Hakone and Nikko are full days with a long ride each way. Kamakura is a full day of temples and coast. Kawagoe is an old-town half day. Takao-san is the other thing a Tokyo trip sometimes needs: a real forest mountain, about an hour from Shinjuku on one train, with no overnight and no reservations. You walk up through cedars, pass a mountain temple, eat a bowl of soba, and are back at your hotel in time for dinner. Here's how we slot it into a points-heavy Tokyo stay.
Half day vs full day
| Half day | Full day | |
|---|---|---|
| Best when | Cable car up, Trail 1 to the summit, ride down | Hike up one trail, down another, long lunch, optional onsen |
| Time cost | About 4 to 5 hours door to door from Shinjuku | About 6 to 8 hours, back by late afternoon |
| Sleep | Back at your Tokyo luxury hotel on points | Same; no overnight needed |
| Tradeoff | You skip the quieter forest trails | You'll want a light dinner, not a 20-course tasting |
Our rule: start early and treat it as a morning. Summit by late morning, lunch on the mountain, back in Shinjuku by mid-afternoon.
Getting there: Keio Line from Shinjuku
Take the Keio Line from Shinjuku to Takaosanguchi, the end of the line. Keio says about one hour, and the adult fare is about ¥430 one way as of November 2026. An IC card works and costs the same.
| From | Line | About | Fare (about) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shinjuku | Keio Line (express / semi-special express) to Takaosanguchi | About 50 to 60 min | ¥430 |
| Shinjuku (Sat, Sun, holidays) | Mt. TAKAO reserved-seat train | About 45 min | ¥430 plus a seat ticket of about ¥400 to ¥500 |
| Tokyo / Shinjuku | JR Chuo Line to Takao, then Keio one stop | About 60 to 75 min | Varies; slower and more transfers |
One trap: Keio trains split along the way, some to Keio-Hachioji and some to Takaosanguchi. Check the destination board says Takaosanguchi before you board, or change at Kitano.
The weekend Mt. TAKAO train leaves Shinjuku at about 10:00 and 11:00. Nice for a lazy start, but that's also peak crowd time on the mountain. We'd rather take a regular express at 8am.
The Mt. Takao Discount Ticket
Keio's Mt. Takao Discount Ticket (Takaosan Kippu) bundles the round-trip train with the cable car or chair lift.
| Ticket (from Shinjuku or Shibuya) | About, adult | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Train round trip + cable car or lift round trip | ¥1,450 | Riding both ways |
| Train round trip + cable car or lift one way | ¥1,090 | Ride up, hike down (or the reverse) |
| IC card only | ¥430 each way | Hiking both ways, no cable car |
Paying separately for train plus round-trip cable car is about ¥1,840, so the bundle saves a few hundred yen. Buy it at a Keio ticket machine in Shinjuku before you leave (it isn't sold at Takaosanguchi), valid on the day of purchase, not sold December 31 to January 3. Keio has also sold visitor bundles through booking apps; confirm what's current on the Keio site.
Cable car, chair lift, or trail
The cable car and chair lift both start about 5 minutes' walk from Takaosanguchi Station and go roughly halfway up. Same price for both: about ¥490 one way, ¥980 round trip for adults. From November 2026, IC cards can be tapped at the gates.
| Cable car | Chair lift | |
|---|---|---|
| Ride | About 6 minutes, enclosed | About 12 minutes, open two-seat chair |
| First ride | About 8:00 | About 9:00 |
| Last ride (autumn) | Roughly 17:45 weekdays, 18:00 weekends | Roughly 16:30, earlier in winter |
| Pick it when | Early start, kids, rain, fear of heights | Clear day, you want the view |
The trails
All the main trails are free and start near the cable car station. Figures are the Takao Visitor Center's standard times, without breaks.
| Trail | Length | Up (about) | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trail 1 (Omotesando) | 3.8 km | 1 hr 40 min | Paved, passes Yakuo-in, most toilets. The classic. |
| Trail 6 (Biwataki) | 3.3 km | 1 hr 40 min | Along a stream, rocky, wet in spots. The prettiest forest walk. |
| Inariyama | 3.1 km | 1 hr 40 min | Ridge path with steps, a view back toward the city |
| Trail 4 (suspension bridge) | 1.5 km | 45 min | Connector from the cable car top, slippery after rain |
Autumn 2026 note: the Visitor Center made part of Trail 6 uphill only from October 31 to December 6, 2026 to manage crowds. If you go up Trail 6 in that window, come down by Trail 1 or the cable car.
Yakuo-in and the summit
- Yakuo-in is the mountain temple on Trail 1 between the cable car top and the summit, known for its tengu statues and the long stair approach. Walking the grounds is free.
- The summit is 599 m. On a clear winter morning you can see Mt. Fuji; in spring and summer it's often hazy. Treat Fuji as a bonus, not the reason.
- The free Takao Visitor Center at the top is open about 10:00 to 16:00 and closed Mondays.
There are no lights on the trails. In late autumn and winter, the sun drops early, so be heading down by mid-afternoon.
The classic Takao loop
- Keio Line from Shinjuku around 8am
- Cable car up (or walk Trail 6 up if you want the forest)
- Trail 1 past the octopus cedar and the monkey park area to Yakuo-in
- Summit for the view, a snack, maybe the Visitor Center
- Lunch at a summit or mid-mountain soba shop (tororo soba is the local thing)
- Trail 1 or the chair lift down
- Optional Keio Takaosan Onsen Gokurakuyu, next to Takaosanguchi Station, for a soak before the train home
The onsen is a plain day-spa, not a ryokan, but it's a good reset after the hike. Check hours and pricing on its site; there's a weekday bundle ticket in some months, though Keio has excluded peak periods like November.
When to go
- Weekdays, early. Takao-san draws millions of hikers a year. Weekend mornings in autumn mean queues for the cable car and a slow shuffle on Trail 1.
- Autumn leaves: usually best from mid-November to early December. The Takao Autumn Leaves Festival in 2026 runs October 24 to December 13. Beautiful, and the busiest time of year.
- Sakura week: trees around the summit tend to bloom a bit later than central Tokyo, so Takao can extend a short bloom window. Use the 2027 bloom dates guide, then check local reports the week before.
- Rain: Trail 1 is paved and fine in light rain. Trail 6 and the dirt trails get muddy and slick, and the view disappears. In a real downpour, swap to Kawagoe or a Tokyo museum day.
- Winter: clear, cold mornings are the best odds of seeing Fuji. Lift hours are shorter.
Takao-san vs Kawagoe vs Kamakura vs Hakone vs Nikko
| Takao-san | Kawagoe | Kamakura | Hakone | Nikko | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time from Tokyo | About 50 to 60 min from Shinjuku | About 30 min from Ikebukuro | About 55 to 60 min from Tokyo Station | About 80 min by Romancecar | About 1 hr 50 min by Tobu |
| Mood | Forest hike, mountain temple, soba | Edo-era merchant town, snacks | Coast, Great Buddha, temples | Ropeway, onsen, Fuji chance | World Heritage shrines, mountains |
| Shape | Half day or easy full day | Half day | Full day | Full day or overnight | Full day or Kinugawa overnight |
| Effort | Moderate walking, lots of steps | Flat | Some hills | Mostly transport | Some stairs |
| Best for | A green reset, active travelers, jet-lag morning | A loose half day | Coast and temples | Fuji views and onsen | Big culture day |
Takao vs Hakone in one line: Takao is the cheap, quick mountain reset you can do on a whim. Hakone is the full scenic circuit with onsen that deserves a planned day, or a night.
How to slot it into a Tokyo stay
| Trip shape | Where Takao-san fits |
|---|---|
| 5-day Tokyo luxury trip | One early morning; back by 2 or 3pm for a nap and dinner |
| 10-night sakura itinerary | A Day 5 alternative if you want a hike instead of Hakone, Kamakura, or Nikko, or a spare morning in the Tokyo block |
| Jet-lag day | You're up at 5am anyway. Be on the first trains and on the summit before the crowds |
| West-side hotel (Shinjuku, Shibuya) | Easiest of all the day trips; one train from Shinjuku |
Shinjuku-area hotels make this especially easy. If you're stacking a hard dinner the same night, see how to get hard sushi reservations in Tokyo and keep the hike to the morning.
Booking timeline
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 6 to 9 months out | Lock Tokyo hotels (points or refundable cash). See Tokyo luxury hotels on points |
| 1 to 2 months out | Pick a weekday for Takao; avoid peak autumn weekends |
| 1 to 2 weeks out | Check any trail closures or one-way rules on the Visitor Center site |
| Day before | Weather check; pick trail by conditions; buy the discount ticket at Shinjuku the morning of |
The flight still matters more than the day trip. Business class to Tokyo can run 60,000 points one way with ANA via Virgin Atlantic from much of the central and eastern US. Lock that first, then drop Takao into an open morning.
Practical notes for the day
- Shoes with grip. Sneakers are fine on Trail 1; trail shoes are better on Trail 6 and Inariyama. Every trail has steps.
- Layers. The summit is cooler than Shinjuku, and you'll sweat on the way up.
- Bring water and a salty snack, even though there are vending machines and shops.
- Cash for soba shops and snack stands; IC cards cover the trains and now the cable car.
- Start early. On autumn weekends the cable car line can be long by 10am.
- Pack a small light if you might come down late in winter. There are no lights on the trails.
- Leave the big camera bag at the hotel. Trail 1 gets crowded.
Want the day planned into the full trip?
Grab the free Sakura 2027 Cheat Sheet for bloom windows and the booking timeline, or the Tokyo Luxury on Points guide for the hotel and dining side of the stay. Or start Trip Design and we build the Tokyo base, the day trips, and the day-by-day around your points.
Travel information only, accurate as of November 2026. Confirm train times, ticket prices, cable car hours, and trail rules with Keio, Takao Tozan Railway, and the Takao Visitor Center before you go. Lie Flat Club does not book or pay for travel on your behalf.
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