We woke up with Mount Fuji in the window—and it changed everything.
There are some experiences that make you look at every other trip differently.
Not because they’re exotic. Not because they’re expensive. But because something inside you quietly clicks back into place.
That’s exactly what Kamakura did to us. My wife and I came here from Tokyo in April—just an hour by train, but it felt like a complete 180-degree change of scenery. And in two days, these four spots on the map changed the way we see Japan as a whole.
Here’s the full story. No filters. With prices.
Where we stayed: Kamakura Prince Hotel
📍 1-2-18 Shichirigahama-Higashi, Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-0025, Japan
When we booked it, we looked at the photos and thought, “Okay, sure, an ocean view—nice.” We didn’t really understand what that meant in real life. Here’s what it actually means: you walk into the room, pull back the curtain, and the first thing you see is the horizon. The whole thing. Sagami Bay, Enoshima Island, surfers out on the water. And off to the right, if the sky is clear—the sharp cone of Mount Fuji.
All 97 rooms have an ocean view. Every single one. No exceptions. From the window, you can see Sagami Bay, Enoshima, and on clear days—Mount Fuji and the Izu Islands.
We chose a Hollywood Twin Room with a view of Mount Fuji and Enoshima. The window runs floor to ceiling. The beds are comfortable. The air conditioning is centrally controlled, so you can’t adjust the temperature yourself—good to know. If you need heat or an extra blanket, they ask you to contact the front desk. We did, and they brought it quickly.
To be honest, the hotel itself is old. This is not a newly renovated design boutique hotel. The rooms are simple, the bathroom is basic, and the building definitely shows its age. Some guests criticize it for exactly that. We get it. But here’s the thing: every morning, we woke up and the first image of the day was a pink-and-blue sunrise over the Pacific Ocean. No “fresh renovation” can replace that.
Couples especially love it here: the location rating for two people is 9.2 out of 10.
What works really well:
The free shuttle to Shichirigahama Station (Enoden) every 30 minutes is a huge plus for getting around. There’s also a small inclined funicular that connects the banquet hall down by the coast with the main building up on the hill. The first time, we got stuck trying to find the lobby on foot up the steep slope—we laughed about it for a long time afterward.
Two restaurants: the French restaurant Le Trianon with panoramic windows, and the Japanese restaurant Onzoshi Kiyoyasutei serving teppanyaki and varieties of Kamakura soba. Light meals and coffee are available at Lounge Ajisai.
Breakfast buffet: ¥4,294 per adult, ¥2,034 per child. Served daily from 7:00 to 10:00. Breakfast with an ocean view is its own ritual. We sat by the window, ate Japanese-style eggs, and quietly watched the water. It was the best morning of the whole trip.
How to get there: from Kamakura Station, take the Enoden to Shichirigahama Station, then use the free shuttle. Or take a taxi—about 15 minutes from the city center.
Day-by-day itinerary
Day 1. Gods, the ocean, and the golden Kannon
My wife and I started early—we left the hotel at 8 a.m. This matters: the main sights start filling up with tourists by 10:00, and the sense of quiet disappears.
Kotoku-in Temple, Great Buddha of Kamakura (高徳院・鎌倉大仏) 📍 4 Chome-2-28 Hase, Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-0016, Japan Admission: ¥300 adults. Hours: 8:00–17:30 (April–September)
You walk through the gate—and there he is. Thirteen and a half meters of cast bronze. The Daibutsu.
He has been sitting here since 1252. There used to be a wooden hall around him, but it was swept away by a tsunami in the 15th century. The Buddha remained. He simply sits there under the open sky. Looking somewhere beyond you. Slightly to the left of the horizon. Toward a place where there are no tourists and no time.
We stood in front of him in silence for about ten minutes. At first it felt awkward. Then it didn’t.
For ¥50, you can go inside the statue—there’s a narrow, dark passage. From inside, through small openings, you can see people walking outside. It’s the kind of feeling your body remembers, not your mind.
Tip: come right at opening time, 8:00 a.m. You’ll have almost an hour before the tour buses start arriving.
Hasedera Temple (長谷寺) 📍 3 Chome-11-2 Hase, Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-0016, Japan Admission: ¥400 adults, ¥200 children. April–June: 8:00–17:30 (last entry 17:00)
Hasedera is a layered world. At the bottom, it begins with a koi pond and the Benten Cave, where dozens of Buddhist deities are carved into the rock in the half-dark. Higher up, there’s a garden filled with hundreds of small Jizo statues, the guardian of children. Each figure is dressed—in knitted caps, tiny aprons. It’s moving in a way that gives you chills.
Higher still is the main hall. Inside stands Kannon: wooden, gilded, 9 meters 18 centimeters tall. The goddess of mercy. They say this very image was pulled from the sea and carved in 721.
And then we stepped out onto the observation deck.
And my wife let out a quiet “wow”—almost a whisper. Below us lay Kamakura. Beyond it, the Shonan coast. Beyond that, the blue infinity of the Pacific Ocean. In April, the cherry blossoms bloom here. Everything turns pink and white against all that blue.
There’s also an extra option—copying sutras with a brush right at the temple. It costs ¥1,200, and the brush is provided free of charge. It’s meditation in its purest form: you sit there, copy the characters, and think about nothing. We spent 40 minutes there and came out feeling like different people.
Day 2. Bamboo silence and cave magic
Hokokuji Temple (報国寺) — the Bamboo Temple 📍 2 Chome-7-4 Jomyoji, Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-0003, Japan Admission: ¥400. Tea house + matcha: ¥400 + ¥600 = ¥1,000. Hours: 9:00–16:00 (last entry 15:30)
Founded in 1334, Hokokuji is surrounded by jasmine and cherry trees, and behind the main hall lies a grove of more than 2,000 bamboo stalks.
Fewer people come all the way out here—it’s a bit far from the station. That’s exactly why it’s quiet. That’s exactly why you should go.
Once you enter the garden, you find yourself on narrow paths between dark green bamboo stalks. The path leads to a tea house where you can drink matcha while looking out at the bamboo.
We got the full set—¥1,000 per person. They brought us a bowl of matcha and a wagashi sweet on a lacquered tray. The bamboo swayed around us. The wind moved through the stalks, and it sounded like something between breathing and music.
My wife said, “I want to come back here.” That says it all.
The atmosphere at Hokokuji transforms you almost instantly—it gives you a sense of peace that’s hard to find anywhere else.
How to get there: take bus No. 23, 24, or 36 from Kamakura Station and get off at Jomyoji (~10 minutes). Entry to the bamboo garden is paid; the temple grounds before it are free.
Zeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Shrine (銭洗弁財天宇賀福神社) — the shrine where people wash money 📍 2-25-16 Sasuke, Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-0017, Japan Admission: free. Open daily from 8:00 to 17:00
The walk there is already part of the experience. You pass through a stone tunnel in the rock, covered in moss, smelling of dampness and something ancient. You come out on the other side and find yourself in a small rocky ravine. Vermilion torii gates, incense smoke, a spring flowing straight out of the stone.
The name translates roughly as “money-washing spring.” According to legend, if you wash your money in the sacred spring here, it will return to you many times over. People come with bills and coins, place them in small bamboo baskets, and lower them into the water.
We washed ours too. Put a few bills in the basket and dipped them into the water.
Funny? Maybe. But in that moment, it didn’t feel funny at all. Something about this place switches off your skepticism. You just believe. At least here. At least for now.
How to get there: about a 25-minute walk from Kamakura Station, following the signs. It pairs well with Kotoku-in—either on the way there or back.
What else we did in Kamakura
A walk along Komachi Street (小町通り) 📍 Komachi, Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-0006, Japan
Four hundred meters of food-fueled chaos between the station and the gate of the main temple. More than 250 shops—taiyaki with different fillings, matcha ice cream, purple sweet potato ice cream, freshly grilled senbei rice crackers, and cedar and bamboo souvenirs. We ate everything in sight and regret nothing. The best time to go is in the morning before 10:00, when it’s still relatively quiet.
Enoden — the retro train along the ocean (江ノ電)
The Enoden One-Day Pass costs ¥800 per person for unlimited rides all day. It’s not just a transit ticket—it’s an attraction in itself. On some stretches, the train runs right next to the water, literally just a meter from the surf. We rode in silence, pressed up against the window. April sea, blooming trees just outside.
At Kamakurakoko-Mae Station, you’ll find that famous railroad crossing from the anime Slam Dunk. These days there’s always a crowd, everyone waiting for the train to get the shot. Come around 7–8 a.m. if you want photos without people.
Shichirigahama Beach (七里ヶ浜) — right by the hotel
Four kilometers of open shoreline. April isn’t beach season yet, but the surfers in wetsuits are already here. We went out every morning just to breathe. Salt, wind, the sound of the waves. And Mount Fuji on the horizon.
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine (鶴岡八幡宮) 📍 2-1-31 Yukinoshita, Kamakura, Kanagawa 248-0005, Japan Admission: free
The main Shinto shrine of Kamakura. The walk there along Wakamiya-oji—a long avenue lined with cherry trees—is a meditation in itself. In April, petals fall onto the pavement nonstop. Tourists stand there with their heads tilted back, and fall silent.
An honest take on Kamakura Prince Hotel
We read hundreds of guest reviews before going. And here’s what matters.
The hotel has been around for a long time—and you can feel it. Some guests say the building clearly needs renovation, especially the bathrooms. That’s true. If you’re expecting the usual kind of luxury at this price point, the math may not work for you.
But here’s what no other hotel in Kamakura has: 97 rooms, and every single one faces the open ocean. The view of the sea, Enoshima, and Mount Fuji from your room isn’t marketing—it’s real. Breakfast with a panoramic coastline view was one of the best experiences of the entire trip.
The staff are friendly, and the free shuttle to the station runs every half hour.
Our conclusion: if modern interiors and a spa matter most to you, stay somewhere else. If you want to wake up with the Pacific Ocean in front of you and feel like you’re living inside a frame from a Japanese film, choose Kamakura Prince Hotel.
Total cost in Chinese yuan ¥ (CNY) for April 2026
April is high season (cherry blossom season). Exchange rate: 1 JPY ≈ 0.047 CNY
Accommodation — Kamakura Prince Hotel, 2 nights for two in a Twin Room with an ocean view: from ¥20,000 to ¥35,000 JPY/night for two → 2 nights: about ¥1,880 to ¥3,290 CNY
Breakfast (2 people × 2 mornings = 4 breakfasts) ¥4,294 × 4 = ¥17,176 JPY → about ¥807 CNY
Admission for two: Kotoku-in — ¥300 × 2 = ¥600 JPY → about ¥28 CNY Hasedera — ¥400 × 2 = ¥800 JPY → about ¥38 CNY Hokokuji (garden + matcha) — ¥1,000 × 2 = ¥2,000 JPY → about ¥94 CNY Zeniarai Benzaiten — free Tsurugaoka Hachimangu — free
Transportation: Enoden O