Things to do in Yokohama, splurging
Harbour history, Cantonese banquets, aged beef and Japan's oldest jazz bar.
This is Yokohama for people who want the good table, the considered shop and the late-night bar stool, not the tourist loop. Two days dig into Naka Ward's treaty-port streets, Chinatown and the waterfront, with serious dinners to close each night, and the third gives Sankeien's gardens the morning and ends on a dinner cruise around the harbour.
Day 1: Yamate, Chinatown and the harbour
A morning walking the Western residences and Foreign General Cemetery sets the tempo before a sashimi lunch, an afternoon in Chinatown and a Cantonese banquet at Heichinrou, finished with a night walk along Yamashita Park.
- 10:30 AM
Yamate & Motomanski historic district
Stroll the treaty-port Western residences and Foreign General Cemetery, the most atmospheric historic district in Yokohama.
Map - 12:30 PM
Shirahara (shellfish and sashimi lunch)
Shellfish and sashimi lunch sets that punch above their price, top Kannai pick for a sharp, fresh midday meal.
Map - 2:00 PM
Yokohama Chinatown 横浜中華街
Wander Japan's largest Chinatown, 600 shops, Kanteibyo temple, street snacks and the full sensory spectacle.
Map - 7:30 PM
Heichinrou (Cantonese banquet)
Chinatown's oldest Cantonese house, open since 1884; book a banquet course with Peking duck.
Map - 9:30 PM
Yamashita Park
Walk the waterfront after dinner past the lit Hikawa Maru liner, with Bay Bridge glowing across the harbour.
Map
Day 2: Bashamichi, beef and Noge jazz
The Meiji Baroque museum on Bashamichi, a katsu lunch at Katsuretsuan, a flat waterfront walk to clear the head, then gyunabe at Araiya and a nightcap at Chigusa, Noge's jazz kissa since 1933.
- 10:30 AM
Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Cultural History 神奈川県立歴史博物館
Kanagawa's history in the 1904 Yokohama Specie Bank, a domed stone bank on Bashamichi; closed Mondays.
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 - 2:30 PM
Coastal running and cycling
Flat waterfront run/walk from Red Brick Warehouse to Yamashita Park, the best way to explore the bay and shake off lunch before dinner.
Map - 7:30 PM
Araiya (gyunabe
Gyunabe since 1895: marbled beef simmered at the table in sweet soy broth, the dish Yokohama gave Japan.
Map - 9:30 PM
Jazz Bar Chigusa (oldest jazz bar
Japan's oldest jazz bar in Noge, a few minutes' walk from Araiya, the perfect nightcap to close out the evening.
Map
Day 3: Sankeien, noodles and a night cruise
A slow morning in Sankeien Garden, doria at The Cafe in the Hotel New Grand, the Cup Noodles Museum and an Air Cabin ride lead to a dinner cruise from Pier Akarenga.
- 9:30 AM
Sankeien Garden
Ponds, a hilltop pagoda and old buildings moved here from Kyoto and Gifu; give it two unhurried hours.
Map - 12:30 PM
Coffee House The Cafe
The hotel cafe where seafood doria was first made; finish with the pudding a la mode.
Map - 2:30 PM
Cup Noodles Museum Yokohama
Design your own cup and watch it sealed to take home; the museum shuts on Tuesdays.
Map - 4:30 PM
Yokohama Air Cabin
Ride the gondola over the canal to Sakuragicho and back as the Minato Mirai towers light up.
Map - 7:00 PM
Marine Rouge dinner cruise (Pier Akarenga)
French dinner cruise under the Bay Bridge from Pier Akarenga; book ahead and confirm the sailing time.
Map
Where to stay
Hotel New Grand (historic 1927)
A 1927 grande-dame hotel on Yamashita Park: the history, the address and the rooms all earn their rate.
Yokohama Royal Park Hotel (Landmark Tower floors 49-70)
Floors 49 to 70 of Landmark Tower put the entire bay in your window and nothing else in Yokohama matches the view.
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