Hi all. I’ve got a couple of queries I wanted to clarify on my upcoming trip to Hakone. I will be staying overnight at Hakone Yutowa:
1 – I have already purchased my Romancecar ticket (leaves Shinjuku at 8am on the Sunday). Even if after staying overnight in Hakone, I am travelling on to Kyoto (i.e. not coming back to Tokyo), I should still buy the Round Trip Hakone Free Pass as it includes the fare portion from Shinjuku? I want to leave nothing to chance (hence the intense planning here) as it’s going to be a very early start on this day considering I’m coming from Ueno to Shinjuku first!
2 – I’n following an itinerary which I’d guess others on here would’ve seen a million times before **however I’m trying to also slot in Hakone Open Air Museum, Amazake Tea House and doing a portion of the Old Tokaido trail.** Where would these slot into this schedule (maybe point 3 helps add more to this).
1. Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto
2. Hakone Tozen Railway to Gora
3. Walk to drop off bags at hotel
4. Hakone Tozan Cablecar to Sounzan
5. Hakone Ropeway from Sounzan to Owakudani
6. Food
7. Hakone Ropeway from Owakudani to Togendai
8. Lake Ashi Boat from Togendai – **which stop at this point (Hakone-Machi or Moto-Hakone) for what I have mentioned I want to add?**
9. Walk to Hakone Shrine
10. Walk to Hakone Tozan Bus back to Gora
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3 – The Old Tokaido trail portion I am following the instructions per [the Japan Guide.](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5205.html) After Amazake Tea House, it mentions to walk to Hatajuku and go no further as it is not very scenic afterwards. Is it obvious when this point is?
4 – I am a fairly active traveller and haven’t gauged how long the above would realistically take. As I am staying over in Gora, is there any more space in the itinerary to add some more walking/visits? I saw Gora Park and also Onshi Hakone Koen Park looked nice, or potentially more hiking?
Sorry for how obvious some of these questions may seem to others – this is the first day trip of my overall trip to Japan and I want to be relaxed going into it and not stressing on the morning of (which will already be an early one!)
Thanks
3 comments
1. If you are starting in Ueno it is faster / cheaper to take the local JR train (~1h30min) from Ueno to Odawara and then pick up the Hakone Free Pass (the version starting in Odawara), than going via Shinjuku. The Romancecar is more comfortable seating, but even with the local train you should be able to get a seat at Ueno or Tokyo as most people disembark there in the morning.
2. Moto-Hakone, but see my response to #4
3. The section that is not along the road seems to end at “旧東海道（箱根旧街道）橿木坂” on Google Maps (name only shows up in kanji on my end).
4. If you are staying at a ryokan you will need to return by 5:30/6pm for dinner. Look up the last bus from Moto-Hakone that you will need to catch to make this deadline, and do a time check around Steps 5 and 8 to rearrange as needed. If you find yourself having more time, get off the boat at Hakone-Machi and walk via the lakeshore back via Onshi-Hakone Park.
Have a backup plan in case the ropeway and boat services are suspended due to weather. This happened to us last week when it was raining/strong wind. We basically couldn’t do step 5 through 10 on your list because of this. But the Gora Park was surprising cool to visit. There’s a craft house in the park where you can sign up for fun craft classes if the weather is bad.
You can buy the hakone free pass without the train fare from Tokyo once you get into the pass zone. It’s slightly cheaper and since you already have the romance car booked the more expensive one seems like a waste in my opinion.