Imperial Palace East Gardens

The experience

The former Honmaru, Ninomaru and Sannomaru grounds of Edo Castle, opened to the public in 1968 as an attached garden of the Imperial Palace. The huge stone base of the castle keep survives — the tower burned in 1657 and was never rebuilt — along with Edo-period gates, a guardhouse and the reconstructed Ninomaru landscape garden. Entry is on foot through Ote-mon, Hirakawa-mon or Kitahanebashi-mon.

You can stand on the foundations of what was once the largest castle keep in Japan, for nothing.

What a membership adds.

Everything above is free: the name, the photo, the rating, the exact spot. What members get is the part you can't Google: the sourced insider tip for this place (what to order, when to go, what to skip), every day of your trips unlocked in full with the insider tip on every researched stop, and the concierge at full strength, answering with your own insider tips, no daily meter.