Originally Posted by
AlwaysAisle
The train schedule from Kanda to Kawaguchiko on Saturday will be:
Kanda 08:13 a.m. – Tachikawa 08:52 a.m.
Tachikawa 09:02 a.m.– Kawaguchiko 11:00 a.m. (rapid train weekend only service)
Drive from Kawaguchiko station to Fuji Shibasakura Festival is about 25 – 30 minutes. Considering time take to rent a car at Kawaguchiko station, parking at the festival, etc. I do think realistically you will be ready to explore the festival around 12 noon.
90 minutes at the festival means you are to depart from the festival around 1:30 p.m. From the festival have to drive back to Kawaguchiko and take a toll road up to Mt. Fuji 5th Station. Driving time from Kawaguchiko to Mt. Fuji 5th Station is listed about an hour, remember you are driving up to the elevation of 2220 m (about 7300 ft.), so looking for an hour and half drive from the festival.
Arriving at Mt. Fuji 5th Station around 3 p.m. Have late lunch (?) and may be ready to head down the mountain around 4:00 – 4:30 p.m. (?)
Kawaguchiko is on north side of Mt. Fuji, where Fuji Sengen Shrine is on south side of Mt. Fuji in a town of Fujimiya. Driving time from north side of Mt. Fuji 5th station to Fuji Sengen Shrine is listed as 2 hours and 18 minutes. Means arriving at Sengen Shrine past 6:30 p.m.? The front entrance of the shrine is open till 8 p.m….
However, Chureito is located at a park at Fuji-Yoshida, town next to Kawaguchiko, so driving form Fuji 5th station is about one hour, but still arriving around 5 p.m. However, the parking facility of the park where Chureito is located close at 5 p.m. Not sure if this will work either.
Sorry to say but ice cave closes at 5:30 p.m., don’t think this will work out…
If you want to visit places you have mentioned in one day then I do think you have to leave Tokyo a lot earlier than 8 a.m.
Sounds like we need to leave earlier and edit the plan. Assuming we are focused on views and the festival (we can eat at the festival, no outside lunch needed), how would you rank the following:
5th station
Fuji Sengen Shrine
Chureito
Ice Cave
I think we can skip the 5th station (we're not climbers or climbing) and focus on Chureito and the Ice Cave (if the Ice Cave is worth doing) or Chureito and 5th Station if the Ice Cave can be skipped. Because of its location, I guess we can skip Fuji Shengen Shrine, and this probably explains why the Grey Line bus tour is 11 hours and only visits the 5th Station and Shrine.
The car rental place is only open until 8p, but we'd like to be back on the train to Tokyo by 7p at the latest as we need to return to the hotel, pick up our bags and transfer to a new hotel later in the evening.
For Sunday we booked the Hakone Yuryo hot spring resort for a private bath session - is this a recommended place?