Hi folks,

I'm planning a holiday with my girlfriend to visit Tokyo for a week. Asking people about how much they have spent has been giving me varied answers and some which I find downright absurd.

Not counting flight and hotel, is $2000 USD enough to last a week? This would average out to about $300 per day. I'm intending to visit Disneyland but other than that I'd like to see the local sights etc and maybe check out the hot springs. My girlfriend and I don't club or even drink alcohol but I would like to take her shopping.

Some of the people I've asked said that for a holiday in Tokyo its about 1k USD a day for a couple, not including flights and hotels.

Tokyo is consistently one of the most expensive cities in the world. Pretty much universally top 10. There are ways to skimp, but Tokyo is going to cost you a whole lot especially if you go during peak season.

How much do I need? If it would cost more than 4k for spending money in Tokyo I probably won't be able to afford it.

I think the Disneyland thing makes it tough for me to give an exact number because I have never been to Disneyland. I would imagine that a resort area like that is way more expensive than the rest of Tokyo. I'd figure that you can afford a week there on $4K without skimping much.

I spent about $100/day on a 7 day trip a couple years ago without skimping too much, mostly eating out at restaurants and doing tourist stuff.

I stayed there again for two months this past summer, not going out as much, and spent less than $50/day.

Certain things are crazy expensive. Spent like $35 for a movie ticket in Roppongi or $80 for a Yomiuri Giants t-shirt. But overall it's not too bad.

If you have any specific questions, maybe I could answer them for you.

Going to Disneyland will be expensive obviously, but most attractions are going to be less than $30 or even free.

Damn this is exactly what I was talking about. Everyone is giving me different answers. I'd be visiting Disneyland but I won't be staying there overnight.

Here's a list of exactly what I want to do in Tokyo.

1) Visit Disneyland
2) Eat a fancy steak once by myself. My gf doesn't eat beef.
3) Visit a temple, a hot spring and other random touristy things. I heard that going to Harajuku is fun?

I've never been to the one in Tokyo, but a ticket to Disneyland is about $100. So maybe $200 after food and a couple souvenirs.

Go eat Kobe steak while you are there. Go at lunch time, since the lunch menu is going to be much cheaper than the dinner menu. There is a place in Ginza called Gyu-an, I think the lunch menu steak set is like $65.

Going to a temple will only cost around $10.

An onsen can range from $10 bathhouse type place up to hundreds of dollars if you go to a full on mountain onsen resort. There is a pretty cool Edo era themed onsen theme park in Odaiba that is about $30 to get in for the whole day.

Harajuku is a shopping district, Japanese teenagers shopping for clothes, some of them dressed like goths.

BC it's hard to give an exact answer because we don't know what your living standards and expectations are. The only person who will find a correct answer to this question is you. Wikitravel is a great place to go for a reasonable estimate. There's also a thread on living in Japan in the Travel forum somewhere.

Some stuff I would recommend:

Go to Yoyogi Park on a Sunday - free.
Ghibli Museum - $20
Sumo tournament if it's on while you are there - $25
Baseball game - $30
Tsukiji Fish Market - free, then $40 for sushi breakfast
Akihabara on the weekend - free

Tons of stuff to do in Tokyo, maybe my favorite city in the world.

Laserboy, what about daily travels etc? I heard travelling by bus is affordable or should I stick to taxis?

I don't want to have a budget holiday experience since I'll be with my girlfriend. From what you're saying it looks like Tokyo isn't that bad. Looks like $2k for a week in spending money is possible for my gf and myself.

Yeah that's true. I do live in Singapore which by some estimates say that it is as expensive as Tokyo. I'll check out Wikitravel, thank you.

Edit: Wow it's really informative!

Taxis are expensive and not worth it, I almost never take them.

The subways go everywhere in Tokyo. It costs between $2-$5 to go anywhere in greater Tokyo. It's very confusing, since there are several companies operating private subway lines in addition to the state run Tokyo Metro and JR Line, but you can get anywhere. Get a subway card and load it with money. I was spending maybe $10-$15/day on transportation.

Thank you for all the help. One more thing if you don't mind. If I'm spending a week in Tokyo, Japan, should I take a train out of Tokyo to visit other cities or should I use all my time visiting stuff in Tokyo?

You could easily spend one week in Tokyo alone.

But there are also lots of day trips accessible from Tokyo like Mount Fuji, Kamakura, Yokohama, Nikko, and Hakone. These are all around 1 hour away from Tokyo, and maybe a $10-$20 train ticket. Do some research on these places and see if they interest you.

If you do go to the Mount Fuji area, I would recommend against climbing it. It's a tough hike, and not very scenic. Just hang out in the Kawaguchiko area for the day, ride around the lake and eat noodles.