Fuji 5 lakes are quite popular in Japan and are well known tourist destination. Out of these Lake Kawaguchiko is most easily accessible and a good place to watch Autumn colours.
Lake Kawaguchiko is also a good place to start Mount Fuji hike but in November month hike to Mt. Fuji is stopped due to weather. I had one day to cover Lake Kawaguchiko and it worked out well.
Lake Kawaguchiko is easily accessible to Tokyo. I found bus service quite convenient, it takes about 2 hours. I boarded bus from Shinjuku bus station and it was a very comfortable journey. Another option was to board a train but it was more costlier and if you are having JR pass then it will be cheaper than bus but you need to change trains and it might take more time. While returning i came via train as last bus had left.
Best way to cover Lake Kawaguchiko is to take a bicycle on rent. Its quite cheap and you can cover at your own pace. Once you get down at Kawaguchiko Bus station [or train station, both are alongside] just walk across the road and you will find shops for bicycle rental.
Autumn colours were at its peak at Lake Kawaguchiko during my trip and I felt like riding bicycle in heaven, it was that soo beautiful.
I was also lucky to get clear view of Mount Fuji, generally it gets covered with clouds.
During the bike ride, i found a general store and brought some beer from there. It was an experience having beer sitting besides the lake !! [A word of caution: I don’t know if its allowed or not 😉 ]
I took a full circle of lake at a leisurely pace as i captured some beautiful views and autumn colours. I started my ride around 10:30am and reached back the starting point around evening.
Once i reached back the starting point, my plan was to ride on the panoramic ropeway which takes you to top of mountain. There was good amount of rush there and by the time i was able to board the ropeway car, sun had already set. I was not quite impressed with the views from top of mountain, may be because i had already seen some very beautiful views.
It was already dark when i left ropeway and i was rushing now as i had to return bicycle and board the train. There was loads of traffic by this time and as it was dark, it took me sometime to locate the bicycle shop. All done, i then boarded train which was long journey back.
It was a great trip to Lake Kawaguchiko, one which i will always remember especially the colours of Momiji tunnel. I would highly recommend Lake Kawaguchiko to be part of itinerary and would definitely visit again.
Beautiful! Do you recall if they rent bike trailers for towing kids along? Japan is on my hubby’s bucket list.
Thanks Cynthia. I dont recall seeing any bike trailers on rental shops but there are loads of shops, so you might find it. Let me know if you need any other info, i have lots of Japan blogs on my site: https://travelwithlk.com/category/japan/