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Istanbul or Tokyo?

Istanbul and Tokyo side by side: recommended length, best time, daily budget, highlights and which one suits whom.

Galata Tower and the rooftops in Istanbul

Turkey

Istanbul

Choose one shore. Greet the other.

Country
Turkey
Recommended length
3–4 days
Best time
April–June, September
Daily budget
70–130 €
Language
Turkish
Currency
Turkish Lira

Highlights

  • The Galata slope in the morning
  • Dinner on one shore
  • The ferry for the crossing, not the view

Neighbourhoods

  • Karaköy and Cihangir — Walkable on the day you land, with an evening that runs long.
  • Sultanahmet — Close for a morning monument. At night it goes quiet early.
  • Kadıköy — The market, the bazaar, and a more grounded evening.

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A crowded street of neon in Tokyo

Japan

Tokyo

One district, one day. Only then does the city shrink.

Country
Japan
Recommended length
4–5 days
Best time
Late March and November
Daily budget
120–190 €
Language
Japanese
Currency
Japanese yen (¥)

Highlights

  • A whole day in one district
  • Lunch from a market
  • An evening that ends early

Neighbourhoods

  • Yanaka — Low houses, temple gardens, a slower Tokyo than Shibuya.
  • Shimokitazawa — Records, small bars, secondhand shops. It begins in the afternoon and keeps you through the evening.
  • Asakusa — Beautiful if you go early. By afternoon it turns into souvenirs.

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Which one for whom?

Why Istanbul?

The historic peninsula is a morning. Set the evening on the far shore, and the city stops being a list.

In Istanbul, a good group does not join three districts in one day. A monument in the morning, a market at noon, dinner in another neighborhood. Traffic is the invisible clause in that plan.

Why Tokyo?

Cross the famous intersection once. The Tokyo you want starts one street in, and early the next morning.

Fill every day with another famous district and you will remember none of them. Give one day to the east, one day to a single neighborhood, and one day to no plan at all.

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More tools

01Do I need a visa?Where Turkish passport holders go visa-free, with a visa on arrival, or with an e-visa.Open →02Budget calculatorPick days, people and pace; see the group total and the per-person figure.Open →03When to goA month-by-month calendar. Which month for which country, which country for which month.Open →05Trip routesRoutes the editors built day by day, with length, pace and an estimated budget.Open →