Most-rated palace walk
Imperial Palace East Gardens walking tour
★ 5.0 · 3,368 written reviews
- Opening pricefrom $13
- Time on foot2 hrs
- Cancel ruleIncluded
Your booking starts here
Name the date. See the price.
Choose a day and the number of guests. The total recalculates as you go, and the following page shows the live price and open slots.
- Cancel for free up to 24 hrs prior
- Often booked up 6 days ahead
What's included
Included, bring with you, excluded
Included3
- A live guide who speaks English
- A walk of about 2 hours
- A group of up to 15 people
Bring3
- Your booking on your phone
- Comfortable shoes and water in summer
- Time to arrive before the start
Not in the price0
3,368ratings
ratings on Viator, mean 4.9
2hours
the length of the walk in the listing
15people
the most in one group
24hours before
notice for a full refund
Tour options
Four Imperial Palace walks, one table
Cheapest opening price
Tokyo: Imperial Palace and Shogun Walking Tour
★ 4.8 · 1,937 written reviews
- Opening pricefrom $11
- Time on foot2 hrs
- Cancel ruleIncluded
Storytelling walk, higher price
Tokyo: Imperial Palace A Walk Through Japanese History
★ 4.9 · 1,808 written reviews
- Opening pricefrom $38
- Time on foot2 hrs
- Cancel ruleIncluded
East Gardens, longer walk
Tokyo: Imperial Palace East Gardens Walking Tour
★ 4.8 · 363 written reviews
- Opening pricefrom $20
- Time on foot2.5 hrs
- Cancel ruleIncluded
Table at a glance
Our pick next to three other guided walks around the palace grounds, rated and priced live.
Per-person prices from the booking platform, shown live.
Traveler notes
Guest testimonials
5.0
★★★★★3,368 checked reviews
A good look at the palace grounds and the area around them. The history was interesting, but expect a lot of walking, so wear proper shoes and dress for being outside all the time.
RonaldOctober 2026
Our guide knew his history and kept it funny. Be aware that you walk the old grounds and the gardens outside; no building is entered on the way.
RobertMOctober 2026
Our guide made the tour enjoyable and full of detail about the palace and its past. The grounds and the gardens were lovely, and I came away pleased I had booked.
JeffreyOctober 2026
Lovely gardens, and a past we would have missed without help. Our guide answered every question and made us think, so hiring one felt right.
TheresaOctober 2026
A great morning with the kids in historic Tokyo. The guide was friendly, kept the information easy to take in and let us walk around at a relaxed speed.
ElieJuly 2026
Learning the palace's past was a pleasure for me. The guide knew a lot and was charming, and those two hours were time well used.
MarjorieOctober 2026
the walk itself
What the two hours on foot are about
This is a walking tour of the Imperial Palace East Gardens, which the listing describes as the former grounds of Edo Castle. You pass through gates, walk beside the remnants of the castle walls, stand on the foundation of the old keep and finish in the Ninomaru Garden.
A live guide in English leads a group of up to 15 people, so the pace is a conversation rather than a lecture. The listing gives the duration as 2 hours, so keep a little slack around the start and the end when you plan the rest of your day.
The walk is a lesson in how a place can look empty and hold a great deal of history. Without a guide the lawns are lawns; with one, they become courtyards, guard posts and the footprint of a castle that no longer stands. Bring comfortable shoes and your curiosity, and leave the heavy bags in your hotel.
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why this palace
A palace built on the ground of a castle
The East Gardens occupy parts of the former Honmaru, Ninomaru and Sannomaru areas of Edo Castle, and they have been open to the public since 1968. The Imperial Household Agency says the palace has been the residential palace of the successive Emperors since 1868.
That layering is what makes a visit worth the time. The gardens sit on the ground of the shogun's headquarters, and the castle tower foundation that visitors climb today dates from a tower completed in 1638 that was destroyed in a citywide fire not long after. The stone bases and the guardhouses are what remain of a vast complex.
A Tokyo Imperial Palace tour therefore tells two stories at once: the military world of the Tokugawa shoguns and the imperial household that took over the site. A good guide moves between them without losing the thread, and the walk makes that thread visible in the layout of the grounds.
Book with a free cancel optionClimate
Heat, rain and chill in Tokyo by month
Highs, lows and rainy days by month, from the NOAA Tokyo station 1.3 km from the palace (1971 to 2020); the day lengths are our own sums.
Tap any month for its weather numbers.
Average day temperature1 dot = 20 mm of rainNOAA 1971 to 2020 · Station Tokyo
opening hours
When the gardens are open, season by season
The East Gardens open at 9:00 in every period of the year, and the closing time moves with the daylight. From April 15 to August 31 they close at 18:00, with entry up to 17:30. From November 1 to the end of February they close at 16:00, with entry up to 15:30.
The gardens are closed every Monday and Friday, and from December 28 to January 3. If a national holiday falls on a Monday, the closure moves to the Tuesday after it. These are the rules a walk has to work around, and they are the first thing to check when you pick a date.
For a guided walk of about 2 hours, a morning start is the safest choice in any season. It fits every opening period, it avoids the afternoon heat in summer and it leaves you the rest of the day for Tokyo Station, Marunouchi or Ginza, all within an easy walk or ride of the gate.
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Your morning in the gardens
Pick a day and walk the old castle grounds.
Choose a day when the gardens are open and book with an easy exit: cancelling is free until 24 hours out.
official or private
How this walk differs from the free palace tour
The Imperial Household Agency runs its own tour of the inner grounds twice a day, and it does not permit commercial sightseeing operators and related parties on that tour. A private guide therefore cannot take you along the official route, and a listing that suggests otherwise should be read with care.
What a private walk offers instead is time, language and story. Our listing promises a live guide in English for about 2 hours in a small group, on ground that is open to every visitor. The official tour is a route of about 2.2 km that the Agency calls a one-hour walk, and JNTO says it is usually offered in Japanese only, with apps in six languages available.
The two are complements, not rivals. If the inner grounds matter to you, apply to the Agency, which takes online, office and same-day routes, and pair that with a guided walk of the gardens on another day. If it is the history of Edo Castle you want explained, the guided walk is the faster route.
Book with a free cancel optionScore breakdown
3,368 travelers weigh in
5.0
Excellent★★★★★
- 5 out of 596%
- 4 out of 53%
- 3 out of 51%
- 2 out of 50%
- 1 out of 50%
Bar lengths come from all 3,368 ratings the tour has received so far, and the average of them is 5.0.
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what guests say
What the reviews keep coming back to
The listing carries 3,368 ratings with a mean of 4.9, of which 3,248 are five-star. In the reviews we read, the guide is the subject of most sentences: guests describe someone who knows the history, answers follow-up questions and keeps the walk lively.
Several reviewers make a point worth repeating: this is a walk of the grounds and gardens, not of any actual buildings. One warns that the tour is all outdoors and that you should be ready for a lot of walking in proper shoes. Those who went in summer mention strong heat and little shade along the path.
Guests also say they are glad to have had a guide, because the gardens look quiet and hold a lot of history that is easy to miss alone. A few found the title misleading, expecting to enter the palace itself, which is why we spell out the difference on this site and in our guide to going inside.
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FAQ
Know more,worry less.
Is this the official Imperial Palace tour?
No, it is a guided group walk run by a tour operator.
The Agency's tour does not permit commercial sightseeing operators, so our walk covers the East Gardens.
How long is the guided walk?
About 2 hours.
The listing gives the duration as 2 hours.
Do we go inside the palace?
No, you do not.
Visitors cannot go inside the palace, except on rare special occasions.
How big is the group?
Up to 15 people.
The listing caps the group at 15 and offers a live guide in English.
What does the East Gardens entry cost?
Nothing, entry is free.
The Agency lists the East Gardens admission fee as free.
Which days are the gardens closed?
Mondays and Fridays.
They also close from December 28 to January 3, and for Imperial Court functions.
Can I cancel the booking?
Yes, up to 24 hours before.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance gives a full refund.
Where does the walk start?
Check your confirmation.
The listing record gives no meeting point, so your booking confirmation is the source; Ote-mon is 5 minutes from Otemachi Station.
What should I bring?
Shoes, water and a hat.
The Agency asks visitors to minimize belongings, as baggage is inspected at the entrance.
What if it rains or the weather is bad?
Plan for being outdoors.
The tour is all outdoors; June to mid-July can be wet and humid, with humidity often above 80%.
inside or not
Can you go inside the palace? No, and that is fine
GO TOKYO puts it plainly: you cannot go inside the palace, except on rare special occasions that let you glimpse the interior. The Japan National Tourism Organization adds that the innermost grounds are generally not open to the public, with the exception of guided tours and special holidays.
The East Gardens are the part you can enter freely. Admission is free, there is no application, and the Agency lists three gates for the purpose. That is where our walk happens, and it is why the walk can start any day the gardens are open without waiting for a permit.
What the grounds lack in interiors they make up in setting. Moats, walls, guardhouses, lawns and a skyline of office towers behind it all make the visit unlike any other in Tokyo. Think of it as visiting the outside of a very important house, with the history of the street as the exhibit.
Book with a free cancel option3,248five-star ratings
How the stars fall
Of 3,368 ratings on Viator, 3,248 are five-star.
Only 4 of them are one-star, and the mean sits at 4.95, a record that says the walk delivers what the listing promises on the open grounds.
what to wear
Shoes, shade and a light bag
The tour is outdoors for its entire length, so dress for the weather. Tokyo's rainy season runs from June to mid-July with humidity often above 80%, summer can push the mercury above 35 degrees, and typhoon season begins in August.
Early spring is still chilly, so bring a coat or fleece, and the real cold only arrives in January. In every season comfortable walking shoes matter more than anything else, since the paths are long and the gardens include gentle slopes that stone steps make slippery in the rain.
Leave large bags behind. Baggage inspection is conducted at the East Gardens entrance, and the Agency recommends a station locker or a hotel for anything you do not need. A small shoulder bag with water, a hat and your phone is enough, and it makes the walk easier for everyone.
Book with a free cancel optionOur palace walk in brief
Old stone walls.A moat and a keep base.A guide who knows why.
Our pick for a Tokyo Imperial Palace tour is a guided walk through the East Gardens, the former grounds of Edo Castle, with a live guide in English and a group of up to 15 people. It runs about 2 hours, and it covers the open gardens rather than the inner palace, which only the Agency's own tour enters.
Free cancellation up to a day before
getting there
Reaching the gates from the nearest stations
Ote-mon Gate, the usual entrance to the East Gardens, is a five-minute walk from Otemachi Station and a 15-minute walk from Tokyo Station. Otemachi is served by the Chiyoda, Tozai, Marunouchi, Hanzomon and Mita subway lines, which makes it the easiest hub for most visitors.
Your booking confirmation names the actual meeting point, so follow it, not the general advice here. If your plans include the official tour, the gate is different: Kikyo-mon Gate is about 10 minutes from Nijubashi-mae Station, Exit 6, and from Otemachi Station, Exit D2.
Our guide to getting there goes through every gate and every station with a map and timings. The short version for a first visit is to take the subway to Otemachi, allow a few minutes to find the right exit above ground and arrive at least a quarter of an hour early, because a group walk does not wait for latecomers.
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a whole day
Fitting the walk into a day in Chiyoda
A morning walk of about 2 hours leaves the afternoon free, and the palace neighborhood has plenty to fill it. The Museum of the Imperial Collections and the Imperial Palace Visitor Center stand near Ote-mon Gate, which makes them an easy pair of stops before or after the gardens.
From the gate it is about 15 minutes on foot to Tokyo Station, where the restaurants of the station area offer a long lunch. Afterward you can head to Ginza or Hibiya, or use the subway from Otemachi for a trip across the city. Several lines meet there, so the afternoon is yours to shape.
In cherry blossom season the moats around the palace are worth a detour, and a morning walk leaves time for it. Our pages on blossoms and special openings cover the dates and the logistics, and they pair naturally with the morning walk.
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who it suits
Who will enjoy this walk, and who will not
A guided walk through the East Gardens suits visitors who like history told on the spot, first-time travelers to Tokyo who want a clear picture of the shogun era, and families with older children who can manage about 2 hours on foot. Reviewers mention children being looked after well.
It does not suit anyone who wants to see the inside of the palace, since the walk stays in the open grounds. It also does not suit people who dislike outdoor walking in heat or rain, because the route has little cover and the tour is conducted entirely outside.
If you are unsure, read our guide to choosing between a guided tour and a self-guided visit. The free Audio Guide app for the gardens is a fair alternative on a tight budget, and the walk is the better pick when you want questions answered by a person who knows the answers.
Book with a free cancel optionbefore you book
Booking with an easy exit
Our listing is on Viator, and it allows free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund. That makes a booking low-risk even if your dates are not fixed. If the weather turns, or the gardens close for an Imperial Court event, you can change your plan without paying for it.
The price starts from $13 and is shown live when the booking box loads, together with open dates, so nothing on this page is out of date. Check the day of the week before you pick: the gardens are closed on Mondays and Fridays, and a walk that is booked for a closed day cannot happen.
Finally, arrive early, carry a small bag and bring a hat. A guide with a group of up to 15 people sets a rhythm that is easy to follow, and a calm arrival makes the first minutes pleasant. The rest is a morning of stone, water and story.
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