Near Tokyo, you can visit the seaside towns, like Zushi or Enoshima, and get a small town feeling. But only on weekdays, as Tokyoites also want to flee the craziness from the city, and end up crowding the smaller places around it too.

North of Tokyo, you can reach Tsukuba, which is one of the most lovely towns in the Kanto region. Beautiful, spacious, very calm.