, illuminated at night with neon signs and people walking in front of the entrance.

Our guide for this tour was Kenji. He has good English with a strong Japanese accent, but not so strong that we couldn’t understand everything he said.

Looking at the reviews on GuruWalk, there are several guides who take this tour, so you might get any one of them.

Looking back now, this was my least favourite of the free walking tours – but that’s more of a reflection on how good the other two were. I was also a little disappointed that we didn’t go and see the Azuma Bridge that is listed in the description.

See the details of this tour and reserve your place here

Explore Shibuya, Harajuku and Meiji shrine

Traditional Japanese shrine with red wooden structure, ornate roof, and stone steps, surrounded by trees and modern buildings in the background.

The second tour was booked for the next morning and this was a fantastic walk through the Shibuya area.

Shibuya is known as Tokyo’s youth capital, buzzing with fashion, neon lights, and the famous Shibuya Scramble crossing that’s a must-see in itself. We were looking forward to exploring this area.

A tour guide gestures while holding a photo sheet as three people with umbrellas stand nearby on a rainy city street.
Bronze statue of a sitting dog on a pedestal, with a vintage black-and-white city scene as the background.
People walk under a large wooden torii gate surrounded by lush green trees on a paved pathway.

We started at a temple, learned about the most loyal dog, Hachiko, walked the Shibuya crossing, visited Yoyogi Park, ending near Takeshita Street, Harajuku and Meiji Shrine.

Our guide, Hiraku, is half Japanese but was born and grew up in New Zealand, moving to Japan permanently a few years ago. So his English is great, and he sees Japanese culture from both sides – as a local and as a Westerner.

Busy city scene with colorful billboards, including ads for Rakuten, IKEA, and anime, above a crowd of people holding umbrellas on a rainy day.
People with umbrellas cross a busy intersection in front of Starbucks and Tsutaya stores in an urban area, with digital billboards visible on the buildings.
People with umbrellas cross a busy intersection in a city with tall buildings and colorful advertising billboards on a rainy day.

Even though it rained for almost this entire tour, it was interesting and flew by.

The ending location meant that we could conveniently visit Meiji Shrine, which is an incredible oasis in the middle of this crazy city. Then we went right into that craziness with Harajuku 🙂

See the details of this tour and reserve your place here

Shinjuku Night Tour: Discover the Hidden Secrets of Tokyo

Street scene showing brightly lit restaurant signs in Japanese, with images of sushi and food, and people dining inside a sushi restaurant at dusk.
A busy city street in Japan at night with many illuminated signs, tall buildings, and people walking along the sidewalks.
Brightly lit entrance to AMOUR CRYSTAL club in Japan, with neon signs in English and Japanese, promotional posters, and illuminated doorway.

This was another last-minute booking but the most eye-opening of the three tours.

Shinjuku is a colourful mix of skyscrapers, shopping, nightlife, and the world’s busiest train station, offering a little bit of everything Tokyo is known for.

It is also home to one of Tokyo’s red-light districts. While it’s not in-your-face obvious during the day, this tour will strip away the blinders and for the rest of your trip you won’t be able to help seeing things differently.

This tour is not for under-18s, and you do need to be prepared for some rather x-rated conversations, but really, it wasn’t as bad in that respect as what I was preparing myself for.

A brightly lit Japanese pachinko machine with colorful graphics, digital displays, and control buttons in an arcade setting.
Two women in matching outfits stand outside a shop; one holds a sign advertising a 60-minute 1000 yen offer, with a menu for "Pearl Lady" tapioca and crepe visible in the background.
A man stands indoors next to a wall with colorful posters featuring three people and Japanese text promoting "Top Dandy Three.

You will see gambling venues, “information centres”, teenagers standing on the street, love hotels, host clubs – and learn what all these are and the dark side of some things that don’t seem so bad on the surface!

The tour ended with a walk through Golden Gai, the tiny-bar district in Shinjuku. These bars were all originally run by a local woman just trying to make a little money.

They seat only 7 or 8 people each but are worth popping into for a drink. Just watch out for the extra cover charge and choose one that doesn’t have it.

Narrow alley at night with illuminated signs, including "Bali," outside small bars and restaurants in an urban setting. String lights and other decorations are visible.
A narrow, brightly lit street lined with bars, signs, and posters at night, with people walking and various items and air conditioners along the sides.
Two people sit on stools at a small bar counter inside a narrow, colorful establishment with various items and signs visible on the walls and door.

Our guide Bryant is half Japanese, half American, born here on a US military base. His English is therefore great and again he had the benefit of that outside view to be able to explain things to us in a way that made sense. 

He also gave us lots of recommendations for local places to eat in the area – a couple we tried out over the days to come.

This will be the free walking tour that sticks with me the longest because it showed a side of Japan that doesn’t gel with what I thought to be true.

See the details of this tour and reserve your place here 

Free Walking Tour Tips

If you’ve not done too many free walking tours before, here are a few tips for you, specific to these ones

  • Reserve your place in advance – if you don’t, you may turn up to find no guide (if no one else has booked) or that the group is already too large to accommodate you too. It’s free to book on GuruWalk and easy to cancel if you change your mind.
  • Do not be late! Japanese are sticklers for time, and all three of these tours left exactly on time. We were almost late for the second one and I had messaged to let the guide know. I got there with one minute to spare.
  • Dress comfortably and respectfully, especially if you will be visiting religious sites.
  • A good amount to pay the guides is 1500-2000¥ – although you can pay more if you really love the tour
  • Bring an umbrella – you could need it for rain or sun!
  • Ask questions, remember that your guide is a great local resource. Not only can they fill in some blanks about local culture but they can help you with things that can make your trip easier. Need to find something specific? A good bar? Get tickets? They can help you out.

These are only three of the Tokyo free walking tours available, there are more than 40 different ones over on Guruwalk. Take a look at the below or click through to see them all.

TRAVEL PLANNING ESSENTIALS

Find flights – I always use Skyscanner as my starting point when searching for flights. One search will give many options including airlines I may not have thought of. This means I can find the best possible flights to suit my needs

Book accommodation – my go to is always Booking.com for the best places to stay. It’s not just hotels anymore, but hostels, apartments, B&Bs and more. I love that the bookings are usually cancellable, and that I can book now and pay later.

Hire a rental car – RentalCars.com is my go to here. It allows me to do just one search and it finds cars from many of the different supplies, so no checking multiple websites to compare.

Get travel insurance – you would have heard by now that saying “if you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel”. If we’ve learnt anything from the last couple of years it should be how essential travel insurance is. I use CoverMore for my insurance.

Pick up an eSIM – I tried an eSIM on my last trip and it was fantastic. I set it up before I went so it was ready as soon as I landed, and I still had access to my home number for emergencies. Get your own eSIM at Airalo.

Book activities, tours & attractions – I use a few different websites for this. Viator and Get Your Guide tend to be the first places I look. In Asia, Klook often has more options, and in Australia it’s Experience Oz.

Manage your money – the best way to manage your different currencies is with an account from Wise. You can hold money in many different currencies, and use them with the ATM card or from your phone.

Josie Kelsh

Josie will help you to plan your next trip filled with bucket list experiences balanced with budget travel. She discovered travel in her late thirties, but since then has travelled extensively, visiting more than 60 countries and taking an adult gap year. She is now based in Australia and loves sharing all she has learned about travelling on a budget but with the added comforts a Gen Xer requires.