Mount Fuji Tour Disaster: My Miserable Chartered Trip Experience & Honest Review

As an international student who moved to Tokyo last year, I finally visited Mount Fuji last month 🗻 – thank goodness we had a car, or I would’ve been crying my way home!

Let me share some hard-earned wisdom: always arrange carpooling or private transport 🚙 to Fuji. Before going, I saw countless viral posts romanticizing the trip. Initially tempted to save money, I noticed most budget itineraries were extreme “special forces” style tours. When I calculated that roundtrip train/bus tickets would cost nearly ¥500 anyway, I wisely chose to split a car with friends 🚗. Take it from those who’ve been – Fuji is NOT meant for extreme budget travel ❌.

Japan isn’t a backpacker’s paradise ❌ – save the shoestring budgets for Thailand. You’ve already made it to Tokyo, why skimp on transportation?!!!!!!! Some suggest cycling or electric scooters – seriously? Every attraction is miles apart, with endless slopes, unpredictable mountain weather, and howling winds that’ll ruin both your hairstyle and photos 📷.

Watching those struggling cyclists through our car windows, I knew every yen was well-spent… Are we here for beautiful memories or self-torture? Save your workouts for home 🙀. Don’t you need energy for the rest of your trip? Don’t locals have work/school the next day? Four wheels or bust 🚙!!!!

We hit the jackpot 🍀 with our driver – a Japanese-Chinese national 🇯🇵 whose skills were as smooth as her humor 😌. Bonus: her brand-new car (a rarity in this business where most use beat-up vehicles). The difference was night and day – fresh interior scent, buttery-smooth seatbelts ~ absolutely luxurious!!!!!!! Her encyclopedic knowledge of Japanese culture ❤️ proved why Tokyo University grads are worth every yen 👍.

Most budget Fuji tours cut corners with single-lake itineraries. Ours covered both lakes perfectly for just ¥300-400. Worth every penny – she zoomed back to Tokyo efficiently, getting us to Shinjuku in under two hours. You get what you pay for – a reliable local guide makes ALL the difference!!!!!!!!! CRUCIAL ‼️ Final verdict: Mount Fuji 🗻 is breathtaking from every angle. As a freshman, I’ll keep balancing studies with exploring more of beautiful Japan 🇯🇵 – this country has stolen my heart.