Shizuoka in 2 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)
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Two Days in Shizuoka on a Budget
Two days is Shizuoka City done properly on around ¥8,000-11,000 per person excluding your hotel: Sumpu Castle, an oden dinner, free pine-grove Fuji views, and a shrine that predates Nikko. No side trip to Izu or the Fuji area required, and none needed for a first look. Want to add an Izu onsen night or the Fuji area, the 3-day and 4-day itineraries build on this same base. For the full free-and-cheap rundown, see the budget guide .
Book these before you go:
- A Welcome Suica or Tourist Pasmo IC card (no deposit, valid 28 days), it covers every local train and bus in this itinerary
- A one-way Hikari Shinkansen ticket rather than a JR Pass; the Nozomi does not stop at Shizuoka, and the pass jumped roughly 65-69% in 2023
- A city hotel near Shizuoka Station, ¥8,000-15,000 a night, so you can walk to Sumpu Castle Park and the oden alleys
Day 1: Sumpu Castle Park and an Oden Dinner
Morning. Walk 15 minutes from Shizuoka Station to Sumpu Castle Park, where Tokugawa Ieyasu ruled Japan as retired shogun from 1607 until his death in 1616. The original keep is gone, but the reconstructed turrets and Momijiyama Garden cover the history in a couple of hours; walking the grounds is free, a small fee applies only if you go inside a turret.
Afternoon. Wander the shopping streets around the station, no entry fee required for any of it, and save your budget for dinner.
Evening. Head to an oden yokocho, a covered lane of stalls simmering skewered ingredients in dark dashi broth, topped with dashi powder and aonori, built around black hanpen, a fish cake made this way nowhere else. It runs a few hundred yen a skewer, is cash-friendly, and needs no reservation, the honest local dinner rather than a tourist add-on.
Day 1 running cost (per person, excl. hotel): castle grounds free + turret entry ~500 + snacks/oden dinner 2,500 = **¥3,000**
Day 2: Miho no Matsubara, Nihondaira, and Kunozan Toshogu
Morning. Start at Miho no Matsubara, the roughly 7km pine-grove beach on Suruga Bay that frames Mount Fuji in the same alignment as centuries of ukiyo-e prints. It is free, and a genuine UNESCO Fujisan component, not a roadside pull-off.
Afternoon. Head to Nihondaira: the Yume Terrace observation deck, free to walk up to, gives a 360-degree view over tea fields and the bay with Fuji behind. The roughly 5-minute ropeway down (about ¥1,250 round trip) drops you at Kunozan Toshogu, Ieyasu’s original 1617 shrine, a National Treasure that predates the far more famous Nikko Toshogu (a small shrine fee applies). Work in a tea tasting on the way; Shizuoka is still the country’s historic tea heartland even after losing its long-held #1 producer ranking to Kagoshima in 2024.
Evening. Finish with an early dinner back near the station. You will want a full night’s sleep before a travel day.
Day 2 running cost (per person, excl. hotel): Nihondaira ropeway ~1,250 + shrine fee ~500 + tea tasting ~1,000 + meals 2,500 = **¥5,250**
Two-day total: roughly ¥8,000-9,000 per person, excluding your hotel. City hotels near the station run ¥8,000-15,000 a night, which is all two nights of city sightseeing calls for. One practical note that catches first-timers out: a Suica or Pasmo covers the ropeway and local buses, but not the Shinkansen itself, so buy that ticket separately at a station machine before your travel day.