Haneda to Kawaguchiko to Kyoto in 1 Day?

We land at Haneda 7:30am Sat 17th Nov and have fixed accommodation in Kyoto that night. Now seeing Kawaguchiko might be at autumn peak then and considering a flying visit to see Mt Fuji - will be too late at the end of our trip.

Opinions on this possible itinerary please!

1. Land Haneda Terminal 1 at 7:35am

2. Forward luggage and exchange rail passes at Haneda

3. 9:05am arr.11:40am OR 10:20am arr.12:55pm Airport Limousine Bus Haneda to Kawaguchiko

4. 5pm arr. 6:38pm OR 6:30pm arr. 8:08pm Highway Bus Kawaguchiko to Mishima

5. 7:47pm OR 8:24pm (last train!) Shinkansen Mishima to Kyoto

Is this doable/worth it and which connections would you advise? Thank you!

Well, this appears logically doable,
but I recommend you check the cancelation policy of your Kyoto accommodation
and, if you can, make it start from the following day instead.

You will visit the Kawaguchiko area on a Saturday,
probably during the peak of the autumn color foliage,
so it should be better to expect crowdedness.

9:05am arr.11:40am OR 10:20am arr.12:55pm Airport Limousine Bus

The departure time you cite is for the bus stop in HND Domestic Terminal 1.
The buses depart earlier by 15 minutes from HND International Terminal.
http://hnd-bus.com/airport/h-kawaguchiko/

Haneda Airport International Terminal
{08:50} / {10:05} Airport Limousine Bus
{11:40} / {12:55}
Kawaguchiko Railway Station.

5pm arr. 6:38pm OR 6:30pm arr. 8:08pm Highway Bus Kawaguchiko to Mishima

To travel with Japan Rail Pass from Mishima,
you had better catch the former bus at Kawaguchiko.
Taking the latter bus, you may miss the 20:24 Shinkansen train.

The last Shinkansen connection
for Japan Rail Pass travelers:
Mishima
{20:24} [KODAMA 683]
either
{20:51} Shizuoka
{21:10} [HIKARI 533]
or
{21:21} Hamamatsu
{21:36} [HIKARI 533]
{23:01}
Kyoto.

The last Shinkansen connection
for regular ticket travelers:
Mishima
{20:57} [KODAMA 685]
{22:45} Nagoya
{22:48} [NOZOMI 263]
{23:21}
Kyoto.

How is the rest of your itinerary?
I wonder how a Japan Rail Pass can pay off,
because you will go by JR only beyond Mishima
on your way from Tokyo to Kyoto.

Thanks - as I said accommodation in Kyoto on Sat is fixed, paid for and no cancellations. JR Pass pays off because we will be travelling all over during our 2 weeks, but not back to Tokyo side until 28th Nov which will be too late for koyo in Kawaguchiko.

I am thinking the 5pm bus to Mishima will be best but not sure how likely we are to make the morning 8:50am bus from Haneda to Kawaguchiko after a 7:35am flight arrival

There may be a lot of traffic on the roads at that time. Just as reference, when I went to the Shibazakura festival a few years back on a weekday, the supposed 34 minute ride Google says it takes from Kawaguchiko Stn to the grounds took over 2 hours. If it is not rail, I would be very flexible with road transportation. That 3 hour bus ride can very well take 4-5 hours. One never knows.

Thanks John B - that is useful to know. Probably too risky and not worth all the travelling straight after long flight on balance. May do a day trip end of Nov from Tokyo if there�fs a clear day, just have to miss the koyo

You can take rail transport from Haneda to Kawaguchiko via Shinagawa, Shiunjuku, and Otsuki.

Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm just curious since I've seen this twice recently in two different posts. Which hotel/ryokan or which website are using where you are you booking that you pre-pay for everything and can't cancel several days out?

I've only ever seen that in one place in Kyoto when I've been booking and no place in Tokyo. But both you and another poster staying in Tokyo mentioned pre-paying for places and not being able to cancel even several days out. Most Japanese hotels seem to have very generous cancellation policies (like when booking through the actual hotel you can cancel up to the day before or sometimes even arrival day!)

For the whole rest of the trip our hotels can be cancelled, including at this same hotel at a later date, but for this one night the best rate was available through a booking site by paying up front with no cancellation. At the time that suited our plans and we saw no reason we would need to cancel it - that is still true even if we do this additional trip to Kawaguchiko, because we need to be in Kyoto for the next part of our trip on Sunday.

Being flexible with your plans in Japan is doable up to a point, but when you are trying to catch peak koyo or Sakura alongside securing nights at particular ryokans which book up immediately on release, you do need to have some fixed anchors in your itinerary. Reputable booking sites offer different rates with different cancellation policies on each room, and I compared these to booking direct with the hotels and often (but not always) the booking sites came up cheaper. This one night in Kyoto is fixed and that works for us, even if we could cancel it it wouldn�ft be worth the knock on effect on the rest of our trip.

Thanks for all the helpful answers to my query

I agree with the previous responses. While doable, it is a lot of traveling in one day.

And something not touched on is the availability of seats on those buses. Being a busy time, the buses will be more full than normal. And you won't have the chance to reserve a seat until the day of your arrival. Which may hinder your chances of booking a seat on a bus of your choice. While you want to use the 5pm bus to Mishima, it may already be full. And if would probably be the most used bus of the day in that direction of travel.

There is a lot of dice rolling in your plan, and chances are you'll lose the game.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question. I confess, the last time I visited Japan for koyo or sakura was close to a decade ago and I know crowds have increased dramatically. (I'm now going during Summer because of school. It's more crowded than it was 15 years ago, but hotels do tend to have decent prices and availability.) I have on occasion seen some better rates if you accept no cancellation, but it's just always such a big risk to me, what if there is an issue with your plane. But I can see why you might do that. I do tend to arrive in Japan with all my hotels booked, but last trip I was still tweaking my itinerary a month out, and would not have been happy to lose the money for a no cancellation clause.

In your case, like everyone else, I would probably skip Kawaguchiko. There are just too many risks when you need to take a bus to Mishima and then catch a shinkansen. If you were staying that night in Nagoya I might risk it, but having to get to Kyoto makes it a lot more challenging.

Good luck on your trip!

Thanks rkold - incidentally if your hotel bookings were affected by something like flight delays as you mention, travel insurance would cover it.

Momiji Tunnel, 15min taxi from the Kawaguchiko station, is the place you need to visit to see both the mt. Fuji, as well as the autumn leaves. If you do not intend to visit other places, your itinerary is fine.