Mt. Fuji and Hakone 1-Day Tour with Bullet Train Return

Hiro was a GREAT tour guide. His English is excellent and he provided great background information about the sites and the history of Japan. Unfortunately, the tour doesn't provide much time for actually seeing the sites. The stops are very quick and it feels very commercially oriented like we're mainly there to shop and support the local businesses rather than see the sights.

We booked the Mt Fuji and Hakone 1-Day Bus Tour Return by Bullet Train package, not realising at the time the trip fell at the end of the “Silver Week” (a rare cluster of public holidays making a 5 day public holiday, which occurs next in 2032). The trip was supposed to start at 7:30 by bus from central Tokyo, getting to Mt Fuji (we were advised on the morning after 2 hours), featuring: Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park (Pass By), Hakone Ropeway ( a cable car), Lake Ashinoko and then a bullet train back to Tokyo being advised we would be back around 16:30 to 17:30. We were 1 hour late departing, 1. As the company forgot to tell passengers to get there 30 minutes earlier due to the public holiday (which it does state on the ticket) and also a couple were then an additional 30 minutes late and the guide decided to wait for them. We left at 8:30 (after sitting on the bus for 40 minutes) and then hit gridlocked traffic after just a few hundred meters. After crawling along for 30 minutes I did look on google maps and saw our journey time to be showing as 5 hours to Mt Fuji, but assumed I was looking at the wrong destination as that could not be accurate. 2 hours into the trip and we had barely made it 20 km, the guide advised we were changing the itinerary and not going to Mt Fuji first as because of the Silver Week holiday traffic, we would be heavily delayed and so would go to have lunch first before going to Mt Fuij. Just after 4 hours after we left and having almost made 40 km the guide advised we would have to stop now for 30 minutes as by law the driver was not allowed to drive any longer, so we would be stopping at a motorway service station for his break. Also advising we still had another approx. 2.5 hours drive after the break before we got to the 1st item, being lunch and that we would no longer be visiting Lake Ashinoko, as the ferry will have closed by the time we get there. At this point several guests asked if it would be better to simply turn round, given we were still 3 hours away after travelling for 4 hours already, questioning what if anything we will be able to see or do when we finally arrive as it will be so late. The guide advised she would talk to her office while we stretched our legs. When we got back on the bus we were told: 1, if we wanted to turn back we could leave the tour now and get a 4 hour taxi ride back to Tokyo and were advised we would also receive no money back. 2, we would now also not be doing the Hakone Ropeway as it also would be closed by the time we finally arrived. So we carried on, finally getting to our 1st stop almost 7 hours after leaving Tokyo at around 15:10 for lunch, (a lunch that looked like it had been sitting on a hot plate for 3 hours). After a 40 min stop for lunch we got back on the bus and were advised we would now go to: Lake Yamanakako Pleasure Boat (Swan Lake). A lake 40 km away from the picturesque one we were supposed to go to, but we were driving past it to get to Fuji and they have a boat in the shape of a swan, so as not to give any refund they took us to this random other lake for a 20 minute trip in a circle on a boat in the shape of a swan. After leaving here we set off for Mt Fuji and finally got to one of the 5th stations arriving about 17:25, technically just before sunset, but as the sun went down on the other side of the mountain the light was fading rapidly. Most people got off the bus spent around 10 minutes for bathroom activities then milled round the carpark for the 20 minutes until the journey home started, as a. we did not have any time to go for any sort of a walk, b. it was getting dark, not a great time to start climbing up a mountain. The really annoying part here was we could have been there an hour earlier if not for the stupid swan boat trip so they could try to avoid giving a refund part for Lake Ashinoko. We then set off to get to the train station for the bullet train home at about 18:00, which should have been about a 25 minute bus ride from Lake Ashinoko, but as we had not even made it there, we were still on the mountain and due to continuing heavy traffic we were told the 25 minute ride would likely be 2 hours. As it turns out the drivers guess was wrong and it actually took 3 hours to get to the train station, where we were to get the 21:14 train back to Tokyo. This section of the tour also included the passing through of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, which technically we did do, but as it was now night time we saw nothing of it. Just before we got off the bus I asked the tour guide, as it was Silver Week and they knew the roads would be very bad, why she has repeatedly told us in the morning that the bus ride would only be 2 hours. I stated I’d looked at google maps which had said 5 hours when we set off, which meant at least a 6 hour journey adding in the drivers break. I said if they had told the truth about the traffic, that it would take 6 to 7 hours not 2 to get there and most activities would be missed as a result there is no way I or most of the other passengers would have gotten on the bus. The guide just kept repeating that she was sorry and that she was told she had to say the bus ride is 2 hours, I assume to stop people not going on the tour and asking for a refund as they did not want to spend over 10 hours sat on a bus. As we left the bus the guide attempted to hand out some packets of sweets by way of compensation for not getting the cable car ride we had paid for, most people me included did not take it. We then took the bullet train home, my 1st time on a bullet train and one of the reasons to book the trip as I was looking forward to seeing the country speed past on a very fast train. Unfortunately at 21:14, all you see is a dark window in September in Japan, so while we did get to ride a bullet train it again was not the experience we were booking as we could see nothing due to it being night time and not 16:00 we were expecting to be travelling at. We also then missed our 20:00 dinner reservation. I can honestly say this trip was the worst experience I had in my entire trip to Japan and by far the worst day trip I have ever had the misfortune to experience. The experience was not at all as advertised and entirely avoidable, it was not an unforeseen circumstance, like getting stuck behind a car crash, but a huge public holiday resulting in pre-warned travel chaos. This was forced onto circa 40 people simply so this company would not have to issue a refund for a trip they should never have been running due to the expected traffic conditions in the 1st place. So in summary of the advertised activities: Bus from central Tokyo, getting to Mt Fuji – Yes this happened, but took 8 hours instead of 2 and the significant delay was known to the company before we left, but was deliberately not shared with us. Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park (Pass By) – technically this happened, but as it was night time we could not see any of it. Hakone Ropeway ( a cable car) – simply did not happen as it was closed by the time we arrived, no compensation offered. Lake Ashinoko – simply did not happen, though an “alternate” was forced upon us further delaying our arrival to Mt Fuji to after the sun went down simply to avoid giving any refund. Bullet train back to Tokyo – again technically did happen, but was supposed to be in the day time not night time so a much reduced experience delivered. I contacted the company immediately requesting compensation for the truly awful experience they provided caused by their lying about the travel time and also choosing to set off 1 hour late and they simply said they will not offer any compensation. Even if I do get my money back, I will never get back the day that was stolen from me and 1 of my only 2 days in Tokyo, just so this company could make circa 100 euro profit.

The trip was amazing and memorable! It was filled with fun facts about Mt. Fuji and the other stops. Our guide Na-Chan was truly exceptional! She’s was a ray of sunshine and joy ٩( ᐛ )و. Personally enjoyed it a lot and would recommend to book it, worth everything! There was Mt. Fuji, food, rides and a pirate ship!! Also there are stops where you can buy souvenirs. Thanks for everything Na-Chan and Shiota-San (the bus driver)!

The trip was amazing, the site seeing and the areas where wonderful, truly makes your moneys worth. The people where super nice specially Na-Chan who was our guide she made us feel extremely welcome and made the trip 1000x times better she was super friendly and playful and made everything more interactive giving fun facts and telling us about the country and teaching us some Japanese’s. Truly a master at work!!!

We took a 1 day tour to Mount Fuji and Hakone. It was an excellent and well organised tour. Our guide Tsubasu was very warm, knowledgeable and engaging with a good sense of humor. His instructions were clear and he ensured all of us were well taken care. Though the day was cloudy, we enjoyed the visit, especially the cable ride and the trip around Lake Ashi. Would recommend the trip.