Shinjuku Golden-Gai

Unclaimed

Super cool area for bars and drinks. Most places charge a service charge, most places only can hold about 6 people and there are smoking allowed in some. It’s good to check before you sit down in order. I couldn’t deal with the smoking places so I just made sure I asked before going in. Pretty awesome place, we hung out with some older Japanese folk and had a great time! Then bar hopped to one of the only places that sell wine and met some cool people from around the world. What a vibe!

If you're coming to the central Tokyo area as a tourist, this is one of the most iconic places to end at least one of your nights. About 220 bars packed into a city block. Some have cover charges just to enter, others are fee-free(especially for tourists), and yet others are Members-Only. Just pop into a bar or two, and find an awesome atmosphere rather unique to Japanese bars. Many also offer food! BRING CASH! Not all bars here accept cards.

Golden Gai was fun, rows and rows of bars with small alleyways. Almost all of them have a cover charge, so that's a bit unfortunate for people trying to Barhop, but still doable. All the bars we went into offered non-alcoholic drinks as well, which was perfect for me because drinking isn't my thing; I was just tagging along with friends. The vibe here was amazing, and this is a staple in Shinjuku nightlife.