Tokyo Skytree

Which deck, and how to book

Tokyo Skytree is Japan’s tallest structure at 634m, and the part you pay for is two indoor decks: the Tembo Deck at 350m and the Tembo Galleria at 450m. The entrance isn’t at street level — you go up to the 4th floor of Tokyo Solamachi, the shopping mall wrapped around the base, and join the ticket counter there. Buy a fixed-date ticket online before you fly: the advance Tembo Deck price is about ¥1,800 (roughly £8.40), cheaper than the on-the-day counter and at weekends, and it lets you lock a time slot, which matters when a clear-weather sunset lands on a Saturday and the walk-up queue stretches to half an hour or more.

For most people the Tembo Deck is enough. It has the glass-floor panel you’ll have seen in photos and the cleanest sightlines down over the Sumida River and across to central Tokyo. The combined Deck + Galleria ticket is about ¥3,000 (around £14), and you can also pay the ¥1,400 (about £6.50) Galleria add-on on-site once you’re up. Our honest take: skip the Galleria. The extra 100m mostly flattens the city into an abstract circuit-board grid rather than improving the view, and the money is better spent on a bowl of ramen in Solamachi.

Timing your slot, and is it worth it?

Time your slot for about 45 minutes before sunset. That single visit then gives you the city in daylight, the golden light on the glass, the pink silhouette of Mount Fuji about 100km to the west, and the lights coming on — far better value than a flat midday slot. Fuji only shows on a clear, dry day, so stack the odds in your favour by visiting in the cold months from late autumn to early spring; summer humidity and Kanto haze hide it most days from June through September.

Is it worth it? Yes, if you want the classic skyline-from-above photo and you don’t mind glass between you and the view. Because Skytree is fully indoors it’s the reliable choice on a wet or cold day, and it absorbs crowds better than its rivals. But it isn’t the only option: Shibuya Sky is half the height at 229m and open-air, and plenty of visitors find its rooftop the more memorable sunset. If you’ve got time for only one tower on a sunny evening, we’d send you to Shibuya Sky; if the forecast is grim or you’re travelling with kids who’ll also want the aquarium and shops downstairs, Skytree is the better day out. It’s a 20-minute walk across the river from Asakusa, so pair the two and make an afternoon of the eastern side of the city.