Yokohama
Half an hour from Tokyo, and a noticeably cheaper place to sleep.
- JPY
- 5 districts
- Budget day, from
- ¥7,000
- Districts compared
- 5
- Airports
- HND · NRT
- Best time to go
- Apr · Oct–Nov
Start with the map
Yokohama is Japan’s second largest city and it’s 30 minutes from central Tokyo, which makes it two things at once. It’s a day trip: a waterfront, the biggest Chinatown in the country, and a park to walk in. It’s also a base, if Tokyo room rates put you off — the same standard of hotel for less, with a commute shorter than crossing Tokyo itself.
What it isn’t is a small Tokyo. The centre is a planned waterfront rather than a warren, it’s walkable in a way Tokyo never is, and it shuts earlier. That suits some trips very well and others not at all, so ask yourself whether you want a city that ends at eleven.
Which district, and who each one suits
The decision that shapes the whole trip. Every area below is well connected — they differ in what is outside the door at 9pm.
Minato Mirai
The redeveloped waterfront: towers, a ferris wheel, the Red Brick Warehouse and wide promenades along the bay. Modern, open, and the most photographed part of the city.
Stay here if you want a harbour view and space to walk, or you’re travelling with family and want everything in one flat, safe area.
Chinatown and Motomachi
The largest Chinatown in Japan, dense with restaurants and shops, next to the old European quarter of Motomachi and the hillside foreign cemetery above it.
Stay here if you’re here to eat and wander, and you prefer narrow streets to a masterplanned waterfront.
Kannai and Bashamichi
The historic centre between the two, with brick and stone buildings from the treaty port era, the ballpark, and quieter, cheaper hotels.
Stay here if you want to walk to both Minato Mirai and Chinatown without paying the room rate of either.
Yokohama Station
The transport hub. Five operators, department stores stacked above, and the fastest connections to Tokyo and Haneda. Busy and functional rather than pleasant.
Stay here if you’re using Yokohama as a cheaper base for Tokyo and will be commuting in most days.
Shin-Yokohama
The Shinkansen station, a separate district some way north of the waterfront and about 12 minutes from Yokohama Station by subway.
Stay here if you’re catching an early bullet train west and don’t want a transfer at the start of the day.
Named hotels for Yokohama, with ratings and the district each one sits in, land once the prices can be traced to a source. The district pages above carry the nightly ranges in the meantime.
What a day actually costs
Planning baselines, not quotes. They exclude flights, and they move with the exchange rate and the season.
- Budget
¥7,000–11,500
about $47–78 a day
A hostel bed or budget room, Chinatown street food, local transport, and one paid attraction.
- Mid-range
¥16,000–27,000
about $108–180 a day
A hotel room, restaurant meals, a day into Tokyo and back, and entry to the museums and observation decks.
- Higher end
¥45,000 and up
about $305 and up a day
A harbour-view room in a Minato Mirai tower, serious dining, and taxis instead of the Minatomirai Line.
Transport, briefly
The Minatomirai Line
Six stops from Yokohama Station through Bashamichi and Minato Mirai to Motomachi-Chūkagai for Chinatown. It links every district worth staying in, and it’s the only line most visitors need.
Walking
The waterfront from Minato Mirai through Kannai to Chinatown is one continuous walk of about 40 minutes along the harbour. It’s the best way to see the city, and the reason people find Yokohama restful after Tokyo.
Getting to Tokyo
The Tōkyū Tōyoko line runs from Yokohama to Shibuya in around 30 minutes, and JR reaches Tokyo Station in about 25. Some trains run straight through from the Minatomirai Line, so you can often board at Chinatown and get to Shibuya without changing.
IC cards
Suica and Pasmo work on every operator here, which matters because five of them share Yokohama Station and the fare gates aren’t always obvious.
The Sea Bass
A passenger boat between Yokohama Station, Minato Mirai and the Yamashita Park waterfront. Slower than the train and priced accordingly, but a genuinely good way to see the harbour.
Arriving by air
- HNDHaneda
Very close. The Keikyū line runs direct to Yokohama Station in roughly 25 to 30 minutes for a few hundred yen. For Minato Mirai or Chinatown, change at Yokohama onto the Minatomirai Line. Allow a good 10 minutes for that change. The Keikyū platforms sit on the first floor of the east side, and the Minatomirai Line is five levels down on the west.
- NRTNarita
The Narita Express runs direct to Yokohama Station in around 90 minutes. That’s slower than reaching central Tokyo, but you don’t change trains with your luggage.
The year in Yokohama
Best months: April, and October to November.
- Spring, March to May. Blossom in Sankei-en garden and along the waterfront in early April, with mild weather and sea air that makes it more comfortable than inland Tokyo.
- Summer, June to August. Humid, but the bay helps, and evenings on the waterfront are the best time of year to be here. June is the rainy season.
- Autumn, September to November. Clear and dry, and the strongest season for walking the harbour and the parks. Typhoon risk hangs on into September.
- Winter, December to February. Cold and bright, with harbour illuminations through December and Lunar New Year in Chinatown in late January or February, which is the city’s biggest annual event.
Eating halal in Yokohama
Yokohama has better prayer facilities than most cities its size and a modest but real set of halal restaurants, mostly South Asian. One warning matters more than the rest: Chinatown is the city’s food destination and it’s almost entirely unsuitable, built on pork and alcohol-based seasonings in shared kitchens. Walk through it rather than eating in it, unless a specific place displays certification.
- Yokohama Mosque serves the wider Kanagawa area with daily and Friday prayers. It reopened in 2020 after renovation.
- There’s a prayer room on the sixth floor of the World Porters shopping complex in the Shinkō area of Minato Mirai, walking distance from the Red Brick Warehouse. Useful in the middle of a day on the waterfront.
- Chinatown’s kitchens are shared and pork-based as standard. Don’t assume a vegetable or seafood dish there is safe, and plan your meals around it rather than in it.
- The certified and halal-friendly restaurants that exist are mostly Indian and South Asian, spread between Minato Mirai and Naka ward rather than concentrated on one street.
- Tokyo is 30 minutes away, so on a longer stay the far bigger halal scene around Shin-Ōkubo is a realistic evening option.
Asked about Yokohama
Is Yokohama a good base for visiting Tokyo?
Yes, if the room rate is what’s driving the decision. You get a comparable standard of hotel for less, and Shibuya is about 30 minutes on the Tōyoko line while Tokyo Station is around 25 by JR — shorter than plenty of journeys within Tokyo itself. The trade-off is that Yokohama winds down earlier, so a late night means watching the last train back.
Is Yokohama worth visiting as a day trip from Tokyo?
For half a day or a full one, yes. The waterfront walk from Minato Mirai through Kannai to Chinatown takes about 40 minutes at a stroll and covers most of what people come for, and the sea air is a real change from central Tokyo. It isn’t a second destination in its own right — one unhurried day does it.
Which area of Yokohama should I stay in?
Minato Mirai for the harbour views and the easiest walking. Kannai or Bashamichi to sit between the waterfront and Chinatown at a lower rate. Yokohama Station if you’re commuting into Tokyo most days and want the fastest connections. All three sit on the Minatomirai Line, which is the only line most visitors need.
How do you get from Haneda to Yokohama?
The Keikyū line runs direct to Yokohama Station in roughly 25 to 30 minutes for a few hundred yen, which makes Yokohama one of the easiest arrivals in Japan. If you’re staying in Minato Mirai or Chinatown you change at Yokohama onto the Minatomirai Line. Leave a good 10 minutes for that — the two lines sit on opposite sides of the station and five floors apart.
Can you eat halal in Yokohama Chinatown?
Generally no, and it catches people out because Chinatown is the city’s main food destination. The kitchens are shared and the cooking is built on pork and alcohol-based seasonings, so vegetable and seafood dishes aren’t a safe assumption either. Eat before or after, unless a restaurant clearly displays halal certification. Elsewhere in the city there are halal options, mostly South Asian, and a prayer room at World Porters in Minato Mirai.