8 Of The Best Ways To Experience Mt Fuji

From a ferry trip with uninterrupted views to a brand-new architect-designed observatory, here are eight alternative ways to experience Japan’s iconic Mt Fuji.

Mt Fuji is big. Really, exceptionally big. Big enough to see from Tokyo, over 100 kilometres away; even its foothills span two prefectures. But its influence over Japan stretches way past its mere size.

That perfect volcanic cone features everywhere in Japanese folklore and has over the millennia, been recreated in everything from cakes and seasonal sweets to soap, towels, toys, even cartoon-character mountains that enter the national subconscious from an early age.

So we really think turning up on a bus, taking a quick pic from a lookout on a day trip from Tokyo and heading home again does not do the mighty Fuji-san nearly enough justice – nor the mind-blowingly beautiful and fascinating surrounds that count Fuji as an ever-present part of the scenery. So here we have eight amazing ways to give Fuji-san the love it deserves, and make your trip to central Japan something special too.

1. Cross Mishima Skywalk suspension bridge

How else to give Japan’s tallest mountain the proper gravitas than to gaze upon it from Japan’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge, the fabulously engineered, 400-metre-long Skywalk.

This thing sways in the wind over a forest gorge in the most picturesque of locations, so the views should stop you looking down. You can also catch sight of Japan’s deepest bay, Suruga Bay, forming a suitably spectacular spot with photo stops galore.

Japan’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge, Mishima Skywalk

2. Hang upside down on top of a mountain – or simply soak your feet

The Japanese really know how to live, with thoughtful ways to make visitors happy every step along their sightseeing route.

Atop the mountain at Izunokuni Panorama Park (you can guess the main star of the panorama here), you can not only gaze across an incredible vista that stretches from bay to hills to forests to the star of the show, Fuji, but your mini ninjas can choose to do it from the cute obstacle play course set right here on the mountaintop, while you can get your shoes and socks off and blithely sit with your tootsies in a steaming bath, right here out in the open, while you enjoy and photograph the view.

Enjoy panoramic views of Mt Fuju from Izunokuni Panorama Park

3. Drink craft beer made from Fuji’s 100-year-old snowmelt

The respect the Japanese hold for Fuji-san does not end with the mountain itself.

That snowy peak basks in the sun, slowly melting into the purest of water, which then soaks into the volcanic earth itself and is filtered over and over again before finally emerging, a century later, into the streams and waterways around the region. This water is rather reverently used for such purposes as nourishing the finest (and therefore most delicious) of eel, helping to produce breathtakingly expensive tofu, and also highly prized sake.

Over at Baird Brewing Company near Numazu, however, they’ve come up with a more novel way of tasting the snow that melted at the end of the First World War, give or take. The range of specialty craft beers do indeed taste rather crystalline in their clarity, and visiting the forest-bound brewery to sample them is worth the trip.

For the best craft beer, visit Baird Beer at Numazu Fishmarkets

4. Take a golf-buggy ride to a fairway with a view

The luxe Izu Marriott Shuzenji not only boasts views of Japan’s favourite volcano from its Fuji-facing rooms, but its deer-speckled golf course is also perfectly positioned for maximum vistas.

Guests can even jump in the driverless electric golf buggies for a spin around the course at sunset to watch Fuji-san’s western face turn golden, forming a heart-melting backdrop as dusk brings the resort’s antlered wildlife out to reclaim the golf course for another evening.

Izu Marriott Shuzenji premium guest room has magnificent Mt Fuju views.

Enjoy the views while relaxing in the Marriott’s hot spring spa

5. Take a holographic tour at brand-new Yume Terrace

With the Tokyo Olympics rapidly approaching, its stadium architect Kengo Kuma is flavour of the month (or even year) – but the stadium is far from his only triumph. In Shizuoka Prefecture, his dreamy, octagonal observatory and deck is making a name for itself in its own right.

Nihondaira Yume Terrace, fashioned from local cedar and swathes of glass, is a quiet, mindful space seemingly a world away from the busier lookouts and decks closer to Mt Fuji, and inside are ultramodern displays using everything from stained glass to holographs to detail the story of Mt Fuji’s formation.

6. Rise early for seafood breakfast with the clearest view

A whole lot more hectic is Japan’s second-busiest seafood markets, the Numazu Fish Market on deep Suruga Bay.

As the 5am markets heat up inside, the sunlight strengthens outside to reveal Fuji-san reflected in the waters and dominating the view, though the workers around you may continue to bustle from boat to bobcat, auction room to loading dock. Charm your way as close as you dare to espy the three-metre Suruga Bay spider crabs, giant deep-water fish and tuna, down to the tiny baby mackerel and whitebait that typify traditional breakfasts around here.

Head to any of the restaurants in the surrounding streets for a bowl overflowing with fresh seafood – as raw as you dare – for a breakfast you won’t forget.

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7. Ride the rainbow ferry across incredible Suruga Bay

The high-speed ferry across Suruga Bay from Toi to Shimizu may well be one of the most underrated experiences in the area. The deep waters beneath make the surface mirror-still, there are fresh seafood sticks and sweet buns being grilled out on the back deck, and even the ferry itself is daubed with a rainbow to make the experience as lovely as possible.

And of course, watching over you for the 65-minute journey is Mt Fuji, in an uninterrupted view across the water to rival any lookout you can name.

View of Mount Fuji with Suruga Bay and Numazu town

8. Stay at the hotel with Fuji in every window

For such an incredible spot, gazing remarkably close-up upon perhaps Asia’s most famous mount, it seems astounding that there isn’t another foreign face to be seen at Nippondaira Hotel – but that was this reviewer’s experience.

The hotel doesn’t even pretend to want anything else for its guests, with Fuji-facing rooms enjoying uninterrupted views across a flat landscaped garden, and multi-storey floor-to-ceiling windows spanning almost every public space in the hotel so you can breakfast, lunch and (yummy fine French) dinner with Fuji-san himself.

Stunning views of Mt Fuju from Nippondaira Hotel (photo: Jac Taylor)

For more information about travelling around Japan, visit our Japan guide.

After youth-led protests in 2025, this year Nepal elected a 35-year-old former rapper as Prime Minister. In a country where tourism is its biggest industry, what’s next for travellers?

In 1986, Nepal changed its clock. It had used India Standard Time since 1920 so, to differentiate, it wound its clock 15 minutes ahead of, not behind, its big-brother neighbour. Boss move. “Nepal is strongly opposed to the idea that our identity is connected to India,” says Community Homestay Network (CHN) guide Bikal Khanal.

Tharu dance is traditionally set to hand drums. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

Today, Nepal is the only independent country with a 45-minute deviation to universal time; an oddity that’s become a symbol of national pride. The quirk is nearly as endearing as Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan airport where carved varnished wood and shiny red bricks rule. One sign points to a ‘Travelator’ and another to a ‘Grievance Handling Desk’ while visas are noisily stamped at customs for US dollars, cash only. When am I?

Spot the endemic Nepal gray langur. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The 15 or 45 minute anomaly sees me tap out completely on timezone calculations. Why bend my brain calculating if it’s quarter to or quarter past elsewhere when I’m in the honking here and now of Kathmandu where the air is high-altitude crisp, the prayer flags flutter and the street dogs howl?

How tourism is changing in Nepal

Bardiya National Park is rich with wildlife. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

India is not the only association many Nepalis would like to shake. With eight of the world’s 10 tallest mountains, including Mount Everest and Annapurna, Nepal has long attracted mountaineers and trekkers, and expedition numbers are continuing to rise.

Tourism is one of the country’s biggest sources of foreign currency, so this growth is not negative, per se. But according to Ang Tshering Lama, who co-founded Phaplu Mountain Bike Club, being reduced to a mere trekking destination is limiting.

“Trekking is just one layer of our identity,” says Ang. “When it becomes the dominant narrative, it limits how we’re seen and how we see ourselves.” Nepal’s recent success, however, in diverting trekkers to less-trafficked areas such as Manaslu mofuntain, where visitor numbers rose by 117 per cent last year, offers hope that tourism can diversify even more radically.

Local men in Bhada village. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

The founder of CHN, Shiva Dhakal, wants that change. “The whole idea of the Community Homestay Network is to promote experiences outside of trekking,” he says. “Community tourism changes lives and helps kids stay home instead of coming to the city or migrating to the Middle East.”

Ang grew up seeing people leave, “not because they wanted to but because there weren’t enough opportunities to stay”, he states. Yet from remote villages to living traditions; food, art, music and emerging subcultures, “there’s so much that’s not being seen.”

CHN is opening some of those doors. It doesn’t own, or fund, any homes. Rather, it promotes homestays to travellers on a single, slick platform, while fostering entrepreneurship in places where women, marginalised castes, Indigenous people and the youth stand to benefit the most.

A new generation demanding more

Dalla Town Hall, where volunteers discuss anti-poaching tactics. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The future prospects of next-gen Nepalis can no longer be ignored. On a Kathmandu tour with 33-year-old guide Monica K.C, we pass buildings torched in the September 2025 ‘Gen Z protests’, including the Supreme Court and Parliament House. Seventy-two people died. “They were anti-corruption protests,” says Monica. “Politicians’ children are living a lavish life but the airports are crowded with youngsters leaving to find work.”

We stop in ‘little Tibet’ at the wondrous sixth-century Boudha Stupa. “The wheel of life is Buddhism in a nutshell,” says Monica. “Things such as hate, ignorance and anger keep you rotating around the wheel, so you must follow the principles of Buddhism to detach. If you can’t, there’s no nirvana for you.”

Boudha Stupa's prayer wheels — Boudha Stupa’s prayer wheels are used to recite Buddhist prayers. (Credit: Kate Lewis)

In a sun-drenched twist to the usual temple visit, we ascend the stupa’s sloping plinth and roam its whitewashed dome. Tendrils of diaphanous prayer flags stream from a steeple-like structure where the Buddha’s unblinking eyes stare out. No nirvana for you…

bouda stupa prayer flags — Tibetan-style prayer flags embellish the whitewashed dome of Bouda Stupa, a Buddhist temple. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

The dome is delightfully free of guard rails or chiding from security. There is, however, a stern ‘No TikTok’ sign, perhaps in response to the youth’s newly flexed power. The booted-out Prime Minister, K.P. Sharma Oli, was replaced in a resounding election victory in March by 35-year-old Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) – a former rapper and mayor of Kathmandu. The RSP’s manifesto indicates tourism is a priority, and that Nepal’s cultural identity in areas such as gastronomy will be strengthened.

Boudha Stupa vendors — Vibrant souvenir shops and cafes around Boudha Stupa. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

A more confronting stop awaits at Pashupatinath Temple. Today is Bala Chaturdashi, a Hindu festival where thousands of devotees gather to honour their dead ancestors. Vendors hauling foam mattresses do a lucrative trade as people set up for a night of vigil. This includes burning the bodies of recently deceased relatives on bamboo pyres in the Bagmati River, which flows into the sacred Ganges.

A woman at annual Hindu festival Bala Chaturdashi, in Kathmandu. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Wrapped in a shroud, the bodies are positioned with their heads facing north to the Himalayas where Lord Shiva resides. They’re covered with flowers and straw and set alight by male family members.

Hours later, the ashes are swept into the river where devotees will take a holy dip the next day. As much as Monica assures us it’s not voyeuristic to watch, I struggle to do so. “Here you see the reality of life because everyone ends up there,” she says, gesturing to the river.

Life unfiltered in the Terai region

tharu woman — Tharu woman and master weaver Parbati Chaudhary in Bhada Village. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

The reality of life needs processing time, which the western Terai region delivers in spades. The Terai is largely separated from India by the Karnali River and Bardiya National Park, where elephants, rhinos and the elusive Bengal tiger roam.

Once a nomadic tribe, the Indigenous Tharu people are now the largest ethnic group here. “They didn’t know their daily life was interesting for international travellers but they’re starting to understand now,” says CHN founder Shiva.

Take a Jeep safari through Bardiya National Park. (Credit: Bheem Thapa)

We fly Buddha Air to Dhangadhi airport and drive five hours to stay in Tharu homes. The journey to Bhada village is a blur of roadside fruit stalls, traffic-stopping sacred cows and fields sown with wheat, rice, mustard, spinach, cauliflower and potatoes. Nepal’s agriculture feeds only Nepal.

Marigolds are an important part of Hindu rituals. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

“The only thing we export is young people,” says our guide Bikal. As the light dims and we plunge evermore rural, mysterious mounds of compacted hay – some house-sized – loom like the creatures from Where The Wild Things Are. Even our trusty driver gets flummoxed by a dirt road that abruptly ends and we find ourselves hurtling across a paddock.

On arrival, some are ferried to mud-walled cottages greened by gourd creepers, with thatched roofs and rustic-chic mosquito nets. Myself and two others are ushered to the home of corner store owner, mechanic and mushroom farmer Man Kumar Chilaruwa and his wife Rajkumari.

community homestay entrance — A warm welcome at a community homestay. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

They escort us to a bunker-esque back building with steel doors and a folding security gate, behind which is gleaming linoleum, dolphin-printed tiles and a shower cavity that must be gingerly stepped through to reach the toilet.

The ceiling lights emit a rainbow of colours (the bathroom light gets stuck in, frankly, a quite frightening red). We’re nevertheless touched that our hosts invested in all this bling when the average salary is around $275 a month.

In the coming days, we participate in Tharu traditions such as making moonshine, dancing, weaving straw handicrafts and gold-panning. We’re fed well with staples of rice, mustard greens, lentil pancakes, daal, curried chicken and tomato chutney served on antibacterial saal leaves.

food at community homestay — Dig in. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Sonara community homestay president Indradevi Tharu tells us river snails are often served, and the boiled and pickled flesh of rats hunted in the rice fields. “Perhaps next time?” we say and all have a laugh.

The power of community homestays

community homestay owners in Nepal — Barda community homestay owners Parbati Chaudhary and Ram Krishni Devi Chaudhary. (Credit: Simon Urwin)

Immersing Western visitors in foreign cultural practices is not new. But with the Tharu, I never get that uneasy sensation that I’m being performed for. Despite being the only tourists, there’s no ‘othering’; just warm, composed and ultra-dignified welcomes. Like we’ve always been here.

“I love to have travellers in my village so I can see the world,” says local woman Parbati Chaudhary. “Why would I travel the world when the world comes to me?”

The graceful acceptance the Tharu offer, as well as the slow pace, works miracles on my frazzled nervous system. One day I even take a nap on a vacant homestay bed.

Sonara community room — An authentic stay in the Sonara community. (Credit: Kate Hennessy)

Roosters strut and goats bray as we sit on the ground in al fresco kitchens, rolling rice flour into cylinders steamed to make dhikri (dumplings). When water is needed, we fetch it using a hand-operated pump as a family of ducks strolls by, side-eying us like curious neighbours.

Animal lovers will delight in Tharu villages. Kind and resourceful inventions are everywhere, such as snacking stations where two posts lean together, with leafy boughs dangling on rope for baby goats to forage from.

CHN’s CEO, Aayusha Prasain, nods knowingly when one in our group says she cried when she left her host, Shayam Chaudhary, in Bhada. Shayam’s 17-year-old son, Prashant, had translated, which deepened the connection.

“Community tourism turns travel into a relationship, not a transaction,” says Aayusha. “It places decision-making power in the hands of local communities, especially women and youth.” Since 2018, CHN has hosted more than 4000 travellers from 52 countries in 408 households, and estimates women’s participation has increased by 381 per cent.

In the Bardiya community, where vexing human-animal conflict has been a balancing act for decades due to elephants raiding crops, long-time homestay operator Salik Ram Chaudhary says young people keep the older ones on their toes.

“We can’t keep homestays stagnant,” he says. “We have to upgrade our service and redefine our product or young people won’t see it as an attractive business. If we can keep evolving with this travelling trend we’re confident the youths will stay and continue it.”

Back in Kathmandu, Monica explains that after the deaths of young protestors in September, a determination had spread to not let their sacrifice be in vain. “We want to keep holding the government accountable,” she says. “We don’t know what situation we’re facing, but we’re ready to face it.”

Interested in Nepal but prefer to experience it in total comfort? Read our guide to luxury travel in Nepal.

8 Ways to experience Mt Fuji without hiking