Which one to choose in Tokyo
Asakusa Shrine vs Nezu Shrine
Two temples in Tokyo. Asakusa Shrine has 6 tickets and tours to book; Nezu Shrine has 7 tickets and tours to book. The table and the two notes below put them side by side; the full pages have what to see, the ticket and the timing for each.
Tokyo, Japan
There is nothing to buy for Asakusa Shrine: it stands open and free inside the grounds of Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple, and almost everyone who visits does so on the way round the larger temple next door. You can see it perfectly well on your own in half an hour.
What is offered online are guided walks of the Asakusa district in which the shrine is one stop among many. The most common are two- to three-hour walking tours with a local guide that start at the great Kaminarimon gate, walk up the Nakamise shopping street to Senso-ji and then cut across to the shrine, often with tastings of street snacks or a visit to a craftsman's workshop.
Read the full guide →
Tokyo, Japan
Nezu Shrine is free to enter and open to anyone who walks in, so there is no ticket to buy; the only charge is a small fee for the azalea garden on the hillside during the spring festival. Most visitors come on their own, by metro, and combine the shrine with a stroll through the surrounding streets.
What is offered online are walking tours of the old neighbourhoods of northern Tokyo, known together as Yanaka, Nezu and Sendagi, in which the shrine is one of the main stops. Group walks of two to three hours cover the temple-lined lanes of Yanaka, its cemetery and old shopping street before ending among the vermilion gates here, and some include a tasting of traditional Japanese sweets or street snacks.
Read the full guide →