Ginza & the Imperial Palace in One Day
Red-brick Tokyo Station, the moats and gardens of the Imperial Palace, a depachika lunch and an evening under the lights of Ginza's Chuo-dori.
Last updated 2026-09-03 · 1-day self-guided plan
Ginza & Imperial Palace
Moats and gardens by morning, neon by night
For first-time visitors who want the grand, polished centre of Tokyo in one walkable loop, with good food and no long train rides.
1Tokyo Station and Marunouchi
Start around 9:00 on the Marunouchi side of Tokyo Station, where the restored red-brick facade faces a wide plaza lined with office towers. Walk up to the Kitte building's rooftop garden for a free view of the station roof and the trains sliding in below. Gyoko-dori, the avenue straight ahead, leads to the palace in ten minutes.
45 MinutesCost: Free- 2
Imperial Palace East Gardens
Enter through Ote-mon gate, the old main gate of Edo Castle, and collect a free plastic token at the guardhouse. Inside are the massive stone foundations of the castle keep, a lawn where the shogun's palace stood, and the Ninomaru garden with its pond and iris beds. The gardens are closed on Mondays and Fridays, so plan the day around that.
1.5–2 HoursCost: Free - 3
Kokyo Gaien and Nijubashi
Leave by the same gate and follow the moat south through Kokyo Gaien, a plaza of gravel and clipped black pines, to the classic view: the twin Nijubashi bridges and the Fushimi turret rising from the moat. Around noon the joggers thin out and the light is flat and kind for photos. From here Ginza is a 15-minute walk east past Hibiya Park.
45 MinutesCost: Free 
4Depachika lunch in Ginza
The basement food halls of Mitsukoshi and Matsuya on Chuo-dori are Tokyo's best lunch counters: bento, wagyu croquettes, tempura, French pastries and towering fruit. Buy a spread and eat it upstairs on Mitsukoshi's rooftop garden, or take a stool at one of the counters. Go before 13:00, when office workers empty the shelves.
1 HourCost: ¥1,500–3,000
5Chuo-dori into the evening
On weekend afternoons Chuo-dori closes to cars and becomes a pedestrian promenade between the flagship stores. Wander Itoya's twelve floors of stationery, the Kabuki-za facade in Higashi-Ginza, and the rooftop of Ginza Six. Stay until dusk, when the glass facades light up and the crossings glow; a coffee at an old kissaten or a stand-up sushi bar finishes the day well.
2 HoursCost: ¥1,000–3,000
Day 1 Estimated Cost
- Food¥3,000–6,000
- Transport¥400–800
- AdmissionsFree
Tips
This whole day is on foot from Tokyo Station: the only train you might want is the Ginza Line one stop back at the end, so save your IC card balance for dinner.
Expect 8–10 km of pavement and gravel: the palace grounds have no shade in summer, so bring a hat and refill water at the East Gardens rest house.
The depachika is the meal, not a snack stop: most halls have a small seating corner, and the rooftop of Mitsukoshi is the quiet place to eat what you bought.
Nijubashi is best around midday from the Kokyo Gaien side; for Ginza, the Wako clock tower at the Yonchome crossing is the shot once the lights come on.