Most people see this lake through a coach window at noon, when Fuji has already gone behind cloud. Every lake Kawaguchi tour compared here is sorted by where it starts: a 07:00 kayak, a trike behind a local guide, a private minivan from your ryokan, and the Tokyo departures for the days you cannot stay over.
Updated September 2026
A lake Kawaguchi tour costs $60 to $128 per person on the listings compared here, or $176 to $481 per vehicle on the ones priced by the car or the trike. The split that matters is where the day starts. Seven of these tours begin at Kawaguchiko itself, which puts you on the water or the lakeside road before 09:00, the hour when the north shore has the mountain in view most often. The Tokyo departures, a 21-seat minibus at $60 and a coach with an optional cruise at $71, reach the lake around midday after two and a half hours on the expressway.
Key takeaways
Every listing below is read off the operator's own GetYourGuide page and kept in the operator's terms where they matter: who they will collect, what the fare leaves out, which licence you need. "From" is the lowest adult rate on the listing, checked in Q3 2026; the per-vehicle tours say so on the card. All of them cancel free up to 24 hours before the start and none charges you today. Booking happens on GetYourGuide, not on this site.
Four hours in a private minivan with a local English-speaking driver-guide, the stops chosen with you on the day. Pickup is free but only around Lake Kawaguchi or Kawaguchiko Station; Hakone and Tokyo are refused. Entrance fees and meals are paid as you go.
The full loop of the Fuji Five Lakes in a private car: nine stops from Lake Yamanaka to Lake Motosu, with the ice cave and the lava forest between them. Fuel, tolls and parking are in the price; lunch and entrance fees are not. Pickup anywhere in the Five Lakes area, start time your choice.
A guided six-hour day priced per vehicle, so seven people pay what one does. The route is built for photographs and the guide reorders it live around Fuji's cloud cover. Lunch is on you, about 1,500 to 2,000 yen, and the tour deliberately skips the 5th Station to avoid the highway queues.
Built for a second visit or for people who have already seen the postcard stops: two of the quieter lakes, a guided walk into the lava forest and an udon lunch in Fujiyoshida, priced per car for up to four. Pickup only in Kawaguchiko and Fujiyoshida. The 5th Station is an optional extra at 2,800 yen.
You drive an open three-wheeler and the guide leads from the front; price is per trike, two people can share one, three trikes per booking. Fixed departures at 10:00 and 15:00 with a one-hour check-in before each, and the driver must hold a 1949-Convention International Driving Permit. No hotel pickup.
1.5 hours listed and all of it on the water, at 07:00 when the mountain is out most often; the cheapest local start
The only way onto the water in a kayak here, since no one on Lake Kawaguchi rents them for solo paddling. Ninety minutes with a locally based native-English guide, all gear, a waterproof phone case and one hot drink; winter jacket, boots and gloves are lent in the cold months. Groups are capped at 10.
You drive a toy-sized electric car around the lake in a guided convoy of up to four; the guide leads in a normal car and anyone without a licence, or with children, rides with the guide instead. Drivers need the booklet-format 1949 International Driving Permit. Meals and entry fees are not included.
The big-coach day trip with the most reviews of any tour here, five booking options from no lunch to buffet with cruise. Two and a half hours each way from Tokyo Station, two free hours by the lake, and a live English guide backed by a 75-language phone translator. No luggage: the return coach is a different vehicle.
The cheapest Tokyo departure here and the smallest vehicle, 21 seats instead of a coach. Six stops built around photographs, including both viral street views, with 40 minutes at Oishi Park at the end. No meal is included and the guide may be multilingual rather than English-only.
On a search page these listings look alike: Mount Fuji, Lake Kawaguchi, photo stops. The two columns that separate them are the starting point and the share of the listed hours you spend at the lake rather than on a bus.
| Tour | Starts in | Listed / at the lake | Rating | From | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Half-day private | Kawaguchiko | 4 h / ~1 h | 4.9 (31) | $71 pp | Check Availability Details |
| Full-day private | Kawaguchiko | 8–9 h / ~2 h | 5.0 (10) | $128 pp | Check Availability Details |
| Johnny's 6-hour private | Kawaguchiko | 6 h / ~45 min | 5.0 (51) | $481 / car of 7 | Check Availability Details |
| Hidden-side drive | Kawaguchiko | 6 h / stops | 5.0 (16) | $385 / car of 4 | Check Availability Details |
| Scenic trike ride | Kodachi | 2 h / all | 5.0 (82) | $176 / trike of 2 | Check Availability Details |
| Our pick Sunrise kayak | Funatsu | 1.5 h / all | 5.0 (34) | $77 pp | Check Availability Details |
| Electric mini car | Kawaguchiko Stn | 3 h / ~2 h | 5.0 (33) | $272 pp | Check Availability Details |
| Coach, optional cruise | Tokyo Yaesu | 11 h / ~2 h | 4.5 (647) | $71 pp | Check Availability Details |
| 21-seat minibus | Tokyo, Shinjuku | 8 h / ~1 h | 4.7 (26) | $60 pp | Check Availability Details |
Every tour here can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before the start, and all of them let you reserve now and pay later.
Starting fares on GetYourGuide, checked in Q3 2026; "Kawaguchiko" means hotel pickup around the lake, a place name means you meet there. "/ car of 7" is one price for the vehicle, up to seven people. "At the lake" is our reading of the operator's own itinerary: time on the water or the Kawaguchi shore, not at Oshino Hakkai, Chureito or the other lakes. A Tokyo day trip lists eleven hours and gives you about two beside the water; the kayak lists ninety minutes and every one of them is on it.
Live dates for the sunrise kayak, the tour this page recommends first and the one that sells out earliest in autumn. Fares on this page are read from the listings; the calendar itself is GetYourGuide's.
Looking at one of the others? Half-day private · Full-day private · Johnny's 6-hour private · Hidden Fuji drive · Trike ride · Mini EV drive · Tokyo coach day · Tokyo minibus
Three questions settle it. Are you sleeping at the lake or coming from Tokyo for the day? Do you want a guide to drive, or do you want to drive? And does anyone in your group hold the right driving permit?
If you have a bed in Fujikawaguchiko, Fujiyoshida or Yamanakako, the Tokyo departures are the wrong tools. They spend five hours on the Chuo Expressway to reach a place you are already standing in. The local operators start when you say: Forest Kraft's half-day will collect you from any hotel around the lake or from Kawaguchiko Station and shape the route on the day, and their full-day version lets you set the pickup time yourself, as long as you confirm it by 20:00 the evening before.
The catch is the pickup zone, and the operators are strict about it. Forest Kraft refuses Hakone, Odawara and Tokyo. fuji_outdoor_base collects only in Kawaguchiko and Fujiyoshida. Johnny's reaches a little further, to Narusawa and to the Fuji-Q Highland and Mt. Fuji railway stations. If your hotel is at Lake Yamanaka, Forest Kraft is the one that lists it.
Two tours here put you behind the wheel with the guide leading in a separate vehicle. The trike ride is a Can-Am three-wheeler on the lake roads for two hours, with fixed departures at 10:00 and 15:00 and a one-hour check-in before each. The electric mini car is a single-seat Japanese EV in a convoy of up to four, about 20 kilometres around the shore with four to six stops. Both photograph you along the way, and both are priced for the fun of driving rather than for the miles: the trike is $176 per trike for up to two riders, the mini car $272 a head.
If you would rather look than drive, the private minivans carry the same viewpoints at a slower pace. Johnny's builds its six hours around photographs and moves stops around as the cloud shifts. The hidden-side drive skips Chureito and Oishi for Lake Shoji, the Nenba beach at Lake Saiko and a guided walk into Aokigahara, which makes it the better second visit.
Both self-drive tours check your papers before you leave. Japan accepts only International Driving Permits issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, presented with the licence from home, and the mini-car operator wants the booklet format rather than a card. A Vienna Convention permit, which is what most of continental Europe issues, is invalid in Japan. Drivers from Belgium, France, Germany, Monaco, Switzerland and Taiwan are covered by a separate agreement and carry an official Japanese translation of their licence instead. The full rule, with the source.
Passengers need nothing. On the mini-car tour anyone without a permit, and any child, rides in the guide's car at the front of the convoy and joins the photo stops.
For a day trip with no overnight, the LIMON coach at $71 has the largest evidence base on this page, 647 reviews at 4.5, and five booking options from no lunch to a buffet with a short cruise from Appare Pier. It leaves Bus Terminal Tokyo Yaesu and cannot carry luggage, because the coach that brings you back is a different vehicle. The Japan Beyond minibus at $60 is the smaller and cheaper version: 21 seats, six stops including both viral street views and a proper stop at Oishi Park, one bag per guest allowed. Departure and return times are on the getting-there section.
Neither goes up the mountain. Neither includes the ropeway. On both, the lake is one stop of several, which is what the table above is trying to show.
Kawaguchiko is one of the easiest places near Tokyo to do without a tour, so the fair question is what the tour buys. Below, the official fares added up against the Tokyo departures and the local starts.
Yen figures are the published fares of Fujikyu Bus, JR East, the Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway and the lake's sightseeing boat, read in Q3 2026 and converted at about 148 yen to the dollar. Dollar figures for tours are the GetYourGuide starting fares on this page.
| Way in | What you pay | Time on the road | What you get for it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo minibus | $60 pp | 2.5 h each way | Transport, English guide, six stops incl. Chureito and Oshino Hakkai, 1 h at the lake, no lunch |
| Tokyo coach | $71 pp | 2.5 h each way | Transport, guide, 2 h free time at the lake, cruise and lunch on some options |
| Highway bus + your own day | About 7,900 yen, near $53 | About 100 min each way | Shinjuku bus both ways, one-day bus pass, ropeway round trip, 20-min cruise. No guide, no Chureito |
| Fuji Excursion train + your own day | About 11,900 yen, near $80 | 1 h 55 min each way | The direct train both ways instead of the bus, same day at the lake. Reserved seats only |
| Local start, kayak | $77 pp | Zero: you are already here | 90 min on the water at 07:00 with a guide, all gear, hot drink |
Fujikyu's highway bus from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko Station is from 2,200 yen and about 100 minutes; from Tokyo Station or Shibuya it is from 2,300 yen and 120 to 130 minutes. Keio, Fujikyu and JR Bus share one timetable, roughly two departures an hour from Shinjuku. Once there, the Kawaguchiko, Saiko and Motosuko area pass is 1,500 yen for a day or 2,000 for two, bought in the Japan Transit Planner app, and covers the Red, Green and Blue sightseeing lines. The ropeway is 1,000 yen return, the 20-minute cruise about 1,000 yen, or 1,700 for both on a set ticket valid two days.
That is 4,400 yen of bus, 1,500 of pass, 1,000 of ropeway and 1,000 of boat: 7,900 yen, near $53, before lunch and before Chureito Pagoda, which is a separate train to Shimoyoshida on the Fujikyuko line. Against that, the minibus at $60 adds a guide and Chureito for seven dollars more, and the coach at $71 adds two hours of free time. The DIY day wins on the ropeway, which no tour here includes, and on the freedom to sit on the north shore until the light goes.
The Fuji Excursion limited express runs Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko without a change in about 1 hour 55 minutes for 4,200 yen, which is the 2,580 yen basic fare plus a 1,620 yen express fee. It is reserved seats only, four round trips a day with seasonal extras, and it sells out days ahead in April and November. The slower route, JR Chuo line to Otsuki and the Fujikyuko line from there, takes two and a half hours and costs from about 2,580 yen. The bus is cheaper and just as fast on a clear morning; the train is the one to book when the expressway is jammed on a holiday weekend, and it also serves Shimoyoshida for the pagoda on the way in.
Bike rental exists too: a non-electric bicycle near the station runs about 1,500 yen for the day, and the flat north-shore road to Oishi Park is a pleasant hour. The 20-kilometre full loop is not, on the south side, where the road leaves the water.
Two hours is the honest number from central Tokyo, whichever way you go, and the last mile from Kawaguchiko Station to the water is the part the guides skip.
The Shinjuku highway bus leaves from the Busta Shinjuku terminal above the station, most services calling at Fujisan Station and Fuji-Q Highland before Kawaguchiko Station. Tokyo Station and Ueno departures take about 130 minutes, Shibuya about 120. Return buses on Sunday evenings can run to three hours as the Chuo Expressway backs up at Otsuki, which is the argument for a reserved train seat home.
The LIMON coach tour uses the Yaesu terminal on the Tokyo Station side; the minibus tour picks up outside Tokyo Station at 07:30 and Shinjuku at 08:00.
The station sits on the south shore a short walk from the water. The Funatsu pier and the ropeway base are ten to fifteen minutes on foot to the north; the Lawson with the mountain behind it is across the road. The north shore, where Oishi Park, the Natural Living Center and the Momiji Corridor are, is a Red Line bus ride of about half an hour, every 15 minutes or so, around 480 yen a hop or covered by the pass.
The kayak operator NaturaBase and the trike shop are both on the south shore within walking or one-stop range of the station; the mini-car tour meets at bus stop 10 outside the tourist information centre.
What the things a tour does not include cost when you pay at the window, from the operators' own pages.
The Mt. Fuji Panoramic Ropeway, still called the Kachi Kachi Yama ropeway by everyone local, publishes the fares and hours in the list below; the ride is three minutes to a deck at 1,075 metres and the walk down takes about 40 minutes. The sightseeing boat leaves the Funatsu pier beside it for a loop under the Kawaguchiko Ohashi bridge, and the ropeway sells a set ticket for both that stays valid over two days, so the boat can wait for a clearer morning.
Fujikyu's area pass is 1,500 yen for one day and 2,000 for two, children 750 and 1,000, unlimited rides on the Kawaguchiko Red Line, the Saiko Green Line and the Narusawa, Shoji and Motosu Blue Line, plus the ordinary routes inside the same area. It is sold through the Japan Transit Planner app with a card, which is worth setting up on the bus in from Tokyo rather than at a stop with a queue behind you. The Red Line alone, station to the north-shore parks and back, is about 480 yen a ride, so the pass pays after three hops.
Every private tour on this page covers fuel, tolls and parking, which matter more than they sound: the 5th Station road alone is 2,800 yen. None of them covers entrance fees to the paid museums or the ropeway, and none includes lunch, though Forest Kraft's full day and Johnny's build a restaurant stop into the schedule with a guide who knows which houtou shop has the shorter line. The coach from Tokyo is the exception: choose the buffet or café option and lunch and the cruise are inside the fare.
The single rule that decides two of the tours here, and one the listings mention in a line most people skim past.
Japan recognises an International Driving Permit only when a signatory of the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic issued it in that convention's format, and only when you show it together with your home licence. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police notice is explicit that a permit under the 1968 Vienna Convention is invalid even if the issuing country signed Geneva too. Most of the English-speaking world, plus Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the Nordics among others, issues the Geneva permit. Fuji Go Q adds a condition of its own: booklet format, not the card some countries print.
Belgium, France, Germany, Monaco, Switzerland and Taiwan do not issue Geneva permits at all. Drivers from those places carry an official Japanese translation of their licence, from JAF or their embassy, valid for a year from entry. Both operators state the requirement in their listings; bring the passport as well, because the mini-car guide checks all three before you get a key.
The kayak, the minivans and the Tokyo departures ask nothing of you. On the mini-car tour a non-driver rides in the guide's car at the head of the convoy and joins every stop, which is also how children take part. On the trike a passenger sits behind a licensed rider, two to a trike, and the operator lets children ride pillion if they fit the seat securely.
Pregnant travellers are excluded from the trike by the operator.
Temperature is the easy half of this chart; visibility is the half that decides whether the day works. Winter is cold on the water and the mountain is out almost every morning. Summer is warm and the mountain is a rumour.
Mean temperatures and rainfall are the Japan Meteorological Agency's 1991 to 2020 normals for the Kawaguchiko station. Visibility bands follow the north-shore column of isfujivisible.com's archived forecast scores: January 100%, February 89%, March 87%, April 73%, May 74%, June 30%, July 48%, August 47%, September 50%, October 39%, November 97%, December 87% of days at least partially visible. Fuji City's own 35-year 8 a.m. log, which counts only the whole mountain, gives about 134 clear days a year. Festival dates from the Fujikawaguchiko tourism association.
The mountain clouds over from the middle of the morning in every season. The tours that start at the lake are built around that; the ones from Tokyo cannot be.
The clearest views come before about 9 a.m. and again in the late afternoon, once the day's cloud has lifted off the summit. The 07:00 kayak exists for the first window: the operator's own pitch is that the lake is flat and empty at that hour and the mountain is usually out. The trike's 10:00 departure catches the tail of it; its 15:00 departure catches the second. A Tokyo coach leaving Yaesu at eight is at Oshino Hakkai around 10:30 and at the lake after lunch, which is why so many reviews of the coach tours mention cloud.
If you are staying at the lake and want the view more than you want a guide, walk to the Funatsu shore or take the first Red Line bus to Oishi Park at sunrise, then book the tour for later. The hidden-side drive and Johnny's both move their photo stops around live cloud, which is the best argument for a private car over a fixed coach route.
Weekends run heavier than weekdays year round, and two events push the town past capacity. The Momiji Corridor festival, 7 to 29 November with lights until 22:00, fills the north-shore road on Saturdays and Sundays; the tourism association's own page asks visitors to come on weekdays or early. The cherry blossom festival at Arakurayama Sengen Park was cancelled for 2026 by Fujiyoshida city over crowding, with traffic control on the streets from 1 to 17 April, but the park itself stayed open and the trees still bloomed in the second week of April.
The lavender Herb Festival at Oishi Park is no longer held; the lavender still flowers from late June to mid-July and the park is free to walk.
The most-asked comparison in the search results, and one with a clean answer once you know what you are there for.
Both are two hours from Tokyo and both sell Fuji. The differences below are the ones that change a decision; the visibility figures are from the same isfujivisible table, north column for Kawaguchiko and south for Hakone.
| Kawaguchiko | Hakone | |
|---|---|---|
| The view | Fuji close and huge across a flat lake, reflected on still mornings | Fuji distant behind Lake Ashi and the torii, framed rather than filling the sky |
| Days with any view, March | 87% | 52% |
| Days with any view, November | 97% | 87% |
| Getting there | Bus from 2,200 yen or Fuji Excursion train, no Shinkansen | Odawara on the Tokaido Shinkansen, so it fits a Kyoto itinerary |
| The extras | Ropeway to 1,075 m, lake cruise, Chureito Pagoda by train, kayaks, Oshino Hakkai | Ropeway over the Owakudani vents, pirate ship on Lake Ashi, open-air museum, onsen towns |
| Who it suits | Photographers, anyone sleeping over, anyone who wants the mountain itself | Anyone on the way to Kyoto, anyone who wants an onsen night with Fuji as a bonus |
For the mountain, Kawaguchiko. It is closer, it is lower, and the north-shore reflection has no equivalent in Hakone. For a night away from Tokyo with hot springs and a route onward to Kyoto, Hakone, and the coach tours that combine Fuji's 5th Station with Owakudani and Lake Ashi in one day do exist, though none is listed here because none spends real time at this lake.
Doing both is a two-night trip; the highway bus links Kawaguchiko to Gotemba and on to Hakone without going back through Tokyo.
Lake Kawaguchi sits at 833 metres, covers 6.13 square kilometres, is only 14.6 metres deep and has the longest shoreline of the Fuji Five Lakes at about 20 kilometres. Which is why a full loop is a three-hour drive in a mini car and a day on a bicycle.
Oishi Park is the view everyone means: the mountain across the whole width of the lake with flower beds in front, tulips and moss phlox late April, lavender late June to mid-July, kochia turning red in the second half of October. The Natural Living Center beside it has the bus stop and the fruit-picking in summer. East along the shore is the Itchiku Kubota Art Museum with its kimono collection, then the Momiji Corridor, a lane of maples lit in November. Forest Kraft, Johnny's and both Tokyo departures stop at Oishi; the mini car and the trike drive past it.
Kawaguchiko Station, the ropeway to the 1,075-metre deck on Mount Tenjo, the Funatsu pier for the 20-minute cruise, the Lawson that became a photo stop, and the kayak base at NaturaBase are all within a fifteen-minute walk of each other. The Kawaguchiko Ohashi bridge crosses the narrows here; the trike shop sits near the Lawson at its northern end. Kawaguchi Asama Shrine, the cedar-lined shrine on the eastern road, is where the hidden-side drive starts its route.
Yamanaka, the largest and highest, is a 20-minute drive east and the usual first stop on the private days. Saiko, Shoji and Motosu lie west along the Blue Line, quieter and colder, with the Aokigahara lava forest and the Narusawa Ice Cave between them. Forest Kraft's full day is the only tour here that reaches all five; the hidden-side drive does Saiko and Shoji.
The lake is a drinking-water source with a steep drop-off and cold springs feeding it, and swimming is not allowed. The water is still the best place to see the mountain from.
The Fujikawaguchiko tourism association designates the shore for sightseeing, fishing and boats, and there is no swimming beach; the nearest sanctioned swimming in the Five Lakes is at Yamanaka and Motosu in high summer. On Kawaguchi you have three choices: the sightseeing boat's 20-minute loop, a pedal boat from the Funatsu shore at about 2,000 yen for 30 minutes, or a guided kayak. NaturaBase states plainly that nobody on the lake rents a kayak for solo paddling, so the guided 07:00 session, or its 10:00 and 13:00 daytime versions, is the only way to be on the water under your own power. Ninety minutes, a life jacket, a waterproof phone case and a hot drink are included; the operator lends a winter jacket, boots and gloves in the cold months and turns away anyone under 3, over 80 or over 100 kilograms.
The shape of a day that starts at the lake, built from the kayak's timetable, the Red Line bus and Forest Kraft's half-day. Swap the afternoon for the trike's 15:00 departure if someone in the group can drive.
Fifteen minutes before the kayak. Briefing, life jacket, a paddle you have probably held before, and the lake flat enough to mirror the summit. The guide takes the photographs, which is the point of going this early.
Konbini coffee at the Lawson everyone photographs, or back to the ryokan if it serves late. The ropeway opens at 8:30 and the queue is short for the first hour.
Three minutes up to the 1,075-metre deck, the whole lake below and the mountain filling the south. 1,000 yen return, or the 1,700 yen set ticket if the boat is on the list. The 40-minute walk down through the forest beats the queue for the car.
Half an hour along the north shore, 480 yen or the pass. Flower beds in front, the mountain across the water, the Natural Living Center for the bus back. By now the cloud is usually starting to sit on the summit.
The local dish is a flat noodle in miso with pumpkin, served at a temperature designed for the winter here. Houtou Fudou near the station is the one the guides recommend; 1,500 to 2,000 yen and cash.
Forest Kraft's half-day collects from the hotel or the station and takes the route you agree on: Lake Yamanaka, Oshino Hakkai and the Sengen shrine on the standard version, or wherever the cloud is thinnest. Entrance fees and water aside, nothing extra to pay.
Dropped at the hotel or the station. The second clear window of the day is now; the south shore by the bridge faces the mountain for the last light.
Short list, because the operators supply most of the specialist gear.
The Geneva-format International Driving Permit, your home licence and your passport for the trike or mini car. Yen in cash: the houtou restaurants, the museum windows and the Oshino Hakkai stalls do not all take cards, and the private guides list lunch at 500 to 2,000 yen a head as your cost. Warm layers in any month for the 07:00 kayak, which NaturaBase supplements with a jacket, boots and gloves from autumn to spring, and for the open trike, where the operator bans sandals.
Sun protection for the lake in summer, when the water reflects everything.
Three visitor films that between them cover the three ways of doing it: the day trip from Tokyo, a stay at the lake, and driving the shore yourself.
The coach-day version filmed end to end, which is the closest preview of the two Tokyo departures on this page.
Video: VioletVikTokyo Cheapo's walk through the station area, the ropeway, the north shore and the buses, useful for the do-it-yourself sum above.
Video: Tokyo CheapoThe lakeside road driven in one go, which is roughly the route the mini-car convoy and the trike follow.
Video: Choo Choo CiaoThird-party videos embedded from YouTube. We did not shoot them and have no relationship with the creators.
Ryu was a fantastic, patient guide. The car was really good and spacious and had well working A/C on board.
A nice mix of the main places of interest around the five Fuji Lakes and places that were not accessible for large tour groups.
Yuki planned the day very well and adapted the route based on the beautiful weather, our interests, and how the group was feeling.
A fantastic route along the lakes and through the woods with nice places to stop and take photos of the lakes and Mt. Fuji.
We had a super still morning on the lake with him and he took many photos of us. Highlight of our Mt Fuji trip.
During the free time I joined the boat ride on Lake Kawaguchiko. The view of Mount Fuji from the lake was simply breathtaking.
Short excerpts from verified GetYourGuide reviews of the tours on this page, with the reviewer's country and travel month. The full reviews are on the operators' listings.
Yes, if you go for the mountain and you go early. It is the closest and lowest of the Five Lakes to Fuji, the north shore gives the reflection that Hakone cannot, and from November to March the mountain is out on almost every morning. Go in June and the odds fall to about three days in ten. The lake itself is a base rather than a sight: the ropeway, the cruise, Oishi Park and the kayak are what fill the day. Month by month. The longer answer, with the money and the three cases where the tour is the wrong call, is in our honest look at whether a tour is worth it.
Kawaguchiko for the mountain, Hakone for the onsen night and the road to Kyoto. Kawaguchiko is closer to Fuji, sees it more often in every month of the year, and has the lake reflection; Hakone has the Owakudani ropeway, Lake Ashi and Shinkansen access at Odawara. The two side by side. The visibility figures behind that come from the month-by-month record.
Yes. The guided day trips compared here are a 21-seat minibus at $60 and a coach with an optional cruise at $71, both about two and a half hours each way. Independently, the Shinjuku highway bus is from 2,200 yen and about 100 minutes, and the Fuji Excursion train 4,200 yen and 1 hour 55 minutes. The costs, added up. Doing the same day on your own costs about seven thousand nine hundred yen in fares.
No. The lake is a drinking-water source with cold springs and a steep drop-off, and the shore is designated for sightseeing, fishing and boats. The way onto the water is the 20-minute sightseeing boat, a pedal boat, or a guided kayak; nobody rents kayaks for solo paddling. Swimming, kayaks and the water.
Forest Kraft's half-day for a first afternoon, because the route is yours and pickup is at any hotel around the lake. The sunrise kayak for the mountain at its clearest. For a group of five to seven, Johnny's six hours at $481 for the car is the cheapest per head. How to choose.
The driver does: a permit issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, shown with the home licence, and for the mini car in booklet form. Vienna Convention permits are refused in Japan. Belgian, French, German, Swiss, Monegasque and Taiwanese drivers use an official Japanese translation instead. Passengers need nothing. The rule and its source The permit rule, country by country.
Per person, $71 for four hours or $128 for eight to nine with Forest Kraft. Per vehicle, $481 for up to seven with Johnny's or $385 for up to four on the hidden-side drive, which works out at $69 and $96 a head when the car is full. Fuel, tolls and parking are inside those fares; lunch and entrance fees are not. The table. What every tour here costs, and where the break-even sits between private and shared.
Not as standard. Johnny's says outright that it avoids the 5th Station road to dodge the queues, and neither Tokyo departure climbs the mountain. The hidden-side drive sells it as an optional stop with a 2,800 yen road fee. Sister site fujifivelakestour.com compares the Tokyo tours that do include it.
The coach leaves from Bus Terminal Tokyo Yaesu and takes no luggage, because the return coach is a different vehicle. The minibus leaves Tokyo Station at 07:30 or Shinjuku at 08:00 and carries one bag per guest. Neither offers hotel pickup. Getting from Tokyo.
Tour pages
One page per listing, each carrying the same fields in the same order, plus the guides that answer what the listings do not.
Lake Kawaguchi Tours
