Things to do in Yokohama
Treaty ports, red pandas, gyunabe, and Japan's oldest jazz bar.
This is Yokohama for people who want the real texture of the city: Meiji-era dining rooms, Chinatown temple smoke, Noge's lantern-lit alleys, and a free zoo that locals genuinely love. Two of the three nights stay casual and cheap; one goes properly memorable. Suits anyone who'd rather eat where the city eats than book a table because a listicle told them to.
Day 1: Naka Ward: history, dumplings, Peking duck
The day moves from clifftop Western residences down into Chinatown's incense and street snacks, ends with Cantonese banquet in the grandest room in the neighbourhood, and finishes with a proper cocktail at a bar that has been pouring since 1971.
- 10:30 AM
Yamate & Motomanski historic district
Stroll the treaty-port-era Western residences and the Foreign General Cemetery, the most atmospheric culture in Naka Ward.
Map - 12:30 PM
Shirahara (shellfish and sashimi lunch)
Shellfish and sashimi lunch sets that punch well above their price, top local pick in Kannai.
Map - 2:00 PM
Yokohama Chinatown (Chukagai)
Japan's largest Chinatown, 500-plus shops and stalls, with the gilded Kanteibyo temple at its heart.
Map - 4:30 PM
Yamashita Park 山下公園
The harbourfront promenade by the old Hikawa Maru liner; sit by the water before the Chinatown dinner.
Map - 7:30 PM
Heichinrou (Cantonese banquet)
The grand Cantonese house of Chinatown, go for the Peking duck courses; the one $$$ dinner worth it.
Map - 9:30 PM
Bar Noble (1971
1971-established bar in Noge, the finish to a night crawl or standalone evening.
Map
Day 2: Free zoo, old katsu, older beef
A slow morning with red pandas above the city, lunch in a wood-panelled katsu house open since 1927, an afternoon making instant noodles with your hands, then tableside gyunabe at a place founded in 1895, and a nightcap at Chigusa.
- 10:15 AM
Nogeyama Zoo
Free 90-minute outing up the hill, red pandas, zebras and reptiles, beloved by locals and totally unhurried.
Map - 12:30 PM
Katsuretsuan (katsuretsu since 1895)
Pork katsu since 1927 in a wood-panelled Bashamichi room; order the katsuretsu set with its thin, crisp crust.
Map - 2:15 PM
Cup Noodles Museum Yokohama
Make your own Cup Noodles at the hands-on My CUPNOODLES Factory, reserve the Chicken Ramen Factory slot in advance.
Map - 7:30 PM
Araiya (gyunabe
Gyunabe since the late 19th century, premium beef simmered tableside in sweet soy broth, the one splurge of the trip.
Map - 9:30 PM
Jazz Bar Chigusa (oldest jazz bar
Japan's oldest jazz bar in the Noge lantern-lit alley, perfect low-key nightcap with a proper drink.
Map
Day 3: Sankeien, the piers and Noge
Sankeien Garden in the morning, doria at The Cafe, a walk across Osanbashi Pier to the Red Brick Warehouse, an Air Cabin ride and grilled offal at Noge Hormone Center.
- 9:30 AM
Sankeien Garden
Ponds, tea houses and a hilltop pagoda in a silk merchant's garden; allow a good two hours.
Map - 12:30 PM
Coffee House The Cafe
Seafood doria and Napolitan were born in this hotel cafe; on weekends book, as the wait runs long.
Map - 2:00 PM
Osanbashi Pier and Yamashita Park
Walk the wooden, wave-shaped roof of the cruise terminal for open views over the bay.
Map - 3:00 PM
Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse
Two 1910s customs warehouses now full of small shops and cafes; browse, then sit by the water.
Map - 4:30 PM
Yokohama Air Cabin
Glide over the canal to Sakuragicho as the lights come on, landing a short walk from Noge.
Map - 6:30 PM
Noge Hormone Center and izakaya crawl
Grilled offal and cheap highballs at a busy counter in Noge's lantern-lit drinking lanes.
Map
Where to stay
OMO5 Yokohama Bashamichi
Right on Bashamichi, the $$ price sits squarely in the moderate lane and puts you a short walk from Noge, Chinatown, and every stop on days one and two.
Yokohama Sakuragicho Washington Hotel
Sakuragicho station at the door, honest Washington Hotel value, and an easy bus or subway ride to everything on all three days without paying for a water view you won't use.
Make Yokohama your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Cup Noodles Museum Yokohama: a few days ahead
- Yokohama Stadium: weeks ahead
- Hakone: a few days ahead
- Lake Kawaguchi: a few days ahead
- Yokohama Country Club: months ahead
- Hodogaya Country Club: months ahead
Skip these
- The Air Cabin gondola is a short ride, not transport, and the walk waterside takes about 12 minutes.
- Chinatown all you can eat tout restaurants on the main drag, where the tout rather than the queue does the work.
- Paying for three observatories that overlap, pick Sky Garden by day or Cosmo Clock by night.
- Taking the Shinkansen to Shin-Yokohama for sightseeing, slower door to door and dearer than JR or Tokyu to the bay.
The full Yokohama travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around