Ueno, Asakusa and TOKYO SKYTREE in One Day | Route via Ueno Park, Ueno Zoo, Tokyo National Museum, Senso-ji Temple and Nakamise, Closing Times, Ginza Line and Tobu Line Fares and Travel Times, and How to Go on a Monday

Overview

Ueno, Asakusa and Oshiage are three districts on the east side of central Tokyo. From Ueno Station in Ueno to Asakusa Station in Asakusa takes 5 minutes on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, and from Asakusa Station to Tokyo Skytree Station in Oshiage takes 3 minutes on the Tobu Skytree Line. This article builds a one-day route through Ueno Park in Ueno, either Ueno Zoo or Tokyo National Museum inside the park, Senso-ji Temple and Asakusa Shrine in Asakusa, and TOKYO SKYTREE in Oshiage, using only the figures on the official websites of each facility and railway company. The times, fees and fares in this article were checked on the official websites of each facility and company on October 25, 2026.

1. From the Park Exit of JR Ueno Station, walk to Ueno Park and enter either Ueno Zoo or Tokyo National Museum inside the park. When you have finished, walk back to Ueno Station.
2. At Tokyo Metro Ueno Station, take the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line and get off at Asakusa Station. Walk from the station to Kaminarimon Gate, the entrance to Senso-ji Temple. From Kaminarimon Gate, walk through Nakamise Shopping Street, the approach lined with shops, to the Main Hall of Senso-ji Temple. Asakusa Shrine is next to the Main Hall of Senso-ji Temple.
3. At Tobu Railway's Asakusa Station, take the Tobu Skytree Line and get off at Tokyo Skytree Station. Go to TOKYO SKYTREE, next to the station.

• The last entry to Ueno Zoo is at 16:00. Tokyo National Museum closes at 17:00 on most days (20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays; separately, also 20:00 on Sundays when the following Monday is a national holiday or a substitute holiday). The Main Hall of Senso-ji Temple is open until 17:00. The last entry to TOKYO SKYTREE is at 21:00, so this article visits TOKYO SKYTREE last.
• As a rule, Ueno Zoo and Tokyo National Museum are closed on Mondays. The route for a Monday is explained under the heading "On a Monday" in this article.
• On this route you take the train twice (from Ueno Station to Asakusa Station, and from Asakusa Station to Tokyo Skytree Station), and if you pay by IC card the fares total ¥335. The total for one adult including admission fees is explained under the heading "Total for one adult" in this article.

Getting there

How to take the trains

• The travel times and fares in the table are the results of searching, in the fare and transfer search on the Tokyo Metro official website, for a train departing around midday on a weekday and a train departing around midday on a Saturday. The results were the same for weekdays and Saturdays. The Tokyo Metro and Tobu Railway fares are the same as the figures in each company's official fare table.
• On the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, 20 trains leave Ueno Station toward Asakusa Station between 12:00 and 12:59 (on weekdays, and also on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays).
• There are four stations named Asakusa Station, one each on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, the Toei Asakusa Line, the Tobu Skytree Line and the Tsukuba Express, and each is a separate station. Tokyo Metro's Asakusa Station and Tobu Railway's Asakusa Station even have different addresses. When you transfer, walk to the entrance of the Asakusa Station of the company you will ride next.
• The TOKYO SKYTREE official website describes both Tokyo Skytree Station on the Tobu Skytree Line and Oshiage (Skytree) Station as convenient stations for TOKYO SKYTREE. Step 3 of this article's route follows the way described on the TOKYO SKYTREE official website: taking the Tobu Skytree Line from Asakusa Station. You can also take the Toei Asakusa Line from Asakusa Station and get off at Oshiage (Skytree) Station. That takes 3 minutes.

Getting to Ueno Station in the morning

• From JR Tokyo Station to Ueno Station takes 7 to 8 minutes on the JR Yamanote Line. The fare is ¥199 by IC card or ¥200 with a paper ticket.
• From JR Shinjuku Station to Ueno Station, the JR Yamanote Line trains that run via Ikebukuro Station take 27 minutes with no transfer. The fare is ¥253 by IC card or ¥260 with a paper ticket.
• Both are results from the fare and transfer search on the Tokyo Metro official website. The fares are the same as the figures in JR East's fare table in effect from March 14, 2026.

Getting back to Ueno Station

To return from Oshiage (Skytree) Station to Ueno Station, take the Toei Asakusa Line to Asakusa Station and transfer to the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line. According to the search on the Tokyo Metro official website, the travel time is 13 minutes including the transfer, and the fare is ¥286 by IC card or ¥290 with a paper ticket. Whether you pay by IC card or with a paper ticket, this fare is ¥70 less than the total you would pay if you paid the Toei Asakusa Line fare and the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line fare separately.

Does the Tokyo Subway Ticket save money?

The Tokyo Subway Ticket is a ticket that lets you ride all Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway lines. The 24-hour ticket costs ¥1,000 for adults and ¥500 for children. According to the official website, it can be used only on Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway lines. The Tobu Skytree Line and JR lines are not covered. Only people who meet certain conditions can buy it. Those conditions and where to buy it are summarized in Tokyo Subway Ticket (24, 48 and 72 hours) | Prices, where to buy it and how to use Tokyo's unlimited subway pass.

• On this article's route (steps 1 to 3 on the map), you ride the subway only once, from Ueno Station to Asakusa Station. From Asakusa Station you take the Tobu Skytree Line, which is not a subway. The train ride back is not counted in this one ride.
• If you go from Asakusa Station to Oshiage (Skytree) Station on the Toei Asakusa Line and, on the way back, return from Oshiage (Skytree) Station to Ueno Station by subway, you ride the subway three times: from Ueno Station to Asakusa Station, from Asakusa Station to Oshiage (Skytree) Station, and from Oshiage (Skytree) Station to Ueno Station (transferring at Asakusa Station). The IC card fares total ¥642. Even in this case, paying each ride by IC card is cheaper than the 24-hour ticket (¥1,000). If you will also go to other districts by subway on the same day, compare the total of the subway fares for the rides you take that day with the price of the 24-hour ticket.

Itinerary

Route table

The "Order" numbers in the table are the same as the numbers in the map above. Ueno Park, Ueno Zoo and Tokyo National Museum are all within walking distance of Ueno Station, so they share the same number. Choose either Ueno Zoo or Tokyo National Museum. If you enter both, you pay the admission fee for each.

1. Ueno Park, and Ueno Zoo or Tokyo National Museum

Ueno Park (Ueno Onshi Park) is a park managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Inside the park are Ueno Zoo, Tokyo National Museum, art museums and other facilities. The park is open from 5:00 to 23:00, and you cannot enter at other times. Entry to the park is free.

Ueno Zoo

• It is open from 9:30 to 17:00. You can enter the zoo and buy admission tickets until 16:00, one hour before closing.
• Admission is ¥600 for general visitors, ¥300 for people aged 65 and over, and ¥200 for junior high school students. Admission is free for elementary school students and for children who have not yet started elementary school.
• There are three entrances: the Main Gate, Benten Gate and Ikenohata Gate. The Main Gate is a 5-minute walk from the Park Exit of JR Ueno Station. From Tokyo Metro Ueno Station, it is a 8-minute walk to Benten Gate.
• The last day you could see the two giant pandas that had lived at Ueno Zoo was January 25, 2026. The two pandas were returned to China on January 27.

Tokyo National Museum

• It is open from 9:30 to 17:00. On Fridays and Saturdays, it is open until 20:00. Separately, on Sundays when the following Monday is a national holiday or a substitute holiday, it is also open until 20:00. You can enter until 30 minutes before closing.
• The fee for the exhibitions of works in the museum's own collection (TNM Collection Exhibitions) is ¥1,000 for general visitors and ¥500 for university students. Admission is free for people under 18 and for people aged 70 and over. High school students are also free, even if they are 18 or older. People who enter free are asked to show proof of age.
• Special exhibitions have a separate fee from the TNM Collection Exhibitions. With a special exhibition ticket, you can also enter the TNM Collection Exhibitions on the same day.
• It is a 10-minute walk from JR Ueno Station and a 15-minute walk from Tokyo Metro Ueno Station. The entrance is the Main Gate of Tokyo National Museum (a different gate from the Main Gate of Ueno Zoo).

2. Senso-ji Temple and Asakusa Shrine

Senso-ji Temple is a Buddhist temple in Asakusa. It is a 5-minute walk from each of the Asakusa Stations on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, the Toei Asakusa Line and the Tobu Skytree Line. The Senso-ji Temple official website says that if you come from Asakusa Station on the Toei Asakusa Line, you should use Exit A4. In the exit guide for Tokyo Metro's Asakusa Station, Exits 1, 3 and 8 are marked "Kaminarimon Gate, Senso-ji Temple".

• The entrance is Kaminarimon Gate, where a large red lantern hangs. From Kaminarimon Gate to Hozomon Gate, shops line both sides of an approach of about 250 m. This approach lined with shops is Nakamise Shopping Street. The Main Hall is beyond Hozomon Gate.
• The Main Hall is open from 6:00 to 17:00 from April to September, and from 6:30 to 17:00 from October to March. The official website does not state the opening hours of the halls other than the Main Hall.
• The Main Hall, the Five-Storied Pagoda, Hozomon Gate and Kaminarimon Gate are lit up every day from sunset until around 23:00.
• The opening hours of the shops on Nakamise Shopping Street are not stated on the Nakamise official website.

Asakusa Shrine is a Shinto shrine next to the Main Hall of Senso-ji Temple. Senso-ji is a temple and Asakusa Shrine is a shrine; they are separate places. The main buildings of Asakusa Shrine are designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Sanja Matsuri, the festival of Asakusa Shrine, is held every year over three days: the third Saturday of May, the Friday before it, and the Sunday after it. The shrine office is open from 9:00 to 16:00 on weekdays, and from 9:00 to 16:30 on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays.

3. TOKYO SKYTREE

TOKYO SKYTREE is a broadcasting tower in Oshiage with observation decks high up. It opens at 10:00 on weekdays and at 9:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays. It closes at 22:00 every day, and the last entry is at 21:00, one hour before closing.

• Observation deck ticket prices vary by the day you enter. Check the price for your day on the official reservation website.
• If you buy at the ticket counter or the ticket machines on 4F, an issuing fee of ¥500 is added to each ticket. The types of tickets and how to buy them are summarized in How to Buy TOKYO SKYTREE Tickets | Release Dates, Prices That Vary by Day, the Counter Issuing Fee, Cancellation Fees, and How to Enter.

On a Monday

As a rule, Ueno Zoo and Tokyo National Museum are closed every Monday. When a Monday is a national holiday or a substitute holiday, they are open that day and closed the next day instead. Separately, Ueno Zoo is also open on some Mondays that are neither national holidays nor substitute holidays. Check which days it is open on the opening-day calendar on the Ueno Zoo official website.

• The official websites of Ueno Park, Senso-ji Temple, Asakusa Shrine and TOKYO SKYTREE do not say that they close on Mondays.
• On Mondays when Ueno Zoo and Tokyo National Museum are closed, you can take a walk in Ueno Park and then continue with steps 2 and 3 of this article's route (Senso-ji Temple and Asakusa Shrine, and TOKYO SKYTREE). In this case, you do not pay the admission fees for Ueno Zoo or Tokyo National Museum.

Costs

Total for one adult

This is the total of admission fees and train fares (IC card) when you visit Ueno Park, either Ueno Zoo or Tokyo National Museum, and Senso-ji Temple and Asakusa Shrine on this article's route, and go by train as far as Tokyo Skytree Station. The price of the TOKYO SKYTREE observation decks is not included.

• If you enter both Ueno Zoo and Tokyo National Museum, add the admission fee for the other one to this total.
• The total is the train fares for the two rides (¥335) plus either the general admission to Ueno Zoo (¥600) or the general fee for the TNM Collection Exhibitions at Tokyo National Museum (¥1,000).
• The two rides are the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line from Ueno Station to Asakusa Station (IC card ¥178) and the Tobu Skytree Line from Asakusa Station to Tokyo Skytree Station (IC card ¥157).
• The TOKYO SKYTREE price is not included in this total. This is because the price varies by the day you enter.
• Ueno Park is free. The official websites of Senso-ji Temple and Asakusa Shrine give no information about an admission fee.
• Child fares are IC card ¥89, paper ticket ¥90 on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, and IC card ¥78, paper ticket ¥80 on the Tobu Skytree Line. Child fares on transport in Japan are summarized in Child Fares on Japan's Trains and Subways | When Kids Pay Adult Fare, Free Rides for Young Children, Child IC Cards.

Conditions

Closing times and closed days

• On January 1, 2027, Tokyo National Museum is open from 12:00 to 20:00.
• Ueno Zoo says that it is often crowded on Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays and similar days, and that you might have to wait at the entrance. Tokyo National Museum recommends buying tickets online, because at busy times you might wait 30 minutes or more at the ticket office at the Main Gate.
• Japan's national holidays and the periods when transport is crowded are summarized in Japan Public Holidays 2027 and Busy Periods | New Year, Golden Week, Obon, 3-Day Weekends, Shinkansen Busy Seasons and All-Reserved Nozomi.

Good to know

• This article's route is built from the opening hours of each facility and the official fares and travel times of the railway companies. How long you spend at each place differs from person to person, so this article does not set a time for each place.
• You can use an IC card on all the trains you take in Ueno, Asakusa and Oshiage. How to buy an IC card is summarized in Welcome Suica: How to Buy and Use It | A 28-Day IC Card for Visitors to Japan.
• A one-day route through Shinjuku, Harajuku and Shibuya on the west side of Tokyo is summarized in Shinjuku, Harajuku and Shibuya in One Day | Route through Shinjuku Gyoen, Meiji Jingu (Meiji Shrine), Yoyogi Park and SHIBUYA SKY, Closing Times, Subway and JR Fares and Travel Times, and Whether the Tokyo Subway Ticket Saves Money.