So my parents and I were in Japan together for our first time and besides sticking around Tokyo, we also wanted to try the hot springs!
Hakone would be a good place to go to for a short getaway while having a holiday in Tokyo. According to a site, it’s the weekend getaway place for people from Tokyo! Hakone is famous for its hot springs, and being for being a beautiful mountainous place that also allows you to view Mount Fuji (Fuji-san)!
So I didn’t really get to explore a lot around Hakone since it was just a day trip but I’ll go through the places that I did go to 🙂
Be warned: this is an extremely long post! I’ve tried to be as detailed as possible!
To start off, here’s a recommendation if you’re expecting yourself to do a lot of travelling around Hakone: The Hakone Freepass.
A 2-days pass. 3-days passes are available too!
It costs about 5000+ yen per person and gives you unlimited access to the following forms of transportation:
- Hakone Tozan Train,
- Hakone Cable Car,
- Hakone Ropeway,
- Hakone Sightseeing Cruise
As well as a few buses in designated zones (which I have never taken so I can’t say much about this)
- Hakone Tozan Bus,
- Odakyu Hakone Highway Bus,
- Numazu Tozan Tokai Bus and the
- “Kanko Shisetsu-Meguri”-Bus
For more info on the Hakone Freepass, you can check out this website:
http://www.hakonenavi.jp/english/freepass/
Getting There {Limited Express Romancecar}
There are of course, various ways to get there (such as by normal train). I’ll just elaborate on the method I’m familiar with – the Limited Express Romancecar from Shinjuku 😀
This brought us straight to Hakone-Yumoto (via Odawara)! 😀
For us, ticket cost was ¥890 per person (for the Limited Express Surcharge). It’s ¥1190 for a normal train fare there but this amount was already covered in our Hakone Freepasses (btw it’s ¥1184 for IC card fare – normal train fare, but paid using IC cards such as PASMO/SUICA)
Seats can be booked online at:
http://www.odakyu.jp/english/romancecar/e_romancecar/
https://www.web-odakyu.com/e-romancecar/
Travel time from Shinjuku Station to Hakone-Yumoto is about 1.5 hours.
I’ll talk more about the journey and train(s) in another blog post, which you can find HERE. {link updated!!}
Hakone Yuryo
http://www.hakoneyuryo.jp/english/
So I picked out this place for my parents and I to experience the hot springs because…
They have private baths. (yes there’s such a thing)
My parents aren’t too used to the idea of public baths so I went to find private baths and violà! Also found out that the English version of their website is actually very detailed about the rates and all 😀 Do take note – if you have a Hakone Freepass, there’s discounts to this place too!
They also have a free shuttle bus service from the Hakone-Yumoto Station (yes, the one where the Limited Express Romancecar stops at) which actually goes along a route that also allows you to stop by a few other tourist spots such as the Hakone Kitahara Toy Museum, Wimpy Resturant & Barbecue, Hakone Putter Golf and Forest Adventure Hakone.
For more information on my experience at Hakone Yuryo, head over to the blog post found HERE. {link updated!!}
You can search on Google for more recommendations on hot springs in Hakone. Since I have one more on my list (actually an entire Microsoft Notebook on it heh heh), might as well share what I know about it!
–> Hotel Green Plaza Hakone <–
So I found about this place while trying to find hot springs that can be used by non-hotel guests and with rates are shown online (since I was kind of budgeting for the trip).
This place features a Natural Hot Spring Bath that overlooks Mount Fuji! Apparently this place is called the “Sengokuhara Onsen” and its one of Hakone’s 17 major hot springs (as stated by their website).
For complete information and the latest prices and opening hours (especially for non-hotel guests), just head right over to their website!
–> http://www.hgp.co.jp/language/english/sp/hotspring.html
Hakone-Yumoto Station
So after returning back from Hakone Yuryo to Hakone-Yumoto Station (the free shuttle bus service brought us back to the pick up point), my parents and I decided to walk around the area near the station to find some sashimi (cravings, and we really wanted to have sashimi while we were in Japan).
Basically the area in/around/near the station comprises of shops selling snacks and souvenirs (Hakone-no-ichi), shops selling soft serve ice cream, a few restaurants, etc. On another side, you can find a taxi stand and the Tourist Information Centre behind it. The Tourist Information Centre has quite a few brochures and maps and there are staff whom you can ask directions from. There’s also a Tozan Bus Information Centre where you can info on recommended courses for sightseeing buses!
Errr food?
Okay so I can’t say much about this since we specifically wanted sashimi so I’ll share about where we found it at although it’s kinda out of the way xD
We took a cab (yes that’s pretty pricey; but really – travelling around on the road really gave us a good look at the more cramped-up areas like hotels and small roads and all) to this place called Yunosato Okada (湯の里 おかだ) https://goo.gl/maps/apgBsDw1mET2 😀 It’s pretty deep in with a few hotels nearby. But since we were on a tight schedule (had an evening train to catch back to Shinjuku!) we took a cab in, and then out (with the help of the hotel’s front desk).
The restaurant we ate at was Yamabiko (山彦) – located on the 2nd floor. The view’s great and so was the food! A very quiet place with lots of sunshine 🙂
http://www.yunosato-y.jp/dining/index.html
Hakone Sightseeing Cruise
Accessible from 3 ports: Hakone-machi Port, Moto-Hakone Port and Togendai Port.
Approximate duration of travel:
- 10 mins between Moto-Hakone and Hakone-machi
- 30 mins between Moto-Hakone and Togendai
- 30 mins between Hakone-machi and Togendai
The Sightseeing Cruises are known to be designed like ships in fairytales. 3 different models of the Cruises in total – Royal II, Victory and Vasa.
We traveled to Motohakone-ko after lunch by taxi, since we had to make it for the next scheduled departure from Motohakone or wait for another 50mins and probably be late for our train back (it’s really interesting to travel around on the mountainous roads of Hakone – sharp turns, beautiful scenery, etc).
Unfortunately it was a very cloudy day and visibility wasn’t the best so we couldn’t see Mount Fuji 😦 But the view was nice anyway and the ride on the cruise was fun! 😀
On board, you can access the top deck to enjoy the scenery and breeze, or purchase snacks and souvenirs from the store! 🙂
For details on the schedule (varies between on and off season), travel time or fares (if you’re planning to travel around without the freepass) check out http://www.hakone-kankosen.co.jp/foreign/en/timesheet/index.html .
And for more info you can also head over to:
http://www.hakonenavi.jp/english/basics/transportation/sightseeing-cruise.html
Hakone Ropeway
Also known as “Cable Car” to some of us in countries like Singapore, the Hakone Ropeway gives you a really nice and elevated view of a large area of Hakone (including Lake Ashi, where the Sightseeing Cruise was on) and Mount Fuji (which I didn’t get to see at all T-T).
Stations covered are:
- Togendai (where you can change to/from the Sightseeing Cruise),
- Ubako,
- Owakudani (that’s where those black eggs are.. and volcanic activity including volcanic gas and sulfur ~) and
- Souzan.
If you’re taking the Ropeway starting from Togendai, that’ll be an upwards travel (literally, by about 300m higher) till Owakudani, then downwards (approx 300m) to Souzan.
Time taken to travel: About 30mins in total, with equal durations to travel between stations. Interval between each gondola is about 1min and can take between 10 to 20 passengers each time.
For more info on the fares, hours of operations, etc – head over here:
http://www.hakonenavi.jp/english/basics/transportation/ropeway.html
http://www.hakonenavi.jp/english/traffic/transportation/ropeway/
http://www.hakoneropeway.co.jp/foreign/en/
Hakone-Tozan Cable Car
Also known as “Tram” to some of us, the Hakone-Tozan Cable Car links both Gora and Souzan Stations. It’s a quick ride, with a few stops along the way (Souzan –> Kami-Gora –> Naka-Gora –> Koen-Kami –> Koen-Shimo –> Gora) that brings accessibility to places such as hotels, Hakone no Yama, etc. It operates along a steep slope (be careful when you’re at Souzan Station and walking down to the platform – I was afraid I’d trip and start rolling down). Seats in the Cable Car aren’t sloped by the way :P.
Time taken to travel: About 10mins in total – approx. 2mins between each station. But I’d give your planning about 5mins more just in case.
For more info on the timetable and fares, head over here:
http://www.hakone-tozan.co.jp/en/
http://www.hakonenavi.jp/english/traffic/transportation/tozancablecar/
Hakone Tozan Train (aka Hakone Tozan Railways)
One big tip (though I might be wrong): When at Gora Station, sit at the seats which are NOT nearest to the platform. You’ll probably get a slightly better view than I did ><. It’s hard to look at the opposite view since the trains will get pretty crowded in the evening if you’re not one of the first few to board.
Time taken to travel: About 40mins in total
For more info, head over here:
http://www.hakone-tozan.co.jp/en/
http://www.hakonenavi.jp/english/traffic/transportation/tozantrain/
And don’t forget! For the Sightseeing Cruise, Ropeway, Cable Car and Tozan Train, you can use your Hakone Freepass for free and unlimited access ^_^ !
Finally, here is a list of useful websites (in general) that you can explore around to get lots of info especially if you’ve never been to Hakone before:
- http://www.hakonenavi.jp/english/
- http://www.hakone-tozan.co.jp/ (you can select the English language option from the top right corner – try exploring around the Japanese version of the site though! It might give a lot more small details)
- http://www.hakone-kankosen.co.jp/foreign/en/index.html
- http://www.hakonenavi-m.jp/pc/search/service-info/search030.php?lang=en – this site shows updated info on the different forms of transportation and their availability. Take note of this especially for areas around the volcano! Volcanic activity might affect operations and notices are available on this site.
- https://www.odakyu-travel.co.jp/eng/hakone/index.html
- http://www.odakyu.jp/english/deels/freepass/hakone
- http://www.odakyu.jp/english/destination/hakone/
- http://www.odakyu.jp/english/lp/hakone/
I hope all these info have been useful to you, dear reader! 😀
Have fun in Hakone! ^_^
spreadyourwingsandflyy 
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