Planning for our first trip to Hakone happening this November! We need advice on how to go about doing the Hakone loop without missing our shinkansen to Osaka. These are the options i came up with, but looking to see if anyone has some tips or ideas on how to arrange things in a way that makes sense.
(Mon) Nov 4 (TOKYO -> HAKONE)
-check out of hotel early morning
romance car from Shinjuku to Hakone Yumoto station (1.5 hr)
Hakone ver. 1:
Hakone Yumoto station > Tozan bus to Hakone shrine > Motohakone-ko pirate ship across Lake Ashi to Togendai > Hakone ropeway from Togendai to Owakudani > Hakone ropeway to Sounzan, transfer to Hakone Tozan cable car to Gora station
OR
Hakone ver. 2:
check out shops at Hakone Yumoto station > Bus to Gora (check into ryokan) > Open Air Museum > Back to ryokan
spend night at ryokan in Gora (check in by 7 pm)
(Tue) Nov 5 (HAKONE -> OSAKA)
checkout of ryokan in the early morning (latest checkout is at 10 am)
explore Hakone
Hakone ver. 1 pt 2:
Open Air museum near ryokan, check out shops around Hakone Yumoto before leaving from Odawara station
OR
Hakone ver. 2 pt. 2:
Cable Car from Gora station to Owakudani > stop in Owakudani > Ropeway from Owakudani to Togendai > Ship across Lake Ashi to Hakone shrine > Tozan bus to Hakone Yumoto > Hakone Yumoto to Odawara station
Hikari shinkansen to Osaka from Odawara station (LAST TRAIN LEAVES AT 6 PM) (2.5 hrs)
check into hotel in Osaka
by littledotorimukk
2 comments
Both seem workable to me. However since the Hakone Loop takes more time than the Open Air Museum, you might want to do the Loop on the first day.
You might need to recalibrate a bit if you are carrying luggage. Either deposit at lockers at Hakone Yumoto or at the ryokan (in which case you could do the loop in reverse order from what you mentioned).
I also agree that both are good options. When we visited, we followed something similar to your version one.
I’d suggest shipping your luggage ahead bc it may be challenging to move around with all the luggage on the bus