Mount Takao from Tokyo: the Day Trip Guide

The Keio Train from Shinjuku

Keio limited express trains leave Shinjuku about every 20 minutes and reach Takaosanguchi in about 50 minutes for 430 yen. No reservation is needed. An IC card such as Suica or Pasmo works, and interoperable IC cards are accepted across each other's networks in the Kanto region.

One note on timing: some journey planners quote the Shinjuku to Takaosanguchi run at 55 minutes rather than 50. Japan-guide puts it at about 50 minutes. Either way you are under an hour from the center of Tokyo to the trailhead.

The Takao 599 Museum sits 4 minutes on foot from the station, so many hikers stop there first to get their bearings before the climb.

• Keio limited express: Shinjuku to Takaosanguchi, about 50 minutes
• Fare: 430 yen each way, about every 20 minutes
• No transfer, no reservation, IC card accepted

From the Station to the Trails

The trailhead, the free Takao 599 Museum and the cable car are all within a few minutes' walk of Takaosanguchi Station. The Takao 599 Museum is 4 minutes on foot from the station, which makes it a natural first stop, and the Keio Takaosan Onsen Gokurakuyu bathhouse sits at the foot of the mountain for the walk back.

If you have energy left after the summit, the onsen entry costs 1,100 yen for adults on weekdays and 1,300 yen on weekends, holidays and peak days, with children at 550 yen.

Takao is one of several free or near-free outings by train from the capital. The full list sits on the free day trips from Tokyo hub, and guided options are compared under day trips from Tokyo.

The Numbers at a Glance

The table compares the trails you will actually choose between at the trailhead. Lengths and times come from the Takao 599 Museum explore guide, with trail 1 and trail 6 figures cross-checked against japan.travel's hiking course page. Times are one way.

Note that sources disagree slightly on trail 1: the museum guide gives 110 minutes up and 90 down on foot, while japan-guide rounds it to about 90 minutes up from the base. The museum figure is the one used here.

Trail 1, the Main Route

Trail 1 is the route almost everyone means by a Mount Takao day trip. It is broad, mostly paved and takes about 110 minutes from the base to the summit on foot, dropping to about 60 minutes up and 50 minutes down if you take the cable car or chair lift to the midpoint. japan.travel gives slightly faster figures of 100 minutes up and 80 down on foot, or 50 and 40 with the lift. The trail passes souvenir shops, food stalls and the Monkey Park before reaching Yakuoin temple near the top.

Is Mount Takao a difficult hike? On trail 1, no. The surface is paved for most of the way and the climb is steady rather than steep. That is why the mountain draws more than 2.5 million visitors a year, from school groups to runners. The difficulty rises on trail 6 and the Inariyama trail.

• Paved and broad, the family route
• 110 minutes up on foot, 60 with the cable car or lift
• Passes Yakuoin temple near the summit

The Quiet Trails: 3, 4 and 6

Trail 3 (Katsura Woods) runs 2.4 km through forest parallel to trail 1 and carries a fraction of the foot traffic. Trail 4 (1.5 km) crosses a suspension bridge in the forest. Trail 6 (3.3 km) follows a stream past the small Biwa waterfall and is the only trail rated hard, with about 90 minutes up and 70 minutes down. It follows a stream over uneven ground, so it is the one to skip in rain.

A common plan is to walk up trail 1, come down trail 4 or 6, and use trail 2 or the 0.9 km trail 5 loop to add distance without adding effort. Trails 2 and 5 each take about 30 minutes as loops.

The Inariyama trail is the 3.2 km alternative for people who want a workout. It climbs the ridge over Mt Inari and takes 90 minutes up and 60 down, and it is described as the steeper, more challenging alternative to trail 1.

Fares and What They Save

The Takao cable car and the chair lift both cost 490 yen one way and 980 yen return for adults, and one child under 3 travels free with each adult. They serve the same purpose from opposite ends of the fun scale. The cable car carries 135 passengers per car on Japan's steepest cable railway slope of 31.18 degrees and departs every 15 minutes. The chair lift is an open-air alternative.

The time saved is the real argument. Trail 1 takes about 110 minutes up from the base on foot, but only about 60 minutes up when the cable car or lift covers the first half. Riding up and walking down, or the reverse, needs only a 490 yen one-way ticket.

• Cable car and chair lift: 490 yen one way, 980 yen return
• Cable car: every 15 minutes, 135 passengers per car, 31.18 degree slope
• Chair lift: open air

Hours by Season

The cable car runs 8:00 to 18:00 in April, May, July and August, 8:00 to 17:45 in June, September, October and November, 8:00 to 17:30 in March, and 8:00 to 17:15 from December to February. The chair lift runs 9:00 to 16:30 from May to November and 9:00 to 16:00 from December to April, with longer hours on some weekends and holidays.

Plan around the lift in particular. Because it closes earlier than the cable car in every season, a late afternoon descent means taking the funicular or walking. Both fares are cheap enough that many hikers buy the return and simply use whichever car is running.

Yakuoin Temple

Yakuoin sits near the summit on trail 1 and is the cultural anchor of the climb. Visitors pray to the tengu mountain gods here. The temple is on the trail itself, so there is no detour.

The Summit and the Mt Fuji View

The summit of Mount Takao shows Mt Fuji on clear days. An observation deck near the cable car top station overlooks Tokyo on the other side, so you get a city panorama and a volcano panorama in one visit. For a better angle on Fuji, walk about 10 minutes beyond the summit to Momijidai, a maple viewpoint that looks across to the mountain on clear days.

Winter is the season for that view. Mt Fuji views are generally better in the colder months than in summer, and early morning gives the best odds anywhere because cloud builds through the day. In spring, the cherry blossoms on Mount Takao open a couple of weeks after central Tokyo, with the best display at Itchodaira beyond the summit, which stretches the blossom season for return visitors.

Is Mount Takao worth visiting? The numbers say yes. Over 2.5 million visitors a year come for a mountain that costs 430 yen and 50 minutes to reach, with a temple, a funicular and a Fuji view included. It is not a wilderness experience, and on fine weekends the main trail feels like a street, which is exactly why the side trails exist.

The Takao 599 Museum and the Visitor Center

The Takao 599 Museum, a nature museum on the mountain's ecology, is free to enter and sits 4 minutes on foot from Takaosanguchi Station. It opens 8:00 to 17:00, shortening to 8:00 to 16:00 from December to March. Starting here before the hike gives the climb context and costs nothing.

On the summit, the Takao Visitor Center is also free, open 10:00 to 16:00 and closed Mondays and over New Year.

Monkey Park and the Onsen Afterwards

Monkey Park Takao, on trail 1 near Kasumidai, houses about 40 Japanese macaques alongside a wild flower garden with 500 plant varieties. Admission is 500 yen, which is the only paid attraction on this page apart from the lifts and the onsen.

The classic finish is Keio Takaosan Onsen Gokurakuyu at the foot of the mountain. It costs 1,100 yen for adults on weekdays and 1,300 yen on weekends, holidays and peak days, with children at 550 yen, and it opens 8:00 to 22:30 daily with last admission at 21:45. Wash thoroughly at the seated shower booths before entering the bath, keep the small towel out of the water, and note that swimsuits are not allowed in traditional baths. Tattoos are a facility-by-facility rule rather than a legal ban, so check ahead if that affects you. For more bathing options across the region, see the onsen day trip from Tokyo guide.