Last priced: April 2026. Bus-tour and DIY-by-train prices below are real, taken on the same day in the same currency. Train fares verify on Hyperdia or the JR East website; tour prices on Klook/GYG/KKday.
In This Article
- Quick comparison: bus tour vs DIY by train
- Mt Fuji Five Lakes: bus tour ¥9,800, DIY ¥4,400
- Hakone: bus tour ¥10,500, DIY ¥6,500
- Kamakura: bus tour ¥9,500, DIY ¥1,940
- Nikko: bus tour ¥14,200, DIY ¥4,920
- Honest exception: when the bus tour is actually right
- One more thing: the Mt Fuji “early-bird” trick
- What to read next
The cheapest Tokyo day trip is whichever one you don’t pay a tour company to organise for you. Three of the four classic Tokyo day-trip destinations — Mt Fuji’s Five Lakes, Hakone, Kamakura, Nikko — are easier to reach by train than the tour brochures imply. Bus tours from Tokyo to these spots cost ¥9,000–¥14,000. Doing each one yourself by train costs ¥3,000–¥6,500. Below is the maths, side by side, plus the one trip where the bus tour is genuinely the right call.
Quick comparison: bus tour vs DIY by train
| Destination | Cheapest bus tour | DIY by train (round trip) | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mt Fuji Five Lakes (Kawaguchiko) | ¥9,800 (Klook day tour) | ¥4,400 (highway bus from Shinjuku) | ¥5,400 |
| Hakone | ¥10,500 (Klook day tour) | ¥6,500 (Hakone Free Pass + Romancecar) | ¥4,000 |
| Kamakura | ¥9,500 (KKday day tour) | ¥1,940 (JR Kamakura-Enoshima Pass) | ¥7,560 |
| Nikko | ¥14,200 (Viator full-day tour) | ¥4,920 (Tobu Nikko Pass) | ¥9,280 |
Mt Fuji Five Lakes: bus tour ¥9,800, DIY ¥4,400
Most Mt Fuji “tours” from Tokyo go to the same three spots: Lake Kawaguchiko, the Chureito Pagoda, and one of the Fifth Stations. The bus tour version is ¥9,800 on Klook, includes lunch, and is exactly 12 hours door to door from Shinjuku. The DIY version is the Keio highway bus from Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal direct to Kawaguchiko station — ¥2,200 each way, round trip ¥4,400. Then you walk to the lake, take the local sightseeing bus around it (¥1,500 day pass) and come back.
The bus tour wins on logistics if you want a single seat for 12 hours and a guide explaining what you’re seeing. It loses on flexibility — you can’t decide on the day to skip the Chureito Pagoda crowd because there’s a clearer view from a different lookout, because the bus is going to the Pagoda whether you like it or not.
My take: do this one DIY unless you’re allergic to public transport. The Keio bus is comfortable, has free wifi, and is genuinely faster than the JR train route. Cheapest option: ¥4,400. Saves ¥5,400 vs the tour.
Hakone: bus tour ¥10,500, DIY ¥6,500
The DIY trick for Hakone is the Hakone Free Pass from Odakyu Railway. ¥6,100 from Shinjuku covers your round-trip Romancecar reservation (the comfortable rapid train), all local Hakone transport (the Hakone-Tozan train, the cable car up to Sounzan, the Hakone Ropeway over the volcanic valley to Owakudani, and the pirate ship across Lake Ashi), plus discounts at most museums on the loop. The Romancecar reservation itself is an extra ¥1,200 each way if you want a guaranteed seat — call it ¥6,500 all in for the comfortable version.
The bus tour version is ¥10,500 and squeezes the same loop into a single 10-hour day with lunch. The Free Pass version gives you the same loop plus the freedom to linger at any one stop — useful, because Owakudani’s volcanic valley is genuinely worth an hour and the bus tours give you 25 minutes there.
My take: Hakone Free Pass, every time. Saves ¥4,000 vs the tour and gives you the day back to spend the way you want. The only situation where the bus tour wins is if you’re travelling with someone who can’t manage the cable-car-and-ropeway transfers — those involve some walking with luggage if you’re carrying any.
Kamakura: bus tour ¥9,500, DIY ¥1,940
This is the day trip where the tour brochures look most ridiculous next to the actual cost. Kamakura is 50 minutes from Tokyo on the JR Yokosuka line. The JR Kamakura-Enoshima Pass is ¥1,940 from Tokyo Station and includes the Yokosuka line round trip plus unlimited rides on the Enoden tram (the small coastal train that gets you between Kamakura’s main temples and Enoshima island). That’s it. The headline temple — the Great Buddha — is a 10-minute walk from Hase station on the Enoden line.
The bus tour version is ¥9,500, includes lunch, and visits exactly the same three temples you’d visit yourself for ¥1,940 in transport plus ¥600 in temple admissions. The lunch isn’t ¥7,000 worth of lunch.
My take: Do not book a Kamakura bus tour. Buy the pass, take the train, walk between the temples. If you want a guide, hire a local one for two hours via Klook or GetYourGuide for ¥3,500–¥4,500 — total still under ¥7,000 and infinitely better than a coach.
Nikko: bus tour ¥14,200, DIY ¥4,920
Nikko is the longest day-trip from Tokyo at 2 hours each way, which is why the tour operators charge a ¥9,000 premium for it. The DIY version is Tobu Railway’s Nikko All Area Pass at ¥4,920 — covers the round-trip Tobu Limited Express (Spacia X if you can book it) from Asakusa to Tobu-Nikko station and all the local buses around the temple complex and the Lake Chuzenji area.
The bus tour version is ¥14,200 from Viator, includes lunch and an English-speaking guide for 12 hours. The Tobu pass version gives you the same temple complex (Toshogu Shrine, Rinnoji Temple) plus the option to ride up to Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls — which the bus tour also does, but in a tight 90 minutes.
My take: Tobu Nikko Pass, save ¥9,280. The Spacia X train is genuinely nice — comfortable enough that the 2-hour ride is part of the day’s pleasure, not an endurance test. The temples are large enough that having a guide is genuinely useful, but you can buy the audio guide at the Toshogu entrance for ¥800 and learn the same things.
Honest exception: when the bus tour is actually right
The bus tour wins in three specific cases on this route. First, if you’re travelling with anyone who has mobility issues — the bus drops you and picks you up; the train option requires walking between platforms and stations. Second, if your group includes a kid who would rather sleep on a coach than navigate the Yamanote line. Third, if your dates land during a major Japanese holiday (Golden Week, Obon, New Year) when the trains and the highway buses are equally jammed but the tour-bus operators have reserved their slots — you’ll actually move faster on the tour bus than the public transport.
For everyone else: the train pass is cheaper, more flexible, and almost always more comfortable.
One more thing: the Mt Fuji “early-bird” trick
The cheapest Mt Fuji photo trip from Tokyo isn’t the bus tour, the highway bus or the train. It’s the 5:00 AM JR night bus from Shinjuku to Lake Yamanaka. ¥2,500 each way (off-peak), arrives at sunrise when the lake is glassy and the mountain is at its clearest. Local sightseeing buses around Yamanaka start at 7:00 AM. You can be back in Tokyo by mid-afternoon for ¥5,000 round trip with the best light of the day already in your camera. Not for everyone — it’s a 4:30 AM start — but it’s the answer to “what’s the actual cheapest way to see Mt Fuji from Tokyo without compromising on the experience.”
What to read next
Day trips usually mean an early start, which means you’re looking at where to stay near the morning departure points. Shinjuku is the natural base for everything on this list except Nikko (which leaves from Asakusa) — see cheapest hotels in Shinjuku for the under-¥6,000 picks. If you’ve just landed at Narita or Haneda and need to get to Shinjuku before booking a day trip, cheapest way from Narita and Haneda to central Tokyo covers that. And if you’d rather stay in Tokyo and book a half-day option instead, cheapest tours in Tokyo is the city-only equivalent of this page.
For the bus-tour bookings (when one of those three exception cases applies to you), the coupons hub has the current Klook and KKday discount codes — both of these chains run periodic 10–25% sale weeks where the bus tour above suddenly looks reasonable.
