Chiyoda or Shitaya area stay?
 

Hi,

I got a lot of help from this forum for a trip to Japan next month.
I decided on spending 5 days in Tokyo as opposed to going to Kyoto etc.

Question for the stay in Tokyo: I am deciding between staying in the Chiyoda area or the Shitaya area. Is one better than the other? Why? Lodging is comparatively priced in both places and within my budget.

Thanks.

Chiyoda is a really large area with several distinct neighbourhoods. Where within Chiyoda were you thinking?

I don't know much about Shitaya, I can see it's very close to Ueno.

Is this your first trip to Japan / Tokyo?
What are your main interests? Which sights are you going to visit - the location and transport links from your chosen area to those sights may help you decide.

Yes, its our first trip to Japan.
The specific area in Chiyoda is near the Hanzomon station.
Seems like there are train stations everywhere but wanted to see if anyone recommended one area over the other. Thanks.

I would say it would be easier for people to answer that if you first give some response to these questions...

"What are your main interests? Which sights are you going to visit?"

Kavey - This is our first trip to Japan. So we'll stick to the main attractions - Meiji and Sensoji temples, some of the gardens, day trips out to Hakone etc.

Honestly, I'm not sure I understand either of your choices if this is for a first trip during which you want to hit the usual highlight attractions.

Popular locations for first time visitors include Asakusa, Shinjuku, Ginza, Tokyo Station, Ueno, or further west, Harajuku / Shibuya.

If it's purely down to a low budget and not being able to find hotels in other locations, perhaps if you post your budget people may be able to help.

I would look at booking.com, agoda.com and japanican.com and see what you can find.

Of course, if you can't find anything suitable, then you can off course get around via the metro system from either of your two locations.