Mt. Fuji 5th Station and Hakone cruise tour with bullet train review
My verdict: the most complete package on this site, and the only one where I struggle to name something you would have to buy on the day. The ropeway and the Lake Ashi cruise are both in it, the coach is a deluxe one with Wi-Fi, there are audio headsets in six languages, a buffet lunch if you pick that option, and you come home from Odawara on the bullet train instead of sitting in evening traffic. It is also the most expensive coach day here and there is no hotel pickup, so you make your own way to Ginza or Shinjuku for a pre-eight start.
What ¥24,000 buys
A deluxe coach with onboard Wi-Fi, an English guide, the ropeway ticket, the Lake Ashi cruise ticket, audio headsets in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese and Ukrainian, a buffet lunch if you select that option, and a one-way bullet train ticket from Odawara to Tokyo that takes about forty minutes. Hotel pickup is not included.
The train leg is not a gimmick. Every other coach tour on this site drives you back into Tokyo through the evening, which is two hours if the road is kind and longer if it is not. This one hands you a seat on a train instead, and reviewers notice.
- “The bullet train was something else” — Nigel, 5★
- “A full day which ticked most modes of transportation! Bus, train, boat, cable car and feet!” — Joanne, 5★
- “Too bad there was so much traffic that we missed the cable car experience.” — Giampaolo, 5★
Giampaolo’s review is the one to read twice
He gave it five stars and still lost a stop to traffic. That is worth sitting with. Every coach tour here leaves Tokyo between 7:30 and 8:00, runs eight to eleven hours, and has to be back at the ropeway before the last run at 16:45 between February and November, or 16:15 in December and January. There is no spare time in that. When the road goes wrong, something gets cut, and it is usually the thing you came for.
Paying more does not buy you out of it. It buys you a better seat while it happens, and a train home afterwards.
Usually included
- Deluxe coach with onboard Wi-Fi
- English guide, plus headsets in six other languages
- Hakone Ropeway ticket
- Lake Ashi cruise ticket
- Buffet lunch, if you select that option
- One-way bullet train, Odawara to Tokyo, about 40 minutes
Not included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Any guarantee that Fuji will be visible
- Immunity from traffic — the schedule is tight either way
What works
- Ropeway and cruise both included, unlike the cheaper coach days
- The bullet train home instead of two hours in evening traffic
- Audio headsets in six languages beyond English
- 5,303 reviews at 4.4 is a settled, reliable number
- Guides named in the reviews: Tsubasa, Sora, Kazu, Meg
Worth knowing
- The most expensive coach day on this site
- No hotel pickup — you get yourself to Ginza or Shinjuku
- Traffic can still cost you a stop, as reviewers describe
- Ten hours, most of it not in Hakone
- Lunch only if you select the option
The bullet train leg runs Odawara to Tokyo. There is no Shinkansen station in Hakone and never has been, which is why the train appears only at the end of the day, after the coach has brought you down from the hills.
Against the cheaper Shinkansen option
The other tour here that sends you home by train is ¥18,160, includes hotel pickup and drop-off which this one does not, and rates 4.2 from 1,618 reviews. It is ¥5,840 cheaper. What you give up is the buffet lunch option, the six-language headsets and the Wi-Fi coach, and you drop from 4.4 to 4.2 on considerably fewer reviews. I have written it up separately: the Shinkansen return tour review. If the train home is the whole appeal, read Romancecar vs Shinkansen first, because a seated direct train from Shinjuku costs ¥2,470 and you could simply buy one.
Who should book it
Book it if you want one day, everything settled in advance, and no cash changing hands at a jetty. Book it if a two-hour coach ride back into Tokyo at the end of a ten-hour day is the part you dread. It is the only product here that answers both.
Do not book it to save money. At this price you are two-thirds of the way to a private guide, and three times the cost of doing the same ground yourself on the Freepass. Everything is laid side by side on all tours.
Other ways to spend the day
Shinkansen homeRopeway, cruise & ShinkansenFrom Tokyo: Mt. Fuji & Hakone Tour w/ Return by Bullet Train
Most bookedRopeway one-way includedTokyo: Mt. Fuji Tour, Hakone Ropeway, Owakudani, Lake Ashi
Private, from your hotelHakone Private Tour: Bespoke Day from Your Hotel
Frequently asked questions
Does this tour include the bullet train from Tokyo to Hakone?
No, and no tour does, because there is no Shinkansen station in Hakone. The train ticket included here is the one-way return leg from Odawara to Tokyo at the end of the day, about forty minutes. Every route into Hakone is set out on Tokyo to Hakone.
Is lunch included?
A buffet lunch is included only if you select that option when booking. The ropeway ticket and the Lake Ashi cruise ticket are included as standard, which is more than the cheaper coach days on all tours offer.
Where does the tour pick up?
At Matsuya Ginza or the Robert Indiana LOVE statue in Shinjuku. Hotel pickup is not included, so you make your own way there for a departure between 7:30 and 8:00 in the morning.
Is it worth ¥24,000 when other tours cost less?
It is the only one with the ropeway, the cruise, a lunch option and a train home all in one price. If you would rather keep the money and set your own pace, the Hakone Freepass is ¥7,100 and covers the same transport; the trade-off is worked through on what a day really costs.