Lake Ashi CruiseMt. Fuji, Hakone Ropeway, Owakudani & Lake Ashi Day Trip
This Mt Fuji Hakone Ropeway day trip is, with 7,741 verified reviews behind a 4.6, by a wide margin the most-booked way to reach Lake Ashi from Tokyo — and the volume shows in how the day is run: eight stops, tight timings and a guide handling five languages. The ropeway ticket is in the $54 fare. The boat is not: the operator prices it in its own listing at "around 1700JPY", payable at the pier.
About This Hakone Day Trip
10 hours, Tokyo to Tokyo
$54 per adult, one-way ropeway fare included
4.6 from 7,741 reviews — the largest sample on this page
25 minutes, if you buy the ticket at the pier
Shared coach with a multilingual guide, five languages offered
Travellers with mobility impairments or respiratory problems
Listing at a Glance
The same fields on every tour page here, read from the operator's listing in August 2026. Prices and availability are set by the operator and confirmed at checkout.
- Tour name Tokyo: Mt. Fuji Tour, Hakone Ropeway, Owakudani, Lake Ashi
- Operator TAIHOU CO,LTD
- Booking platform GetYourGuide
- Product ID 1035544
- Starting price $54 USD per adult
- Price last checked August 2026
- Rating 4.6 out of 5 — guide 4.8, transport 4.8, value 4.7
- Review count 7,741 reviews
- Review source GetYourGuide verified bookings
- Duration 10 hours
- Time on the lake 25 minutes, scheduled as an optional leg
- Cruise leg Moto-Hakone to Togendai
- Cruise fare Not included — the listing prices it at around 1,700 yen; the guide will buy it for you
- Ropeway One-way fare included
- Pickup window 07:30 JR Tokyo Station (BEAMS sign) or 08:00 Shinjuku (Tokyo Mode Gakuen)
- Arrival at the lake Approx. 10:30 at Hakone Shrine
- Expected return Approx. 18:10; the operator warns it can run past 20:00 in peak season
- Transport Air-conditioned coach from Tokyo, one suitcase per person
- Group size Shared group, multilingual
- Guide language English, French, Italian, Chinese, Korean — English is the primary
- Lunch Not included; buy at the stops or bring your own
- Drinks None stated; no food or drink in the vehicle
- Hotel pickup Not included — two fixed Tokyo meeting points
- Cancellation deadline 24 hours before departure
- Reserve now, pay later Available
- Minimum age None stated
- Physical difficulty Easy, but a long day with walking at every stop
- Wheelchair accessibility Not suitable for travellers with mobility impairments or respiratory issues
- Ropeway closure clause If the Hakone Ropeway is closed, the operator refunds the booking on request by email
- Weather limitations Mount Fuji visibility not guaranteed
- Ethical notes Some stops include souvenir and specialty shops; buying is optional
- Alternative tour See the [highest-rated Hakone day](/hakone-ropeway-owakudani-day-tour/)
Check Dates and Availability
Live dates and prices from the booking platform. The price shown at checkout is what you pay.
Quick answer
Ten hours, $54, and eight stops: Hakone Shrine, the pirate-ship pier, the ropeway, Owakudani, Lake Yamanaka's swan shore and the Oshino Hakkai spring ponds. The ropeway fare is included and refunded in full if the ropeway is shut on your date, which is a clause no other tour here offers. The boat costs about 1,700 yen extra.
Key takeaways
- Largest review sample on the page by far — 7,741, against 923 for the next-rated tour
- Full refund if the Hakone Ropeway is closed on your date, on request
- Guide sub-score 4.8, transport 4.8, value 4.7 — the sub-scores sit above the headline
- Lunch is not included and there is no food or drink allowed in the vehicle
How the Day Runs
Two departures, one coach
Pickup is 07:30 at JR Tokyo Station by the BEAMS sign, or 08:00 at Shinjuku outside Tokyo Mode Gakuen. The operator emails the guide's and driver's details the evening before and asks you to arrive fifteen minutes early; staff wear yellow vests, which matters because several tour groups muster in the same spots.
The coach reaches Hakone in about two hours. The first stop is Hakone Shrine, founded in 757, twenty minutes at the shrine itself and twenty at the Heiwa no Torii standing in the lake.
The boat, and the free alternative
At around noon the itinerary reaches the pirate-ship pier, and the listing is explicit about what happens next: the cruise is Optional, Extra fee, at "around 1700JPY, you can ask the tour guide to purchase for you". The three ships are named on the listing — Royal II, Victory and Queen Ashinoko — and the crossing runs about 25 minutes.
If you would rather keep the money, the operator's own line is: "If you prefer, travel by our vehicle to the Togendai Ropeway Station (free)". Nobody is left behind and nothing else in the day changes.
Ropeway, Owakudani and the refund clause
The ropeway fare is included one way, and this tour carries a clause the others do not: if the ropeway is closed on your date, you can email the operator for a refund of the booking. Owakudani closes to visitors when volcanic gas levels rise, so that is not a theoretical protection — it is the single strongest reason to pick this listing over the cheaper one.
Owakudani itself gets fifty minutes, the longest allocation of any tour here. The valley was blown out by an eruption of Mount Hakone roughly 4,000 years ago, and the black eggs sold at the top are boiled in the sulphur springs that are still venting.
The Fuji Five Lakes end of the day
Mid-afternoon the coach crosses to Lake Yamanaka and the Swan Lake shore, twenty minutes for photographs of the swans with Fuji behind them, then thirty to forty at Oshino Hakkai, where eight spring-fed ponds carry meltwater filtered through the mountain.
Departure for Tokyo is around 16:10 and arrival about 18:10. The operator states plainly that peak seasons, weekends and public holidays can add hours to that, and asks you not to schedule anything afterwards.
Tour Itinerary, Hour by Hour
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07:30
JR Tokyo Station
By the BEAMS sign — search "STAND T" on Google Maps. Shinjuku pickup follows at 08:00 outside Tokyo Mode Gakuen.
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10:30
Hakone Shrine and the lake torii
Twenty minutes at the Heiwa no Torii, twenty at the shrine, founded in 757 and visited by shogun on the way over the pass.
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12:00
Hakone Sightseeing Cruise
Twenty-five minutes across the lake — optional and self-paid at about 1,700 yen. Skip it and the coach runs you to Togendai for free.
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12:30
Hakone Ropeway
Thirty minutes over the caldera. Included in the fare, and refunded if the ropeway is shut on your date.
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13:00
Owakudani
Fifty minutes in the geothermal valley, black eggs included in the experience if not in the price.
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15:00
Lake Yamanaka, Swan Beach
Twenty minutes on the Fuji Five Lakes side, the classic swans-and-Fuji photograph.
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15:40
Oshino Hakkai
Thirty to forty minutes among the eight spring ponds fed by Fuji's snowmelt.
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18:10
Back in Tokyo
Returning to the morning meeting point. Peak-season traffic can push this past 20:00 — the operator says so in writing.
Where the Day Goes
Two hours southwest of Tokyo to the lake, over the caldera by ropeway to Owakudani, then an hour northwest to the Fuji Five Lakes and back.
The lake's four ports and which boats call at each are mapped on the Lake Ashi cruise homepage.
Who This Tour Suits
Good fit
Travellers who want the safest bet. Seven thousand reviews is not a rating, it is a track record, and the sub-scores — guide 4.8, transport 4.8, value 4.7 — sit above the 4.6 headline, which usually means the complaints are about weather rather than about the operation.
It also suits anyone booking in a season when Owakudani might close. The ropeway refund clause is unique on this page and worth more than the price gap to the cheaper listing.
Poor fit
The operator excludes travellers with mobility impairments and, unusually, travellers with respiratory issues — a sensible exclusion given that Owakudani vents hydrogen sulphide and is periodically closed for exactly that reason.
If you want to eat properly mid-day, look elsewhere or plan around it: lunch is not included and no food or drink is allowed in the vehicle. If your dates are not fixed yet, Hakone month by month shows when the mountain is actually out.
Questions About This Tour
Does this tour include the Lake Ashi boat?
No. The listing marks the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise as an optional extra and prices it at around 1,700 yen, payable on the day; your guide will buy the ticket if you ask. Declining costs you nothing — the operator's own wording is that you can travel by their vehicle to the Togendai ropeway station instead, free.
What happens if the Hakone Ropeway is closed?
You can email the operator and be refunded for the booking. Owakudani and the ropeway close periodically when volcanic gas readings rise, so this clause has real value, and no other tour compared here offers it.
How many languages does the guide speak?
The listing offers French, Italian, Chinese, English and Korean. English is the primary language of the tour; if you book the French or Italian option, those are supported alongside English rather than instead of it.
Is lunch included?
No. You can bring food, buy it at the attractions, or eat at a restaurant the guide suggests — the stop is scheduled at about forty minutes. Note that no food or drink is allowed in the vehicle itself, and smoking is not either.
How much luggage can I bring?
One piece per person. This is a coach day trip with two fixed Tokyo meeting points, so it is not designed for travellers moving hotels; if you are, the private Hakone tour starting from your accommodation is the better shape.
What Travellers Said
A brilliant experience, so much to see and do, making for a busy but really fun day. Trying black eggs at the hot springs was an experience.
Wonderful day trip experience. We saw so much in one day. The boat tour was so amazing. 10/10.
This tour was well worth the money, the transport was great and we got to see and do so much in one day.
Our kids were so happy when they saw the one piece pirate ship. The Hakone Ropeway was amazing, we saw some deer.
Short excerpts from verified GetYourGuide reviews of this tour, with their original dates. Full reviews are on the operator's listing.
Page last reviewed August 2026. Price, rating and review count read from the listing on August 2026. Prices, availability and terms are set by the operator and confirmed at checkout.
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