Day Trip to Mt. Fuji: Is the Klook Tour Worth It or Should You Go On Your Own?

When planning a trip to Japan, one of the first things that comes to mind is visiting Mount Fuji. Many people are happy to see it from the plane or from the Shinkansen window, but if you have time during your trip to Japan, it is worth dedicating a day to visiting it. In this post, we will explain how you can do it with a stress-free guided tour or how you can do it on your own. Despite being relatively close to Tokyo, it is a trip that can take all day.

The Klook Tour

Klook offers several tours to Mount Fuji, but the most popular is the “Instagrammable Spots” tour at JP¥7,200 (~€41). One of its advantages is the free cancellation policy up to one day in advance, so if you’ve booked ahead and the weather isn’t cooperating, you can cancel without penalty.

The tour departs from either Tokyo Station or Shinjuku Station. For an additional fee, hotel pickup is available. The tour starts early in the morning and involves a two-hour drive to the first stop, Arakurayama Sengen Park, where you’ll have an hour to explore (which is not much, as queues for the famous selfie spot can take 30-60 minutes, depending on the season). Next, it’s on to the Hirawa Clock Tower for a twenty-minute stop, followed by some time exploring the streets of Iyashi no Sato Nenba. The third stop is Oshino Hakkai, with an hour and a half allocated for this location. The fourth stop is a somewhat controversial twenty-minute break at the Fujikawaguchiko Lawson convenience store, which has become associated with over-tourism. In this stop, you will get a free drink. The fifth and final stop varies depending on the season: most of the year, it’s Oishi Park, but during the autumn leaf season, the tour stops at the Maple Corridor.

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Around 5:00 PM, you’ll head back to Tokyo, leaving you free to enjoy a delicious ramen dinner after a long day of sightseeing around Mount Fuji.

Can you do this tour on your own?

The tour has a guide present to ensure nobody gets lost at the stops and to provide some basic information. For those who don’t need a guide and don’t want anyone telling them how long to stay at each point, we decided to calculate the cost of doing this tour independently.

Recreating the Klook Tour

To get from Shinjuku to Arakurayama Sengen Park, you’d take a 1h30 express highway bus for JP¥2,150 (~€12) to Chuodo Shimo Yoshida and then walk fifteen minutes to the park.

From Arakurayama Sengen Park to the Hirawa Clock Tower is a half-hour walk.

Getting from the Hirawa Clock Tower to Oshino Hakkai is more complicated. It’s a seven-kilometre walk with a 180-meter elevation gain, or a 45-minute combination of walking and bus travel for JP¥450 (~€3), while the same trip by car takes only 15 minutes.

From Oshino Hakkai to the Lawson near Fujikawaguchiko Town Hall is an 11-kilometre journey. By public transport, it takes almost an hour and costs JP¥800 (~€5), including walking time.

From the Lawson to Kawaguchiko Oishi Park, you have a 25-minute bus ride for JP¥510 (~€3) or a 6-kilometre walk along the shore of Lake Kawaguchiko.

To return to Tokyo, you’d take a half-hour bus to Kawaguchiko Station and then another highway bus to Shinjuku. These two trips would cost JP¥2,770 (~€16).

In total, transportation would cost around JP¥6,680 (~€38), assuming all connections are on time and you don’t miss any buses.

A More Flexible Option

If you want the whole experience to be more flexible and relaxed, you could also take the train from Tokyo to Otsuki (JP¥1,003 (~€6)) and then use the 2-day Mt.Fuji & Fuji Five Lakes Passport pass, which lets you use all trains between Otsuki and Kawaguchiko, incl. stops along the way (e.g. the Arakurayama Sengen Park), as well as all Fujikyu buses in the Fuji Five Lakes Area for two full days. That pass costs JP¥4,700 (~€27).

This option gives you a lot more flexibility, even lets you make a 2-day trip out of this.

Conclusion

Here’s the overview of the costs of the proposed itineraries:

• Klook tour: JP¥7,200 (~€41)
• Recreated Klook tour: JP¥6,680 (~€38)
• Two-day flexible tour: JP¥6,706 (~€38)

We wouldn’t recommend recreating the Klook tour. If you’re interested in seeing exactly those things and having a care-free day with a guide getting you from sight to sight, then just book the Klook tour.

If, however, you’re not a fan of tours and prefer a more flexible and personalised experience, we think that organising your own trip can make a lot of sense. And spending a night in Kawaguchiko is definitely not a bad idea.

Personal Experience

I (Ditmar) did a self-organised tour with my colleague Peer earlier this year. Personally, I would recommend this to most people. Just go with the flow and explore the region at your own pace. And if you miss out on one or two things from the Klook tour, so what? That also gives you time to see other attractions, such as the Kawaguchiko Music Forest Museum, which I found fascinating. You’ll see the Fuji, you’ll see the lake, you’ll see the Lawson, and all at your own pace.

Cover Picture: Photo by Rui Hao Lim on Unsplash