Japan - May 2019

Harajuku is two stops from Shinjuku (about 7 minutes) by train and should be on your list of places to visit when you are in Tokyo. Next to the station is Yoyogi Park which houses the Meiji Shinto Shrine, a casual 15 -20 minute stroll from the station. There are some amazing Tori gates on the way, and walking through the forest you wouldn't even know that you were in the middle of Tokyo. The shrine sells protective charms (we bought one for my mum for safe driving) and for 500-600Yen you can purchase a wooden tablet and add your own wish and hang it in the grounds of the shrine.  We opted for this so that we could leave a little something of ourselves there. As the shops in Harajuku didn't open until around 10, this was a lovely way to fill in the time before we could go shopping! Walking back to the station you will have two options, head straight for Takeshita Street or the surrounding streets and shops. We didn't make good use of our time here, we c...

Quick run down of the first hotel we stayed at. Hotel The KNOT - Shinjuku.  https://hotel-the-knot.jp/tokyoshinjuku/en/rooms/ This is a recently revamped older hotel which has had a pretty amazing facelift. Looking out onto a massive park (some rooms and you pay a premium which we didn't really care too much about) it is further removed from the bustle of the shopping areas either side of Shinjuku station so it is far quieter traffic wise than other closer hotels. (The not so exciting view from the 5th floor looking out onto the back streets) The check in is electronic - punch in your name on a machine that is not unlike an ATM, scan a passport and you get a room card (or a PIN if you prefer) and a room number. It was all pretty technologically fancy, but they have staff ready to assist if you look as vague as we did having just travelled all day. The Knot was certainly one of the better priced hotels that I looked at in the area. Although you will have to really like...