Going to Japan in May for about 3 weeks and the current itinerary is as follows:
4 Days in Tokyo -> 5 Days in Kyoto (one day reserved for a daytrip to Nara) – > 4 Days in Osaka -> 3 days in Hiroshima -> 3 days in Hakone -> 4 Days in Tokyo
Now, we’ve started filling out our plans for the days with all the attractions and places that we want to see, but afterwards, I realized that I probably made a mistake.
To be more precise, I’m talking about the Hiroshima -> Hakone part of the trip.
The plan for Hakone was to go to the Open Air Museum in the first day after arriving from Hiroshima and then explore for a bit, but mostly chill in the area.
For the 2nd day, we want to visit: Owakudani Station -> Togendai Station -> Pirate ship -> Hakone Shrine -> Komagatake Ropeway Top Station / Mototsumiya Shrine -> some chilling at Onshi-Hakone Park and then going back to the Ryokan
For the 3nd day, not a lot will happen in Hakone as we plan to leave very early and spend most of the day in Kamakura before going back to Tokyo.
So… here’s the problem. When making up the plans, I didn’t realize how much time it takes to get from Hiroshima to Hakone. Based on Google Maps, it takes about 5 hours to get from our hotel in Hiroshima to the ryokan in Hakone using public transport.
Fortunately, our Ryokan provides a free shuttle service from Odawara to the accommodation, which helps in shortening the travel time but.. there’s another problem.
The shuttle from Odawara to Ryokan only leaves at 2 separate times: 12:00PM and 3:00PM, with each option having its drawback.
If we want to catch the 12:00PM shuttle, we need to leave Hiroshima at 7:00-ish AM. This means we’re probably gonna be destroyed for the rest of the day and I’m worried that we’re gonna feel tired for the remainder of the trip due to the lack of sleep.
If we want to catch the 3:00PM shuttle, we’ll leave at a more reasonable hour, but we’ll get to our accommodation way too late, since the Open Air Museum closes at 5PM.
We thought about moving the Open Air Museum to the 2nd day after the whole plan listed above, but I’m not sure how feasible that would be and we’d rather not rush things. At the same time, we don’t want to miss it.
Sooo.. I guess the only option is taking the 12:00PM Shuttle and waking up super early right? Are there any other better options that I’m missing?
Thanks!
EDIT: Forgot to mention that the Open Air Museum is within 15 minutes of walking distance from the Ryokan where we’re staying at
by GoToNap