Japan Gray Line · 28 Tokyo hotels
Japan Gray Line collects you at one of 28 designated Tokyo hotels, drives to the Fuji 5th Station and the Gotemba peace park, then on to Owakudani, the Hakone Ropeway and Lake Ashi, and sends you back by Shinkansen to Tokyo Station. Pick it for the morning: no hunting for a flag in Shinjuku, and a national-licence guide on board.
Japan Gray Line is one of Tokyo's oldest operators for foreign visitors, and its guides hold the national guide-interpreter licence. The pickup runs from 28 designated hotels; the departure point on the listing is the ANA InterContinental in Akasaka. Your exact time depends on the hotel, so check the voucher and Gray Line's own timetable. Guests report pickups between about 8:30 and 9:00, and some hotels are served by a taxi or a short walk to a nearby hotel where the coach stops. Book at least an hour before your pickup time. There's no drop-off at hotels at the end.
The listing gives 30 minutes at the 5th Station, or at the highest point open when snow, traffic or delays close the road. One March group stopped at the 4th Station; in April 2025 snow sent another to a lake. Then Gotemba: 40 minutes for a Japanese lunch (stairs up to the restaurant) and 20 at the peace park, which one guest warned sits on a steep hill. In Hakone come 20 minutes at Owakudani's black-egg house, 15 on the ropeway (Gray Line calls it the sky gondola) and 30 on the Lake Ashi cruise.
The day finishes at Odawara with a Shinkansen to Tokyo Station Marunouchi side, or you can book the cheaper option that ends at Odawara without a train ticket. Queues are the weak spot. In March guests waited an hour or more at the ropeway and lost the cruise or Hakone Shrine; missed tickets were refunded at 1,000 yen. At $129 with lunch and the train included, it sits between the H.I.S. day and the flagship.
At your chosen designated hotel. You may be walked or taxied to a nearby hotel to board. Watch for a message with your exact time.
Out of Tokyo and up toward the 5th Station.
Or the highest point open: in winter or when the tour runs late, a lower station.
40 minutes for lunch, up a flight of stairs, then 20 at the peace park with its white stupa and view of Fuji.
20 minutes at the Owakudani Kurotamago-kan (black egg house), 15 on the ropeway, 30 on Lake Ashi.
From Odawara to Tokyo Station; the guide helps you to the platform. You get yourself from Tokyo Station to the hotel.
★★★★★It was fast- paced and lasted all day, but you get A LOT in. We did the add-on lunch and bullet train options. The lunch was delicious. [...] We travelled as a family of 4 (2 adults, 10 yr old, and 6 yr old) and everyone enjoyed this tour.
★★★★★Being driven through the country side filled with autumn leaves, with stunning views of Fuji was just the break we needed. [...] Only bummer was we had to skip the gondola ride due to heavy winds in that area, but that's the chances you take with this kind of tour.
★★★★★We had our luggage with us as we were staying in Hakone after the tour. Yoshi, the tour operator was kind enough to ask where I was staying in Hakone and ensure I could get to my hotel from where the boat docked.
★★★★★We arrived early at the meeting point and were taken by taxi to meet others at a second meeting point at a nearby hotel. Once we got onto the tour bus the journey was comfortable and pleasant.
Read next:
28 designated hotels in central Tokyo, listed at booking; the main departure point is the ANA InterContinental Tokyo in Akasaka. Pickup times differ by hotel. If yours isn't listed, pick the closest one, or take a meeting-point tour such as the Japan Panoramic Tours day.
No. Hotel drop-off is excluded. The bullet train option ends at Tokyo Station, and the cheaper option ends at Odawara Station with no train ticket. If you miss your train at Odawara because of traffic, take the next one in the non-reserved cars; there's no refund.
The guide substitutes one or two stops such as Hakone Shrine, the Hakone Geo Museum, the Komagatake Ropeway, Narukawa Museum, a Lake Kawaguchi cruise or the Mt Fuji Panoramic Ropeway. Guests who missed a ticketed ride were refunded 1,000 yen.
On the lunch option, yes: a Japanese meal in Gotemba, up a flight of stairs. Guests rate it from "very tasty" to disappointing. No special meals are possible, so choose the no-lunch option if you have allergies or restrictions.
Ready to book
Pickup at your Tokyo hotel, a licensed guide, the ropeway and cruise, and the Shinkansen back.
Mt Fuji & Hakone Day Tour, Bullet Train BackThe most-booked Fuji day: 5th Station, Hakone Ropeway, Lake Ashi cruise, then the Shinkansen from Odawara past the traffic.★ 4.8 · 11 hours · from $159
JTB Fuji & Hakone Tour, Drum Show & ShinkansenJTB's classic: the 5th Station in season, lunch with a taiko drum show, a Hakone ropeway and cruise, Shinkansen home.★ 4.2 · 12 hours · from $161
Private Mt Fuji or Hakone Day Tour by CarA van and driver-guide from your hotel. Choose Fuji and Hakone or the Fuji lakes, leave early, stop where the view is clear.★ 4.9 · 10 hours · from $507