Tokyo Outdoors: 45 Walks, Hikes and Cycling Routes to Explore the City Like a Local (Paperback)

This book is VERY clever. I was last in Tokyo ~17 years ago, (so we didn't have Google maps or smartphones yet) and I used only guidebooks and a printed book of maps to get around. Now that both these things exist, this book does a great job of incorporating links to pre-delineated Google directions for each of the routes. Each route also has points of interest, with lots of inexpensive food options (the author states that he's committed to keeping the route info updated, which is rare for guidebooks, as they can easily go out-of-date). I was also excited to see some of the more hidden places that I found during my brief time in the city mentioned in the text. The images and location descriptions gave me that ~~*natsukashii*~~ feeling and made me want to hustle back to Tokyo with this book in tow. Next time I'm in Tokyo I will definitely be doing some of these urban hikes!

Tokyo Outdoors is compact but filled with lots of information. It’s perfect for anyone planning a trip to Japan’s capital or for armchair travelers. It contains suggested routes (including distances), a list of festivals, some Japanese phrases (including the hiragana) and a wealth of maps of the city and subway. These maps are accessible from Google Maps via the QR codes throughout the book. Both popular tourist destinations and lesser known sites are featured. Locations of cherry blossoms are clearly marked. Most routes are just two pages but Baxter includes what to see, how to get there, hours of operation and any costs (in yen) and discounts as well as shopping opportunities. He doesn’t forget to point out where to get a snack or a meal. He has spent a number of years living in Tokyo so he has a good handle on where to go for what. If you have never been to Japan, you might want to book your flight after reading Tokyo Outdoors.

Matthew Baxter’s Tokyo Outdoors is a travel guide tailor-made for the traveler interested in exploring the city’s many obscure attractions as well as the familiar tourist spots. With easy-to-follow maps and informative descriptions, this concise guide is the perfect companion book to make your trip an intriguing and memorable adventure.

This is one of those truly fantastic books that should be in every traveller's backpack or Kindle, if they're visiting Tokyo. It has a wealth of information about everything you'll find in that gigantic city but, even more importantly, it has easy to follow subway instructions for getting around. Tokyo isn't tourist-friendly when it comes to readable signage, and that includes subway signs. Of course, apps are making it easier and easier, but it's still not as easy as having clear instructions in your own language whenever going out, and this book does that. I'm keeping this one in my Kindle, and I'll be buying a physical copy next time I head to the Rising Sun.

I wish I had had this book when I lived in Tokyo many years ago. In the year that I lived there, I spent many days walking around the city, seeking out various sights and museums (without smartphone or Internet). I gradually discovered how the various wards and neighborhoods all have their own distinct characters, from quiet residential streets to bustling shopping districts, to verdant parks. For someone who doesn't have a year to learn their way around Tokyo, this book offers an excellent way to make the most of your time there, with a wide selection of walking and biking routes that will give you a feel for the wonderful variety that Tokyo has to offer. Each route in the book focuses on a specific region, with an easy-to-follow map, and descriptions of the highlights (shopping, historical sites, temples, shrines, etc.).

I really appreciated the books' attention to detail, such as recommendations on days of the week to take (or avoid) a particular route. There are also suggestions on places to eat or drink along the routes. "Tokyo Outdoors" also includes some routes somewhat outside of the Tokyo area, such as Mount Takao, to the east, and Yokohama, including its famous Chinatown. If you're the type of traveler who enjoys getting off the beaten path and appreciates walking as a way to really see a city up close, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book.

This book offers many "trips" through this huge city of many millions. It was great to look at some of the places I had already been to and to discover where else we could go on our next trip there.
I wish there were some color pictures in the book. This would have made it easier for "old folks" eyes.

I'm planning a trip to Japan in a few years. This book has given me many thing to add to my agenda when traveling there. The book has a really nice layout, with a map of the whole area at the beginning of it. I love that the author goes further with adding in places nearby those areas, and suggesting things like where to stop for food and such.

Your ultimate guide to discovering Tokyo and its surrounding Kanto region. With 45 diverse walking, cycling, and hiking routes, this book goes beyond tourist hotspots to unveil hidden treasures. Packed with insider tips from a seasoned Tokyo resident, it features 12 exciting day trips, detailed maps, and online resources for easy navigation. From historical landmarks to modern attractions, ensures a memorable and authentic exploration of Japan's vibrant capital.

This is a very good guidebook. I liked that there are maps of the area added to each itinerary. For me, Tokyo is a very difficult city to navigate. There are good descriptions of the sights and what is especially nice are the places to eat.

I've been to Tokyo a few times, and I wish I had this book on one of my trips! This is a unique way to experience a big city, and offers a very different perspective than the usual Tokyo guidebook. Tokyo is a beautiful city, take advantage of this book to experience it to the fullest!

I love to travel and plan out the details of the places I visit. I often conduct extensive research on my destination and try to find unpopular places to visit. This book leaves no stone unturned when it comes to things to do, places to see no detail is left out. This is a must have guide when traveling to Tokyo.

Tokyo Outdoors is a guide to explore Tokyo and the surrounding areas by walking, hiking, and cycling. The book starts with map of the area with the routes shown on it. Next, there is a short section of essential information. The 45 routes form the main section of the book. The back of the book divides the routes by interests.

The routes start with a title, distance and whether it is best by foot and/or bike. There is a nice map with a QR code to open a custom Google Map. Next is a short description along with how to get to the starting point. Places of interest are indicated by a number on the map and have paragraph long descriptions. Most routes have a recommended cafe and/or meal spot. There are a couple pictures under each walk. The back of the book has a one page list of useful Japanese.

I am looking forward to doing some walks with this book. It is a good size to carry around and looks to have just the right amount of information.

I have not been to Tokyo, so have not had the chance to try out any of these walks. Nor do I know if any good sites were missed. I do have a trip coming up but am not in the planning stages for a while yet. So I read this with the aim of getting an idea of what there is to see in Tokyo, and it was interesting in that regard. I appreciated that the author included little tidbits of history or culture where appropriate.
Each of the book’s 45 “walks” is a little tour of a given area. Each walk lists a handful of sites, each with its own short descriptive blurb and entry fee & hours (which is very helpful as it saves me from looking this up). Each walk also includes directions from a nearby subway station, a photo and the author’s recommendations for a café and a place to eat (not with vegetarians in mind). There is also a picture of a little map (with the walk outlined) & a link to the online map, which is priceless, as you can click on the sites for online photos and google reviews, thus better enabling you to decide if the given site is somewhere that you want to visit.

At first, I was thinking that the book seemed heavily focused on shopping districts, and food, and I thought that was maybe where the title’s “like a local” comes in, rather than being geared to tourists with limited time. But as we progress through the book, there are more diverse offerings, like museums, temples and hikes etc. The first half of the book is for Tokyo and is mostly meant to be on foot, with the walks being only a few kilometers each. Whereas the latter half covers the suburbs & side trips, with more cycling options. At the end of the book are lists of the best walks for different indications, (such as ‘top picks’ or cherry blossom season).

So bottom-line: I appreciate the author’s enthusiasm, notably when making suggestions about what sweets to try. For my eventual trip to Tokyo, I will still be plotting out my own google map of sites to visit and doing my own research with other resources. (I always use a few different sources for trip planning). But this book has certainly given me a great head start and made some of my work a lot easier. (Though it would have been even easier if the walks were numbered, so that I could refer back to them easily afterwards.) Also, I will try to check out some of the shopping areas mentioned in the book, for their reflection of Japanese culture (meaning people-watching), which I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise (dismissing them because I am not there to shop). So I am happy to have read this book. Thanks to the author.

I would recommend this book to anyone visiting Tokyo that wants to get a little off the beaten path and do some exploring on foot or by bike. While years ago I frequented many of the areas covered in the book I wish it had been available then as several times I found myself wishing I had known about something amazing that was just a couple of block from where I had been. The one thing I wish had been mentioned in the book was collecting temple stamps (Goshuin) as a low cost and very personal souvenir.

"Tokyo Outdoors" is a different kind of guidebook. Here is not the place to find extensive food and lodging reviews, such as in Lonely Plant or Fodors guides. Baxter's narrow focus is on how to explore Tokyo once you're there and settled, and he appears to do a solid job.

I must admit I have not used this book while in Tokyo, so I must limit my comments to the structure and not the accuracy of his suggested excursions. There are 45 of them, and aside from a few introductory pages on Tokyo and Japan, the excursions make up the essence of the book.
They range from easy to difficult, short-distance to long, and from a couple hours to all day. Baxter helpfully suggests the preferred mode of travel (walking, more rigorous hiking, or bicycle). The directions are clear, he gives a brief synopsis of each place of interest along the route, and a suggestion for a cafe or restaurant along the route.

Baxter seems to know Tokyo and it's obvious he has personally been over these routes himself multiple times on different days, as he includes suggestions on how to beat the crowds. I will be keeping this book for my next trip, and look forward to being able to explore Tokyo like a local, with Baxter's help.

A nice compendium of walking and cycling trips in and around Tokyo, organized by location, activities by month, with transportation options, are covered in this book. It's a nice collection of short, descriptive activities with links to websites/maps, small key phrases to navigate etc.

Very easy guide which you can use to explore Tokyo, walking or cycling . The author covers central Tokyo & the suburbs. Invaluable resource.

This is a great book for exploring the city of Tokyo. Aside from giving clear directions as to which station to go to, which exit to use, and a map of the route for each walk, the author gives what I think is the best feature of this book: recommended cafes and recommended meal spots. Also, some of the places on the route map are given a brief history or related anecdote, making it an interesting place to visit.