Day Tours from TokyoKamakura Day Trip from Tokyo: How to Spend the Day
A kamakura day trip from Tokyo is one of the easiest escapes from the city. The train takes just under an hour from Tokyo Station, and the sights sit close together: a giant bronze Buddha, a hillside temple, the shrine at the center of town, a shopping street and a coastal railway out to an island. This page walks through the day on the ground, sight by sight, with prices and hours, then compares going on your own with booking one of the day tours from Tokyo that cover Kamakura and Enoshima. If you want the full ranking of destinations, see day trips from Tokyo. The bookable tours are compared on day tours from Tokyo.
Komachi-dori is the main shopping street running from Kamakura Station toward Tsurugaoka Hachimangu. Photo: ARandomName123, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Quick answer Kamakura in one day
Yes, Kamakura is a good day trip from Tokyo: the JR Yokosuka Line reaches Kamakura Station from Tokyo Station in just under an hour for 1,040 yen, which leaves a full day on the ground. One day is enough for the Great Buddha at Kotoku-in, Hasedera, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, Komachi Street and, if you add the Enoden, Enoshima. The main sights are cheap, with the Great Buddha at 300 yen and Hasedera at 400 yen. You can do it all by train or hand the logistics to a guided tour.
Key takeaways
- Follow the sample plan from first train to last in How to Spend a Day in Kamakura.
- Compare the guided options, from $59.50, with doing it yourself in Tour or Train?.
- For the full DIY step-by-step route, use the free day trips from Tokyo guide.
- Prefer someone else to drive? See the Kamakura and Enoshima day trip with Enoden ride at $78.
How to Spend a Day in Kamakura from Tokyo
This plan puts the sights closest to the station first and ends on the coast, so the day builds instead of backtracking. Times and prices follow the official and guide sources.
The Plan, First Train to Last
The order matters less than the geography: Kamakura Station sits at one end of the Enoden line and Enoshima at the other. Working from the shrine end toward the coast keeps you moving forward all day. The full step-by-step journey, with platform details, lives in the Kamakura on your own section of the DIY guide.
- Depart Tokyo Station on the JR Yokosuka Line. The ride to Kamakura takes just under an hour and costs 1,040 yen each way.
- From Kamakura Station walk 10 to 15 minutes to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, open from 6:00 to 20:00.
- Walk back to Komachi Street beside the station for snacks and lunch.
- Take the Enoden from Kamakura to Hase. Trains run about every ten minutes. Hasedera is a five-minute walk from Hase Station.
- At Hasedera, admission runs 8:00 to 16:30 with closing at 17:00 most of the year. Admission is 400 yen for adults.
- Continue to Kotoku-in to see the Great Buddha. Entry is 300 yen for adults, and going inside the statue costs an extra 50 yen. The grounds open 8:00 to 17:30 from April to September.
- Ride the Enoden on to Enoshima. The Kamakura-Enoshima ride takes 25 minutes and costs 260 yen if you pay per trip.
- On Enoshima, the combined ticket for the garden, observation tower, caves and escalators costs 1,100 yen, or the Iwaya Caves alone cost 500 yen. The Sea Candle observation room stands 101.5 m above sea level and shows Mt Fuji on clear days.
- Ride the Enoden back to Kamakura Station, about 25 minutes, and take the JR Yokosuka Line back to Tokyo Station.
- Sightseeing entries are paid on top of the fares: the Great Buddha at 300 yen, Hasedera at 400 yen and the Enoshima combined ticket at 1,100 yen.
What to Skip If You Are Short of Time
If you only have a half day, drop Enoshima and stay in Kamakura. The Great Buddha, Hasedera and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu are enough for a half day, and Hasedera is five minutes from Hase Station. Engakuji in Kita-Kamakura charges 500 yen and is a good cut as well.
The Shinen peony garden at the shrine opens only in spring and winter and costs 500 yen, so skip it outside those seasons. On Enoshima, if time is tight, choose between the 1,100 yen combined ticket and the 500 yen caves rather than doing both.
Sources: Kotoku-in
What to See in Kamakura
Each sight below lists what it is, what it costs and when it opens, from the official pages and the guide sources.
Kotoku-in and the Great Buddha
Kotoku-in is the temple that holds Kamakura's Great Buddha. Admission is 300 yen for adults and 150 yen for children aged 6 to 12, and children under 6 enter free. You can also step inside the statue for an extra 50 yen.
The interior keeps shorter hours than the grounds, 8:00 to 16:30 all year with entry until 10 minutes before closing. The grounds open 8:00 to 17:30 from April to September and 8:00 to 17:00 from October to March, with entry until 15 minutes before closing.
Hasedera
Hasedera is a temple on the Enoden line. Admission is 400 yen for adults and 200 yen for elementary school children. Hours are 8:00 to 16:30 with closing at 17:00 for most of the year, and from April to June it opens 8:00 to 17:00 with closing at 17:30.
The temple is a five-minute walk from Hase Station on the Enoden, which makes it an easy pair with Kotoku-in. A nice detail: the Enoden's 800 yen Noriorikun day pass gets holders a discount at Hasedera as well as at the Enoshima Sea Candle and the Enoshima Aquarium.
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu is Kamakura's main shrine and the town's historic center, and the shrine is open 6:00 to 20:00. It is a 10 to 15 minute walk from Kamakura Station, and Komachi Street, the town's food and souvenir street, sits along the way. Two paid extras exist: the Shinen peony garden, which opens only in spring and winter and costs 500 yen, and the treasure hall, open 9:00 to 16:00 for 200 yen.
Coming here first works well because it is the sight closest to the station where you arrive from Tokyo.
Komachi Street
Komachi Street is the shopping and snacking lane that runs from near Kamakura Station toward Tsurugaoka Hachimangu. It is free to walk and needs no tickets or hours planning, which is why it slots neatly into the middle of the day. This is the natural lunch stop on a one-day visit: pick up street food or sit down for a meal before heading to the coast.
Guided bus tours use it the same way, and the Kamakura and Enoshima 1-Day Bus Tour lists Komachi Street as the place for seafood and snacks on its route.
The Enoden Railway
The Enoden is the small local railway that links Kamakura and Enoshima along the coast, and riding it is part of the experience, not just transport. The ride between Kamakura and Enoshima takes 25 minutes and costs 260 yen, with trains about every ten minutes. If you plan more than a couple of rides, the 1-day Noriorikun pass costs 800 yen for adults and 400 yen for children and covers the whole Enoden line for the issue date, plus discounts at Hasedera, the Sea Candle and the aquarium.
A good plan is to buy the pass in the morning, ride out to Enoshima, stop at Hase on the way and ride back at the end of the day.
Enoshima
Enoshima is the island at the Enoden's other end and the second half of a full day trip. Paid sights are bundled: a combined ticket for the garden, observation tower, caves and escalators costs 1,100 yen, and the Iwaya Caves cost 500 yen on their own. The Enoshima Sea Candle observation tower opens 9:00 to 20:00 with last entry at 19:30, and its observation room sits 101.5 m above sea level with views to Mt Fuji, the Izu Peninsula, Hakone and the Tanzawa Mountains on clear days.
Odakyu also sells an Enoshima Sky View Ticket for 1,100 yen. Then ride the Enoden back to Kamakura Station for the train to Tokyo.
Engakuji in Kita-Kamakura
Engakuji is the temple at Kita-Kamakura. Admission is 500 yen and admission ends 30 minutes before closing. If your day is already full with the Buddha, Hasedera and Enoshima, this is the sight to cut.
THE Kamakura Guide: Ultimate Iconic Day Trip from Tokyo!
Kamakura's temples and the coast in a single day. Third-party video by PiQtour Japan. This site did not shoot it and has no relationship with the creator.
Tour or Train?
Kamakura is one of the few destinations around Tokyo where doing it yourself is genuinely simple, so the choice comes down to comfort, commentary and who controls the clock. The table puts the bookable tours next to the self-guided fares.
The Options Side by Side
The tour prices are the listed booking prices in US dollars and the DIY costs are the published yen fares and fees. Tour coverage varies more than most people expect, so check what the listed price actually includes before booking.
| Option | Price | Time | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kamakura and Enoshima Day Trip with Enoden Train Ride | $78 | 10 hours | Coach and guide with an Enoden train ride. Great Buddha admission of 300 yen, meals and drinks are not included |
| Kamakura and Enoshima 1-Day Bus Tour | $61 | 9-10 hours | Bus with entrance fees to Hase-dera and Kotoku-in, plus Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, Komachi Street and Enoshima. Lunch not included, and the tour can be canceled if fewer than 10 book |
| Mt Fuji, Kamakura Big Buddha and Lake Ashi Day Trip | from $59.50 | 11 hours | Mt Fuji, Kamakura and Lake Ashi. The Big Buddha ticket and Lake Ashi cruise come only on the Full Tour options, not the Basic one |
| DIY by JR | 1,040 yen each way, 2,080 yen round trip | Just under 1 hour each way | JR Yokosuka Line Tokyo Station to Kamakura. All sightseeing entries extra |
| DIY with the Enoshima-Kamakura Freepass | 1,640 yen adults, 430 yen children, from Shinjuku | 65-75 minutes to the coast | Odakyu round trip Shinjuku-Fujisawa, unlimited Enoden rides and unlimited Odakyu between Fujisawa and Enoshima |
| DIY Enoden day pass | 800 yen adults, 400 yen children (Noriorikun) | 25 minutes Kamakura-Enoshima | Whole Enoden line for the issue date, plus discounts at Hasedera, the Sea Candle and the aquarium |
Which One Fits You
Take the train if you are comfortable with a timetable and want control. The JR line is just under an hour from Tokyo Station and the sights need no booking, so the DIY route is cheap and flexible. Take the Freepass route from Shinjuku if you want the Enoden and Enoshima bundled at 1,640 yen, and add the Romancecar for 750 yen if you want a reserved seat.
Book a tour if you want a guide's commentary, no navigation and one fixed price. The $78 Enoden option covers the ride but not the 300 yen Buddha ticket, and the $61 bus is the only one with both Hasedera and Great Buddha entry in the price, though it needs 10 bookings to run. If Kamakura is one stop on a wider Japan trip, the combined Mt Fuji option at from $59.50 covers a lot in a day, but the Big Buddha ticket only comes on the Full options.
For how each destination stacks up overall, see the day tours from Tokyo comparison.
Stepping stones wind through the bamboo grove at Hokokuji temple. Photo: KimonBerlin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Getting There from Tokyo
The journey is short enough that the transport barely shapes your day.
The Route in Brief
From Tokyo Station the JR Yokosuka Line runs to Kamakura in just under an hour for 1,040 yen. From Shinjuku the JR Shonan-Shinjuku Line takes about one hour for the same 1,040 yen, but only trains bound for Zushi run through to Kamakura, about two per hour, and other trains need a change at Ofuna. From Shinjuku you can instead take the Odakyu Enoshima-Kamakura Freepass route, 65 to 75 minutes to the coast, which is the better pick if Enoshima is a priority.
The full step-by-step instructions, with the Freepass details, are in the free day trips from Tokyo guide.
Day Trip Tips for Kamakura
Small choices make a one-day visit smoother. These follow directly from the published hours, fares and pass rules.
Do
- Do buy the Enoden Noriorikun pass at 800 yen if you plan two or more Enoden rides, because two Kamakura-Enoshima trips at 260 yen each already cost 520 yen and the pass adds discounts at Hasedera, the Sea Candle and the aquarium.
- Do start at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, because it is a 10 to 15 minute walk from Kamakura Station where you arrive, and it opens from 6:00 so it is never the sight that holds you up.
- Do visit the Great Buddha before about 16:30 if you want to go inside, because the interior closes at 16:30 all year even when the grounds stay open later.
- Do check the Enoden before planning the return, because trains run about every ten minutes and the 25-minute ride is the straightforward way back from Enoshima to Kamakura Station.
Don't
- Don't assume a tour price includes everything, because the $78 Enoden tour excludes the 300 yen Great Buddha admission and the from $59.50 combined tour includes the Buddha ticket only on the Full options.
- Don't time your shrine visit around the peony garden without checking the season, because the Shinen garden at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu opens only in spring and winter and costs 500 yen.
- Don't leave Hasedera until after closing, because admission stops at 16:30 for most of the year, with closing at 17:00, and only April to June runs later at 17:00 admission and 17:30 closing.
Kamakura Day Trip FAQ
Is Kamakura a good day trip from Tokyo?
Yes. The JR Yokosuka Line gets you from Tokyo Station to Kamakura in just under an hour for 1,040 yen, and the Great Buddha, Hasedera, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu and Komachi Street all sit within a small area, with Enoshima a 25-minute Enoden ride away. For a second coastal comparison, see the day trips from Tokyo ranking.
How much does a Kamakura day trip from Tokyo cost?
By train, budget 2,080 yen for the JR round trip, 260 yen each way or an 800 yen day pass on the Enoden, 300 yen for the Great Buddha, 50 yen to go inside and 400 yen for Hasedera. Guided options in the table run from $59.50 to $78, and what each price includes differs.
Is one day enough for Kamakura and Enoshima?
One day covers both if you start early, because the train takes just under an hour, the Enoden ride between Kamakura and Enoshima takes 25 minutes, and the main sights are close together. If you prefer a fixed schedule, the Kamakura and Enoshima day trip with Enoden ride runs 10 hours including both towns.
Which is better for a day trip from Tokyo, Hakone or Kamakura?
Kamakura is easier in one day: just under an hour by train and with cheap entries, while Hakone needs more transport connections and its ropeway can stop in strong wind. If the loop of ropeway, cruise and onsen appeals, read the Hakone day trip from Tokyo guide and compare.
What should I do in Kamakura on a one-day trip?
Follow the order in How to Spend a Day in Kamakura: Tsurugaoka Hachimangu and Komachi Street first, then the Enoden to Hase for Hasedera at 400 yen and the Great Buddha at 300 yen, then Enoshima for the 1,100 yen combined ticket or the 500 yen caves.
Is the Enoshima-Kamakura Freepass worth it?
It is worth it if you start from Shinjuku and plan to use the Enoden heavily, because the 1,640 yen pass bundles the Shinjuku-Fujisawa round trip, unlimited Enoden rides and Odakyu rides between Fujisawa and Enoshima. If you start from Tokyo Station, the plain JR fare at 1,040 yen each way plus a Noriorikun at 800 yen is the simpler combination.