Kawagoe

If you want to take a day trip out of Tokyo to escape the bustle, but not to a place that involves any hiking, and you also want to just chill, explore and eat/shop, check out gorgeous architecture, Kawagoe is perfect in my books.

Kawagoe is a charming town often nicknamed "Little Edo." It’s just 30-minute train ride from Ikebukuro Station, Tokyo. If Kyoto is not on your itinerary, then Kawagoe will be a great day trip to escape into Japan's Edo period (1603-1868).

I highly recommend to go during cooler weather. We went in summer and it was so hot and hard to walk around for too long.

🚂 We first took a train from Ikebukkuro, from the Tobu-Tojo Line (TJ01) on the Kawagoe Limited Express. The train comes in one hour intervals, so be sure to plan ahead. The ride to Kawagoe Station took about 30 minutes.

Do note to take the Kawagoe Limited Express as it’s the fastest train because it skips some stops. There are some other trains that stop at every single stop.

Another point to note is that when you’re coming back from Kawagoe, try to avoid the peak hour and go back a bit earlier. Otherwise the train back to Ikebukuro will be super packed.

We took the 10:30am train from Ikebukuro Station and reached Kawagoe Station at 11am. Then we took bus 1 directly from the bus terminal (100 meters from the East Gate exit) to Gallery & Cafe 平蔵 for lunch.

🐱 Gallery & Cafe 平蔵 offers a homecooked lunch experience in Kawagoe, specialising in dishes from Akita prefecture in northern Japan. The lunch set was super delicious and comforting. All the ingredients were so fresh.

I had the pork and vegetable stew with mixed grain rice. While my husband the udon with green onions and chicken.

The whole cafe was also decorated with cute cat artwork and figurines.

🔔 After lunch, we took a walk to the Toki no Kane Bell Tower. There were a lot of interesting small shops on the way, so it’s a great way to slowly walk and shop.

☕ Then we went to the super aesthetic Starbucks Coffee - Kawagoe Kanetsuki-dori Street to escape the heat for awhile, had a drink and just chill. They have a super chill and zen outdoor seating but not in this heat!

🍬 After that we just wandered around the entire stretch of streets Kurazukuri no Machinami / Warehouse District and then into Kashiya Yokocho (Candy Alley) lined with shops selling nostalgic Japanese candies and toys.

🍠 I also stopped by an ice cream shop for some sweet potato ice cream, as they’re known for it. There are also a lot of sweet potato snacks that you can buy too.

The things that I missed are their savoury miso-glazed senbei crackers and delicious Kawagoe fried eel (unagi), which I have to go back again for!

We did a bit more walking and decided to go back to Tokyo. We are not huge shoppers so it was mostly a sightseeing and chill out day trip for us.

⭐ All in all, Kawagoe is a great choice for a short day (or half-day) trip from Tokyo. It has a lot of history and a charming atmosphere that will transport you to the heart of old Japan.

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