Where to stay in Tokyo: six areas compared by airport and evening

Tokyo is huge, but the part a visitor uses is not. Almost everything on a first trip sits on or just inside the JR Yamanote loop, and the subway fills in the gaps. No area on this list is a bad base. What changes is how long you spend on trains each day, how your street sounds at midnight, and how painful the airport run is with a suitcase. The Tokyo city guide and the Japan guide cover the wider plan.

Two questions settle most choices. First, which airport? Haneda is much closer to central Tokyo than Narita, and the east side of the city (Ueno, Asakusa, Kuramae) has the Keisei railway toward Narita. Second, which half of the city will your evenings happen in? The west (Shinjuku, Shibuya) has the late food, bars and crowds. The east (Asakusa, Ueno, Kuramae) is older and generally quieter at night. Ginza sits in the middle and is priced accordingly.

A third question matters less than people think: being on the Yamanote line. It is useful, but the Ginza and Asakusa subway lines are just as good for sightseeing from the east side.

If you only have three or four nights, pick one base and stay put. Hotels usually set a check-in time in the afternoon, and moving across a huge city with bags costs half a day. The exception is a trip that ends with an early flight from Narita: a last night in Ueno can shorten the morning, because the Skyliner leaves from Keisei Ueno.

The price bands in this guide are rough, relative labels for a double room per night, not quotes. Rates change by date, so check the current price for your own dates. Rates tend to rise in cherry blossom season, in Golden Week and during major events, so book first and plan the rest around the room.

Shinjuku is the most practical base in Tokyo for a first trip, and also one of the most confusing stations to use. JR, several subway lines and private railways meet here, which means one-seat rides to much of the city, the Narita Express to the airport, the Odakyu line toward Hakone and highway buses to Mount Fuji from the Busta terminal. The price of all that is a station you will get lost in at least once. Pick an exit on day one and use it as your anchor.

The two sides of the station feel different. East is Kabukichō, Golden Gai and the department stores along Shinjuku-dōri, loud until the last train and later on weekends. West is Nishi-Shinjuku: office towers, the observation decks at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, and business hotels on streets that are quiet after the offices empty. Omoide Yokochō, the alley of tiny grill bars in the photo, is on the west side, right beside the tracks.

For sleeping, aim for Nishi-Shinjuku close to the south or west exit, or the streets around Shinjuku-sanchōme near Shinjuku Gyoen. Both keep you near the food without the noise of Kabukichō. Check the hotel's walking route to the station on a map before you book, since the station is wide and exits are far apart.

Food is the other reason to stay. The area offers ramen counters, department store food halls for a picnic dinner and conveyor-belt sushi, and opening hours stretch late. Haneda's own access page lists Shinjuku at about 50 minutes by train and monorail from the airport.

Asakusa is the Tokyo of low roofs, temple bells and shuttered shops in the early morning. Sensō-ji is the reason most people come, and staying here means you can visit at dawn or after dark, the two times it is calmest, instead of at noon with everyone else. The temple's own site lists the main hall as open from 6:00 (6:30 from October to March) until 17:00. Rooms tend to cost less than in Shinjuku or Ginza for the same standard, and there is a wide spread of hostels and small hotels. The Asakusa neighborhood guide maps the streets.

The transport is better than it looks on a map. Haneda's access page lists Asakusa at about 40 minutes from the airport, and Narita's access page lists the Keisei lines and the Toei Asakusa line among its rail options. The Ginza subway line runs between Asakusa and Ueno, Ginza and Shibuya. Tobu trains toward Nikkō also leave from Asakusa.

Evenings are the trade-off. Much of the area quiets down earlier than the west side, apart from the grill bars on Hoppy-dōri. For sleeping, look at the streets between Kokusai-dōri and Kappabashi, which keep you close to the temple but away from the tour buses. The dawn route is an easy first morning from there.

Kuramae is one stop south of Asakusa and feels more like a neighborhood than a sightseeing district. Old warehouses and workshops along the Sumida River now hold coffee roasters, stationery makers and leather shops, and the streets are residential. Sensō-ji is a walk up the river.

It shares Asakusa's rail corridor because it sits on the same Toei Asakusa line, and it adds the Ōedo line toward Roppongi and Shinjuku. Hotels are fewer and smaller: a handful of design-led small hotels and hostels in converted buildings rather than big chains, so they can sell out for spring.

Choose Kuramae if you like the idea of Asakusa but want to walk home through quieter streets rather than past the tour buses on Kaminarimon-dōri. For dinner, Kuramae has a small spread of bistros, wine bars and neighborhood izakaya, and Asakusa's restaurants are a short walk away. It quiets down early, which is the point.

Ginza is the center of the map and it prices itself like it. You can walk to Tokyo Station, reach the Tsukiji outer market area and ride three subway lines toward Asakusa, Shibuya and Roppongi. Chūō-dōri is the main shopping street.

It is calmer at night. After the shops close the side streets hold hostess bars and expensive sushi counters, but not much for a casual dinner. For that, head toward the izakaya under the tracks at Yūrakuchō, which stay busy until late. Rooms here are mostly in the top price band, but the streets toward Higashi-Ginza and Shintomichō have business hotels at a lower band with similar transport.

Shibuya is where the crossing is, and where Tokyo's clubs, record shops and late-night ramen are thickest. Harajuku and Meiji Jingū are one stop north on the Yamanote line, and the Narita Express stops here according to the airport's access page. Haneda's page lists Shibuya at about 45 minutes. If you came for nightlife, it is a sound choice.

For everything else it is harder work than Shinjuku. The station area has seen long-running redevelopment, so exits and passages change, and the neighborhood is built on hills. For sleeping, look south toward Shibuya Stream and the river path to Ebisu, or east toward Aoyama, where the streets are quieter and still reachable on foot from the crossing.

Ueno is the best base if you land at Narita. Keisei says the Skyliner limited express runs from Narita Airport to Keisei Ueno in as little as 41 minutes. Ueno Park holds the Tokyo National Museum and several others, and the Ameyoko market runs under the JR tracks south of the station with stalls selling dried fish, fruit and clothing. Haneda's access page lists Ueno at about 40 minutes by train from Haneda.

JR Ueno is also a shinkansen stop for trains heading north, which makes it a good first or last night for a trip into Tohoku. The Ginza subway line connects Ueno with Asakusa and Ginza.

Evenings are izakaya under the tracks and not much else. For sleeping, look at the business hotels between Ueno and Okachimachi, which are a short walk from both stations.

If you are still torn, match the area to the kind of trip rather than to a list of sights. Every area here is on a major rail line, so the choice is really about evenings, airports and budget.

• First trip, 3 to 5 nights: Shinjuku, or Ginza if the budget stretches.

• Landing at Narita, or leaving early from it: Ueno for the Skyliner.

• Landing at Haneda: any area on the lines listed on Haneda's access page, with Shinagawa and Hamamatsuchō as the nearest big interchanges.

• Traveling on a budget: Asakusa or Ueno, where a similar budget often buys a larger room.

• Families: Ginza or Asakusa for calmer streets at night. Ueno if museums and the zoo are on the list.

• Nightlife first: Shibuya, or the east side of Shinjuku.

• Several shinkansen days: Ginza or Ueno, both close to a shinkansen station.

Whichever you choose, stay within a short walk of a station on a line you will use every day. In Tokyo that matters more than the name of the neighborhood: a hotel far from the station on a quiet street costs you time every day, and more when it rains.

The most common mistake is booking by neighborhood name without checking the walk to the station. A hotel marked as a short walk on a map can mean a long, hilly route with luggage. Look at the route, not just the distance.

The second is ignoring the last trains. Tokyo's rail network stops running overnight, so check the final departures for your line before you plan late evenings in a neighborhood far from your hotel, and keep taxi money as a fallback.

The third is changing hotels. Staying in several areas looks efficient and rarely is: check-out and check-in times eat the day. The fourth is comparing prices without tax. Compare the total per night and per person after the accommodation tax, which is explained below.

Haneda's official access page says the airport connects directly to the Keikyu line and the Tokyo Monorail, and lists approximate times to major stations: about 15 minutes to Shinagawa, about 20 to Hamamatsuchō, about 30 to Tokyo Station, about 40 to Ueno and Asakusa, about 45 to Shibuya and about 50 to Shinjuku. It also lists about 1 hour 45 minutes to Narita by train. These are estimates, so check the operators' timetables. Airport limousine buses also serve large hotels in Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ginza, and they are an easy choice with heavy bags or late at night; check the operator's route list.

From Narita, JR East says the Narita Express runs to Tokyo Station in as little as 53 minutes and continues to Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Yokohama without a change. Keisei says the Skyliner reaches Keisei Ueno in as little as 41 minutes, and the Narita Airport website lists the Access Express and the Keisei Main Line among the other Keisei options. Low-cost buses are another option, so check the operators' sites. If you land late, check the last train before you choose an area in the west, and remember that rates in every area rise in cherry blossom season and Golden Week.