Day 1 — Minato Mirai & Chinatown
Start in Minato Mirai with the view from the Landmark Tower's 69th-floor Sky Garden, taking in the bay, the Cosmo Clock ferris wheel below, and on a clear day Mount Fuji to the west. Walk down through the district past the Yokohama Museum of Art toward the Red Brick Warehouse, two restored customs buildings now used for shops, dining, and seasonal markets.
For lunch, book a slot at the Cup Noodles Museum's hands-on workshop, where you design and package your own cup of instant noodles, choosing broth and toppings — reserve online ahead of time since weekend slots fill quickly. The museum's broader exhibits on Momofuku Ando's 1958 invention are worth the extra half hour.
Walk the waterfront promenade south through Yamashita Park in the late afternoon, passing the retired ocean liner Hikawa Maru docked as a museum ship, timing your arrival into Chinatown as dinner service begins around 6pm.
Spend the evening in Chinatown, Japan's largest, working through a proper multi-dish Cantonese dinner — roast goose or dim sum are safe bets at any of the busier restaurants — and pick up nikuman (steamed pork buns) from a storefront window on the walk back to your hotel.
Day 2 — Sankeien Garden & Yamate
Take a short bus ride from JR Negishi Station out to Sankeien Garden, a large traditional garden completed in 1906 that incorporates historic buildings relocated from Kyoto and elsewhere, including a three-storey pagoda over 500 years old. It receives far fewer visitors than comparable gardens in Kyoto, making for an unhurried couple of hours, especially rewarding in cherry blossom or autumn foliage season.
Head back toward the harbour and up onto the Yamate bluff, where a cluster of preserved Meiji and Taisho-era Western-style houses recalls Yokohama's history as home to the city's original foreign settlement. The Yokohama Foreigners' Cemetery nearby, resting place for many of the port's earliest international residents, offers a quiet vantage point over the harbour.
Walk down the hill into Motomachi, a pedestrian shopping street that historically catered to the foreign community on the bluff above, for an afternoon coffee or browse.
In the evening, choose a restaurant back in Minato Mirai with harbour views for dinner — a good moment to try Yokohama-style curry, a thick Japanese take on curry rice the city claims an early role in popularising after the port opened to Western trade.
Day 3 — Kamakura Day Trip
Take the train about 30 minutes to Kamakura, Japan's medieval capital and seat of the first shogunate. Head first to the Great Buddha (Daibutsu) at Kotoku-in, a 13.35-metre bronze statue cast in 1252 that has stood in the open air since a tsunami destroyed its housing hall in the 15th century — you can enter the hollow interior for a small additional fee.
Walk or take a short bus to Hase-dera, a temple on a hillside with sweeping views over Kamakura and the bay, known for its large wooden Kannon statue and a cave shrine dedicated to the goddess Benzaiten. The temple's hydrangeas in June and autumn foliage in November are both well regarded.
For lunch, Komachi-dori, Kamakura's main shopping street near the station, has a dense concentration of casual restaurants and snack stalls, including shirasu (whitebait) dishes that are a local specialty given Kamakura's coastal position.
If time allows, extend to Enoshima, a small tidal island reachable via the scenic Enoden seaside railway, for sea caves and coastal views before heading back to Yokohama for a final evening — a relaxed dinner near Yokohama Station makes an easy last stop before departure.