We live in Japan so our travel priorities are a little different than others on here, but since I travel with a young kid I like to write up information in case it’s useful for someone else. Traveling with a 4 year old, mom and dad, and grandma and grandpa. One of us speaks Japanese.
We decided on a quick midweek trip to Hakone-en during the school vacation time (late March). I’ve been to Hakone a number of times over the years, but always as a solo traveler. By myself I’m more adventurous, but with a kid now I try to stick to more beaten paths as it makes my “vacation” (hah!) a bit less stressful.
Took Shinkansen to Odawara, and then a 45 minute taxi ride to the hotel. Next time I’d do the free shuttle bus, not only due to price, but because I hate taking taxis with my kid without a car seat (especially due to being on the highway, twisty roads, etc). Its one of the difficulties of living in Japan that I’ve partly made my peace with, but I avoid it when possible.
Arrived at the hotel ([The Prince Hakone Ashimoto](https://www.princehotels.co.jp/the_prince_hakone/)), easy check-in and our rooms were already ready! Rooms had a great view of the lake (amaaazing views), and were quite spacious with a couch and sitting area. While they had some kid’s amenities, I was disappointed with the lack of a toilet seat adapter and step stool for the bathroom. Super annoying for obvious reasons.
Parents chilled out while grandparents took kid to the little [petting zoo](https://hakone-hugzoo.com). Honestly I find these places a little sad in Japan, and this was no different, but kid was enthralled with all the rabbits, and they had a large number of small dogs, which seemed to be the biggest hit.
We did dinners both nights at the buffet— nice mix of Japanese and Western dishes (sushi, roast beef, Soba noodles). We liked the variety, but it was not really up to the level of some of my favorite resort hotel buffets (my favorite so far is Hoshino Resorts Atami). Kid had the kid’s plate the first night (pasta, hamburg steak, French fries, etc), but we didn’t order it the second night since honestly she liked the regular buffet salmon dish and plain soba best.
Breakfasts were also at the buffet. If we didn’t have kid with us we would have done Japanese set breakfast at one of the hotel’s other restaurants, but kid likes bread so… Breakfast buffet had good build your own ramen, which is basically what I ate every morning!
We only had one full day, with nothing concretely planned— the idea was to follow kid’s lead. The morning was spent doing petting zoo and [aquarium](https://www.princehotels.co.jp/amuse/hakone-en/suizokukan/) in the morning (get the combo ticket. You can also get free reentry for the whole day which is key with little kids). Aquarium is again, a bit sad, but kid liked the fish and the seal show. At the end of the seal show kid promptly announced she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go back to the hotel so we were thankful that was only a five minute walk away.
In the afternoon she miraculously perked up and we decided on trying the [Komagatake Ropeway](https://hakone-japan.com/things-to-do/sightseeing/the-komagatake-ropeway/), since she loves the Air Cabins in Yokohama. Again, it was a five minute walk from the hotel, which was awesome. The Ropeway was a huge hit! Going up high into the sky, and then running around at the top was amazing. She even hiked up to the little shrine at the top of the hill. Sadly it was a bit cloudy, but there was still a spectacular view. Kid loved using the viewing scopes (bring you ¥100 coins!) Definitely glad we had our warm clothes, it was chilly at the top.
Before dinner grandparents babysat while husband and I took and hour to chill in the onsen. Baths were nice, but I guess the men’s side had a better view than the women’s side. I would have liked a few more toiletries (I always love trying new stuff out at the onsen), but other than that, a very enjoyable hour chilling out.
The next day we decided to take a quick walk by the lake before breakfast and finally got a decent view of Fujisan! It’s so tough with the clouds and we had been missing out, so everyone was quite happy. Kid enjoyed attempting to feed the ducks some leaves (lol) while adults played shutterbug.
After breakfast, packing up and checking out, we left our bags with the front desk and took a [ferry ride on Ashinoko](https://hakone-japan.com/things-to-do/sightseeing/hakone-ashinoko-lake-ashi-boat-cruise/). We opted for the regular ferry as the pirate ship departed from a different port. It was quite nice, though kid declared herself bored halfway through. If we had a full day I would have taken it one way and explored the other side of the lake (go to the sekisho or something) before heading back, but oh well. Got some nice shots of Hakone jinja’s famous torii from the water.
Lunch was at a touristy donburi restaurant, which was nothing special, but I enjoyed a serviceable shirasu and negitoro donburi and they were nice enough to accommodate kid’s request of plain udon with kamaboko.
Then we simply hopped on the shuttle bus and headed home. Kid fell asleep on the bus ride, while adults enjoyed the beautiful sakura trees dotting the hillside.
All in all a pretty easy and stress-free trip. I would definitely have done it differently if it was just adults, but we enjoyed the ease of being at a large hotel in a touristy area. Lots of slightly cheesy kid amenities such as a bounce house (¥300 for 20 min) and a sketchy drivable/rideable panda which was basically her favorite thing ever. Between that and the gachapon machines, many ¥100 coins were spent. Staff at the hotel were great, and I even saw them making up some onigiri for a family whose toddler didn’t eat much at breakfast so they could take it with them.
Kid definitely wants to go back, and the adults (especially the ones who don’t live in Japan) really enjoyed themselves and want to return to Hakone as well. Next time we’ll definitely explore the sekisho and do the pirate ship, and I really want to take her to the Open Air Museum, but for now, this was a nice chill trip without exhausting anyone too much.
4 comments
Thanks so much for your post!!!! We will be going to Hakone with a child and it’s the part of the trip I’m most nervous about!! I have spent more time researching than we’ll actually spend in Hakone! For a long time, I had planned to try to do the full cycle and stay in Yumoto but now I’m kind of freaking out if that would be too much for my child and changed my reservation to Hanaori right by the pirate ship, then do pirate ship in the morning and make our way to Odawara.
My child is quite a bit bigger so he uses a booster seat but he’s ok without one. Do you think in that case a taxi back to Odawara is a good idea? I couldn’t believe how long the bus ride was, and I imagine it’s pretty twisty with lots of stops. Did you have issues finding a cab at the station? I’m wondering if we could hunt one down when we got off the ship at Motohakone… guessing we’d have to call one or just take the bus? We’ll be trying to go to Kyoto that day so anything that makes it easier and prevents meltdowns would be great.
I really want to make it to the Open air museum too!! Don’t know if that will be doable. You’re lucky to have some grandparents there to babysit 😂
Another great spot to stay in Hakone with kids is this ryokan. We stayed with our then 5 year old and she loved it.
https://www.yusaka.jp/s/index.html
I REALLY appreciate your trip reports. I still remember your Atami post.
I think a lot of users in the sub skew closer to age 20s, no kids travel so it’s very nice to see a trip report that focuses on traveling with a toddler.
Thank you and hope you’ll continue to share what it’s like to travel with kids.
Ah just reading this brought back fond memories of the recent trip with my wife to Hakone, we went during off peak in January when most of the stuff like the ship and shops stopped service for Winter so it’s nice to know how it’s like when it’s during Spring. I definitely would not recommend going to Hakone during Winter season IF you are planning to bring kids, it would have been a travelling nightmare for you.