Last month was my lovely fiancé’s 30th birthday and I made it my mission to ensure he had the most memorable weekend of his life. Eight months prior to his birthday I was already planning what we’d be doing. I knew I wanted to whisk him away somewhere but choosing a destination was surprisingly difficult. S had never been on a long-haul flight or out of Europe, excluding our trip to Morocco, so I figured we’d change this.
We’ve talked about going to a few places in south-east Asia for our honeymoon, meaning it kind of wrote off that part of the world. We also needed jabs if we went to Vietnam (one of the potential places we could have gone), and that would have spoilt the surprise. I almost booked Canada until I realised it was the worst month to go, before snow season when everything’s closed and the mountains are covered in sludgey ice, eek! I was also wanted to chat with Sam about the best places to visit and do a road trip, which I can’t really plan on my own.

I found out that November is the best time to visit Tokyo, the temperature would be comfortable and the leaves would be turning red as we moved into Autumn. I found a reasonable deal for flights and accommodation on Expedia, so I emailed Sam’s boss and booked him some time off, so we’d have over 10 days to go Tokyo (including travel time!). I didn’t tell S we were going away until the day before, and I didn’t tell him where we were going until after we’d gone through security, and we were about to board our flight!
S researches everything he does, especially when it comes to travel. I knew he’d be dying to find out things to do in Tokyo, so I compiled a list of things for us to do in a neat little illustration and I gave him an anontated Lonely Planet travel guide for Tokyo 2018. Luckily, we had Wi-Fi on our 18-hour flight, too. He was just glad that I insisted he should bring all his camera equipment!
I figured I’d share my research with my readers, in case you’re considering a trip to Tokyo. We managed to tick off the majority of the things on our ‘to do’ list, which I’m pretty happy with! I’ve starred my top experiences. We’ve managed to upload a few pictures but I’ll keep updating my Instagram with images over the next couple of months. Christmas kind of threw a spanner into the works!
It goes with out saying, it was an amazing trip and worth every penny. Everybody thinks I’ve completely spoilt S and he’s got a tall order in making it up to me. But earlier this year he literaily proposed on top of a fucking mountain (Aiguille du Midi) overlooking the French, German and Italian Alps. In my eyes, he’s already truely out done himself, and a trip to Tokyo is no match.
1. Eat Nakamise street food!
2. Buy an Ema and leave it on the temple grounds
3. Eat REAL Kobe beef – Yummy! ⭐️

4. Try a white Japanese strawberry
5. Watch cute girls wrestling with cyborgs at the Robot Restaurant
6. Try not to get pricked at the hedgehog cafe ⭐️

7. Cross he Shibuya pedestrian scramble ⭐️
8. Go to the biggest sex shop in the world in Akihabara
9. Visit a Maid Cafe In Akihabara ⭐️

10. Go to the cake shop for dogs in Ryogku
11. Use the subway and get confused and lost
12. Spot Godzilla – the Toho Building, Shinjuku

13. Take a trip on a bullet train
14. Stand on glass at the Tokyo Skytree
15. Spend lots of money in the Sega arcade ⭐️

16. Buy something from a vending machine
17. Visit the Tsukiji fish market ⭐️
18. Eat the craziest thing you can at the 7/11

19. Attend a tuna auction
20. Have dinner in Piss Alley (Omoide Yokocho)
21. Real-Life Mario karting around the city streets ⭐️

22. Eat at Pompompurin Café
23. Have gadgets blessed at Kanda Myojin Shrine
24. Have your fortune told at Sensoji ⭐️

25. Watch wrestling practice at a sumo stable
26. Fill your belly at the Standing Sushi Bar ⭐️
27. Indulge in the world famous crepes at Harijuku

28. Get your ears clean in a traditional parlour
29. Visit The Don Quijote to buy souvenirs
30. Use all the buttons on a Japanese toilet

31. Relax at an Onsen
32. Catch your own dinner at Zauo
33. Spot Godzilla – the Toho Building, Shinjuk
34. Take in the best views of Tokyo from the Metropolitan Government Building ⭐️
35. Visit Ōkunoshima, also known as Rabbit Island
36. Visit a beautiful Japanese garden

37. Hang with monkeys at Jigokudani Monkey Park
38. Explore the 70-foot-deep ice cave (Narusawa Hyoketsu) formed by lava from Mt. Fuji
39. Visit the Meiji Shrine

40. Eat an Owakudani Black Egg
41. Shop in the 100 Yen Store
42. See The Great Buddha of Kamakura ⭐️

43. Watch the sunset behind Mt Fuji from the beach ⭐️
44. Visit Odaiba, a man-made island in Tokyo Bay
45. Strike a pose at Purikura No Mecca ⭐️

46. Visit Mount Aso Caldera, the largest volcanic caldera in Japan
47. Visit the Boiling Hellscape, Jigokudani
48. Eat at Mr Donut as much as you can ⭐️

