How much should an Indian couple budget for Tokyo? Hotels, transport and activities

Stay: the number that moves

Tokyo business hotels average 14,000-15,000 yen a night (about Rs 7,700-8,250) for a compact double, and cheaper no-frills rooms start around 8,000 yen. These rooms are small but spotless, and breakfast is often extra. For a couple, four nights at the business-hotel midpoint is about 60,000 yen; a nicer hotel or an Asakusa/Shinjuku location with a view pushes that to 90,000-120,000 yen.

Food: cheaper than you fear

Japan's chain restaurants are the budget traveller's best friend. A Yoshinoya gyudon beef bowl costs 498 yen, a Saizeriya doria 300 yen, and a convenience-store breakfast of two onigiri runs about 356 yen. A typical pattern for couples who eat well: convenience breakfast, a 1,000-2,000 yen lunch each, and a 3,000-5,000 yen dinner each at an izakaya, putting food for two at roughly 8,000-14,000 yen a day. Eating lean (chains and store food) halves that.

Transport: small numbers, one pass decision

A Tokyo Metro ride costs 178-209 yen by IC card, so four rides come to 712-836 yen; the 1,100 yen one-day subway pass only pays off on heavy sightseeing days. Budget about 1,100-2,200 yen a day for two on quiet days, more if you criss-cross. Airport transfers sit outside this: the Haneda monorail is about 500 yen, while Narita's fast trains cost considerably more, another reason Haneda wins.

Activities: the best ones are free

Senso-ji, Meiji Jingu, Ueno Park, the Imperial Palace East Gardens and the metropolitan government observatories charge nothing. A day built on free sights with chain meals costs about 2,500 yen per person; a day with two paid sights, ramen and a public bath (sento, 600 yen) runs about 5,200 yen. The big-ticket exceptions are teamLab, theme parks and observation decks like the Skytree, so pick one splurge and let the rest be free.

Putting it together for two

Lean 4-night trip: hotel 60,000 yen, food 40,000, transport 8,000, activities 10,000, about 118,000 yen total (roughly Rs 60,000-65,000) excluding flights. Comfortable version: hotel 100,000, food 70,000, transport 12,000, activities 30,000, about 212,000 yen (roughly Rs 1,15,000). Add the 3,000 yen per person departure tax (usually inside your ticket) and note the accommodation tax change: currently zero under 10,000 yen per person per night, becoming 3% from 1 April 2027.

For the flight line of the budget, see Delhi to Tokyo flights, and for a pace that keeps parents fresh, 3 days in Tokyo with parents.