Day Trip from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko | Fuji Excursion Limited Express vs. Highway Bus, a Route via Arakurayama Sengen Park (Chureito Pagoda), the Ropeway, the Sightseeing Boat and Oishi Park, and Total Costs with the Kawaguchiko Shuyu Pass or Separate Tickets

Overview

Kawaguchiko is a lake at the northern foot of Mt. Fuji. From Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, you can get there without changing trains or buses, either on the Fuji Excursion limited express or by highway bus. The route in this article covers, in one day, Arakurayama Sengen Park (Chureito Pagoda), where you can see Mt. Fuji and a five-story pagoda together, and the ropeway, the sightseeing boat and Oishi Park around Lake Kawaguchiko. The times, fares and opening hours in this article were checked on the official websites of each company and facility on October 23, 2026.

1. Take the Fuji Excursion limited express from Shinjuku Station and get off at Shimoyoshida Station.
2. Walk from Shimoyoshida Station to the Chureito Pagoda in Arakurayama Sengen Park.
3. Take a Fujikyu Railway Line train from Shimoyoshida Station to Kawaguchiko Station.
4. Take the sightseeing bus from Kawaguchiko Station to the boarding points of the ~ Kawaguchiko ~ Mt. Fuji Panorama Ropeway and the sightseeing boat "Appare".
5. Take the sightseeing bus to Oishi Park.
6. Return to Kawaguchiko Station by sightseeing bus, and go back to Shinjuku Station on the Fuji Excursion limited express.

• The last regularly scheduled Fuji Excursion train back to Shinjuku Station leaves Kawaguchiko Station at 17:41. If you return by highway bus, the last bus leaves Kawaguchiko Station at 20:15 and arrives at Busta Shinjuku at 22:00 (timetable seen on the Fujikyu Bus website on October 23, 2026).
• The sightseeing boat "Appare" switches to its winter timetable from November 1, and the ropeway from December 1, and both finish earlier in the day. See the section headed "Winter Timetables and Planned Suspensions" in this article.

Comparison

How to Get from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko

• The Fuji Excursion is a limited express that runs directly from Shinjuku Station to Kawaguchiko Station. It also stops at Shimoyoshida Station, the station before Kawaguchiko Station, so on the route in this article you get off at Shimoyoshida Station. The adult one-way fare from Shinjuku Station to Kawaguchiko Station is ¥4,200.
• All seats on the Fuji Excursion are reserved seats. Limited express tickets go on sale one month before the day of travel. How to buy limited express tickets, and how to get there by changing from a JR limited express to a Fujikyu Railway Line train at Otsuki Station, are explained in Tokyo/Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko & Mt. Fuji: How to Get There | Fuji Excursion Limited Express, Changing Trains, Highway Bus Fares, Travel Times and Booking.
• The highway bus has assigned seats. If you book and pay online, the adult one-way fare is ¥2,000. The travel time in the table is the official estimate, and it can take longer when the roads are congested.
• If you go by highway bus, you arrive at Kawaguchiko Station. From Kawaguchiko Station, take a Fujikyu Railway Line train to Shimoyoshida Station, see the Chureito Pagoda, and then return to Kawaguchiko Station. In this case, you pay the train fare between Shimoyoshida Station and Kawaguchiko Station for a round trip.

Itinerary

Example Route and Times

• The Fuji Excursion times in the table are from the timetable in effect from March 14, 2026. The trains leave at the same times on weekdays and on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays.

Arakurayama Sengen Park (Chureito Pagoda)

• It is about a 25-minute walk from Shimoyoshida Station to the Chureito Pagoda (figure from the official tourist guide of Fujiyoshida City). To reach the park's observation deck, you climb a staircase of 398 steps.
• In the official tourist guide, the opening hours field for the park says "24 hours". Nothing is written about an admission fee. The only fee listed is for the park's parking lot.
• The roads around the park are narrow, and tour buses cannot drive up to the park's parking lot.

Sightseeing Bus (Red Line)

• Fujikyu Bus's "Kawaguchiko sightseeing bus" is the route shown in red (Red Line). Buses leave Kawaguchiko Station every 15 minutes from 9:00 to 17:45 (timetable seen on the Fujikyu Bus website on October 23, 2026; the timetable does not say for which period the times apply).
• No reservation is needed. You can pay the fare on board in cash or with an IC card such as Suica or PASMO. There is also the "1Day Pass" (adult ¥1,500) for unlimited rides for one day. With the 1Day Pass, you can ride any of the three sightseeing bus routes (Red Line, Green Line and Blue Line).
• The bus travel times in the route table are the timetable values for the bus that leaves Kawaguchiko Station at 9:00. It can take longer when the roads are congested.

Ropeway

• The ~ Kawaguchiko ~ Mt. Fuji Panorama Ropeway takes about 3 minutes to go up from the station by the lake to the station at the summit of Mt. Tenjo. During its operating hours, it runs at intervals of 5 to 10 minutes.
• The last ride up is at 17:00. Reservations are not possible. You board in the order you line up.
• At the ticket counter, you can pay by credit card, transit IC card or WeChat Pay.
• There are stairs at both the summit station and the station by the lake.

Sightseeing Boat "Appare"

• The pier is by the lake, about a 10-minute walk from Kawaguchiko Station, across the national highway from the ropeway's lakeside station.
• From April to October, except during Golden Week (the Japanese holiday period from April 29 to May 6) and the summer (July 18 to August 31), the boat leaves every 30 minutes from 9:00 to 16:30. During Golden Week and the summer, it runs from 9:00 to 17:30. Reservations are not possible. You board in the order you line up.
• The time spent on the boat (cruise duration) is not stated on the official website.

Oishi Park

• Oishi Park is a park on the northern shore of Lake Kawaguchiko. You can enter at any time, and there is no admission fee (information from the Fujikawaguchiko Town Tourism Federation).
• The park is right in front of the "Kawaguchiko Shizen Seikatsukan" bus stop when you get off the bus. Admission to Kawaguchiko Shizen Seikatsukan (a building with a shop) inside the park is free. Check the building's opening hours on the facility's official website.
• The town's tourism federation warns that the roads and parking lots around Oishi Park can become very congested because of the large number of tourists.

Costs

Total for One Adult (Route in This Article)

• Both totals include the Fuji Excursion from Shinjuku Station to Shimoyoshida Station (¥4,010), a Fujikyu Railway Line local train from Shimoyoshida Station to Kawaguchiko Station (¥310), and the Fuji Excursion from Kawaguchiko Station to Shinjuku Station (¥4,200).
• If you buy each ticket separately, add the sightseeing bus 1Day Pass (¥1,500), a round trip on the ropeway (¥1,200) and the sightseeing boat "Appare" (¥1,000). These three together come to ¥3,700.
• The "Kawaguchiko Shuyu Pass" (adult ¥3,300) is a ticket that combines a round trip on the ropeway, one ride on either the sightseeing boat "Appare" or the boat "Ensoleillé" that goes to Oishi Park, and two days of unlimited rides on the three sightseeing bus routes. You can buy it at the ropeway ticket counter, at the sightseeing boat pier and at Kawaguchiko Station on the Fujikyu Railway Line.
• If you take the Fuji Excursion from Shimoyoshida Station to Kawaguchiko Station, you pay a limited express charge of ¥400 in addition to the fare. This is not included in the totals in the table.

Single-Ride Fares on the Sightseeing Bus

The fare for one ride on the sightseeing bus depends on the section you ride. For adults, the cheapest section costs ¥180. Because the Fujikyu Bus website has no table of fares by section, this article does not calculate whether paying for each ride or the 1Day Pass is cheaper.

Other Tickets

• The Mt.Fuji Pass is a ticket that only travelers coming from outside Japan can buy. You show your passport when you buy it. There are also 2-day and 3-day passes.
• None of these tickets cover the JR section of the Fuji Excursion (Shinjuku Station to Otsuki Station).

Fares for Children

• Ropeway round trip: ¥600 for elementary school students. Children who have not yet started elementary school ride free, up to one child per adult.
• Sightseeing boat "Appare": ¥500 for elementary school students. Children who have not yet started elementary school ride free.
• Sightseeing bus 1Day Pass: ¥750 for elementary school students.
• Fujikyu Railway Line from Shimoyoshida Station to Kawaguchiko Station: ¥160 for elementary school students.
• Kawaguchiko Shuyu Pass: ¥1,650 for elementary school students. Mt. Fuji & Fuji Five Lakes Passport: ¥1,660 for elementary school students. The child price of the Mt.Fuji Pass (¥3,750) applies to ages 6 to 11.

Child fares for the Fuji Excursion are explained in Tokyo/Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko & Mt. Fuji: How to Get There | Fuji Excursion Limited Express, Changing Trains, Highway Bus Fares, Travel Times and Booking, and the rules for child fares on public transport in Japan are explained in Child Fares on Japan's Trains and Subways | When Kids Pay Adult Fare, Free Rides for Young Children, Child IC Cards.

Conditions

Winter Timetables and Planned Suspensions

• Sightseeing boat "Appare": from November 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, the winter timetable applies, and the boat leaves every 30 minutes from 9:30 to 16:00.
• Ropeway: from December 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027, the last ride up is at 16:20.
• On November 25 and 26, 2026, the last ride up on the ropeway is at 15:00 because of inspections. From December 7 to 18, 2026, the ropeway is scheduled to be suspended for its annual inspection.
• The ropeway and the sightseeing boat may stop running because of weather such as strong winds.
• The sightseeing bus may run on a different timetable than usual on certain days, such as around the New Year holidays.

Busy Periods

The ropeway's official website lists Golden Week, late July to late August, and November (the autumn leaves season) as busy periods. Japan's national holidays and the periods when transport gets crowded are explained in Japan Public Holidays 2027 and Busy Periods | New Year, Golden Week, Obon, 3-Day Weekends, Shinkansen Busy Seasons and All-Reserved Nozomi.

Good to know

• With the JAPAN RAIL PASS, you can ride only the JR section of the Fuji Excursion (Shinjuku Station to Otsuki Station). You pay the Fujikyu Railway Line fare and limited express charge from Otsuki Station to Kawaguchiko Station separately. For details, see JAPAN RAIL PASS (JR Pass): Prices and How to Use It | Prices on the Official Website and from Agents Outside Japan, How to Buy, and How to Ride Nozomi and Mizuho.
• Prices and times may change. This article is based on official information as of October 23, 2026, so check the latest information on the official websites of each company and facility before you set out.