Best pass to get around in Tokyo

On my next trip I'm planning to stay several days in Tokyo, so I'm looking for the most convenient way to go from one place to other within the city. Is it by metro? And what pass should I get so I don't have to buy tickets for each of my trips. I've heard JR Pass is not useful.

I apologize for my English, it's not my first language.

it depends on where do you want to visit in Tokyo.

if you want to visit greater area tokyo, you can buy this: https://greater-tokyo-pass.jp/
if you just stay in tokyo city just buy this: https://www.kotsu.metro.tokyo.jp/eng/tickets/value.html

it would be better to share your schedule, so we can help you

I want to visit around some popular areas, like Shibuya, Akihabara, Shinjuku. Some specific places I want to visit as well are Tokyo Imperial Palace, Yasukuni Shrine, teamLab Borderless. I will be there for around a week, and I don't have a tight itinerary. So then again, which one would be better?

Without knowing your day-by-day itinerary, it's impossible to say which pass will be "better". It's possible that no pass would be cost-effective and you'd be best off just getting an IC card.

I recommend having a read of the transport and rail pass section of this website (it lists several passes for Tokyo) and making the decision yourself, since only you know what you'll be doing each day. It's simple enough to work out - you can look up costs on Google Maps.

I would say IC card like Suica. Top up as you need.

Passes are good value if you travel far outside Tokyo or travel a lot during the day. But for ordinary sightseeing and enjoying the city the cheap metro is best handled with a charged IC card.

I found the metro pass to be cost effective and convenient. No need to top off or get your deposit back. The pass comes in 24, 48, or 72 hour increments, so it expires at the end of those number of hours and not at the end of the day ( i.e. if you start using a 24 hour pass at 1400, it will expire on 1400 of the next day). You can get it a little cheaper on Voyagin or combine it with a Keisei skyliner (if you're arriving/departing from Narita). See if the pass will cover all the places you want to visit within Tokyo.

My view:
- Tokyo is a massive metropolis with lots of transport options: Tokyo Metro, the Local JR lines, plus private subway and rail lines
- there are often several ways to get from A to B. Some will be quicker or more convenient than others, and The best option may change depending on when you�fre travelling
- no pass works across all these lines, BUT
- an IC card does, AND
- there are some good apps (or google), that will not only give you the range of options but will also tell you great stuff like what carriage you get in to make your interchange between lines more efficiently, or which exit to head for, and they will plan routes using all lines
- holiday life is too short to do this stuff yourself

SO, I�fd say use a good app (or google), and probably buy an IC card.
You could just buy tickets as you go, and that wouldn�ft be a disaster, but you�fd have to spend a little more time queueing to buy tickets and you might constantly have pockets full of small change.

I agree, get an IC card. Pasmo or Suica, doesn't matter. Load maybe 2000 yen on it to start. Use google or apple maps for directions between landmarks and it will give you real time best routes with lines and transfers. Don't worry if you miss a subway train, they come every 2-5 minutes in Tokyo!

First, you need to arrange the schedule day by day. Usually a pass will be more cheaper if you traveling a lot of place in a day.
Then yo should look at google maps to know the cost and what kind of train line you will use (Either Toei Subway, Tokyo Metro, JR, etc.) Please pay attention to the train operator since the pass will only work for particular operator.
After calculating it, you can just compare with the available pass, is it cheaper or not. If it is not cheaper, just buy IC card and recharge it with sufficiency amount.

Your advice are all useful guides.
We're traveling in 2020 April and does the following itinerary make sense; route-wise?
Just procure an IC/SUICA for these destinations, right?

Saturday, Day 1 : GINZA
Sunday, Day 2: TAKASHIMAYA TIMES SQUARE / ISETAN SHINJUKU / TOKYU DEPT STORE.
Monday, Day 3: DISNEYLAND
Tuesday, Day 4: ASAKUSA - NAKAMISE / SHIN NAKAMISE / MARUGOTO NIPPON
Wed, Day 5: ODAIBA; AQUACITY / DECKS / PALETTE TOWN

Your experienced inputs would be much helpful and appreciated. As you can see, this is primarily a shopping trip. Thanks a lot.

Based on my experience travelling in Tokyo (I just came back from my Japan trip) I agree with everyone who have responded, I suggest two options:

1. see if you can group all places to visit based on the nearest subway station (either Tokyo Metro or Toei) and you can purchase your one-day pass depending on the subway you will use for the day. I used the one-day pass for Tokyo Metro for 600 Yen. Toei has something similar.

2. If you don't want to decide what subway to take (be more spontaneous) then I suggest the 24- 48- or 72 hour Tokyo subway pass.

I too am careful with my money and as an experiment on my previous trip I bought a 600 Yen Tokyo Metro one day ticket for three days and see how much money I would save. After the experiment, based on my travelling, each and every day I more than made up the cost of the ticket. In fact, I saved about 700 Yen each day for three days. So if you plan it carefully you can save a lot. I wouldn't necessarily use only the Suica or Pasmo on its own.

CYLLENE I think you will need to repost your question separately and create a new thread. But a quick answer, yes since they are all in Tokyo and nearby stations use IC card.

Where you visit AND where you stay are important factors. Tokyo rail systems are very extensive and you can go to most tourist destinations with just subway alone or surface trains alone. The 24/48/72 hr subway pass is a good value, and even better value if you stay near a subway station (that way, you are using subways almost exclusively and not pay a penny more to get to the nearest subway station). So include where you stay in your decision.

Because of the restrictions on transport that the different passes impose, they might save you a small amount of money, but waste hours or time taking longer routes and not actually getting to where you want to get to. Spending $1,000 to fly to Japan and then trying to save a few dollars/yen is false economy. most people would be spending less than 1,000 yen/day and if you group you activities, often a lot less.
There are some niche passes that work well, but again, not a lot of savings.
Get an IC card.