Kamakura Day Trip from Tokyo: The Great Buddha, Hase-dera, the Hiking Trails, and Enoshima by the Little Green Train

Kamakura was the seat of Japan's first shogunate from 1185 to 1333, and its temples and shrines sit in a bowl of wooded hills an hour south of Tokyo, beside a surf beach. It is the day trip that feels furthest from the city for the least travel, and it is not a single sight: the 13-metre bronze Great Buddha of 1252, Hase-dera's eleven-headed Kannon and hillside garden, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu's avenue, the zen temples of Kita-Kamakura, and hiking trails that join them through the hills.

Get off at Kita-Kamakura, not Kamakura: walk Engaku-ji and Kencho-ji, the two great zen temples, then over the hill (or a short bus) to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu and down Komachi street for lunch. Take the Enoden train two stops to Hase, see Hase-dera first (the view over the bay from the top terrace) and then the Great Buddha ten minutes' walk up the road. If legs allow, the Daibutsu hiking trail from behind the Buddha climbs through the woods to Zeniarai Benten, the shrine where money washed in the spring is said to multiply, and comes out near the station. That is the full day done by 16:30.

From Hase, the Enoden rattles along the coast to Enoshima in fifteen minutes, past the Kamakura-koko-mae crossing that anime fans photograph. Enoshima island is a causeway, a shrine climb, a lighthouse and, on clear winter days, Mount Fuji across the bay at sunset. Add it if you skipped the hike and it is October to February; in summer the beach crowds make the island slow. Return from Fujisawa or Katase-Enoshima to Shinjuku on the Odakyu line, which avoids repeating the morning route.

A Kamakura-Enoshima pass from JR (Tokyo or Yokohama start) or Odakyu's Enoshima-Kamakura freepass (Shinjuku start) covers the round trip and the Enoden for a little more than the plain fares, and saves queuing. Temple entry is a few hundred yen each; the Buddha's interior is a small extra and takes five minutes. Coins and an IC card cover the day; some small temples do not take cards.

Kamakura is straightforward alone with the plan above. A guide adds the history of the shogunate and the zen temples, which are otherwise just beautiful buildings, and handles the hill paths and bus timings. Private guided days from Tokyo run USD 150 to 300 per group plus train fares; small-group walking tours that meet at Kamakura station cost USD 60 to 100. The Tokyo day trips page compares it with Nikko and Hakone.