mount fuji

I am planning a day tour to hakone and if i do the classic round course , i will probably would not have the time to go up to the 5th station.

I have read that many times the visibility of mount fuji is not good especilly during the summer months, my concern is should i go to the 5th station at all then or is the view from the hakone ropeway just as good via the round course?

The bus parking lot is at the 5th.

If you are a good hiker you can make it to the top and down in 3-4 hours. There are many non-hikers there that get in the way. They do the course to the top and down in about 7-8 hours. Again, this is FROM the 5th stage.

Remember if you don't see Mt Fuji on your side trip (it was too cloudy when I went to see it up close) you can always see it from the top of Tokyo Tower, so I recommend going up there on the first clear morning you get.

Actually it is by no means guaranteed that you can see it from Tokyo Tower at all, certainly not always, as Mt. Fuji is often covered in cloud or obscured by haze. In winter it can often be seen from Tokyo tower, in other seasons only sometimes. In rainy season only occasionally, even from Tokyo Tower.

Summer is pretty tough for viewing Fuji. Last spring we were able to see it pretty clearly from the lounge of the Odakyu Century Southern Tower hotel in Shinjuku. If you do the round course, go early and take it in reverse direction since your chances are better seeing Fuji earlier in the day from the boat on Lake Ashi. That's what we were told, at least, and it did work.