Today my fiancee and I completed a day trip to Hakone (we are actually sitting in the Romancecar on our way back to Shinjuku right now) and I feel like sharing our experience could have some worth to other people.
We did not want to stay overnight in Hakone as we already have our AirBnB in Shinjuku. I will prefix our experiences with a sentiment (+, o, -) whether it was worth it, it was fine/we had mixed feelings or it was a waste of time/money.
(+) We got the Hakone Freepass (which was great just alone for not having to buy tickets every time: train to Hakone-Yumoto, bus towards lake Ashi, ship across lake Ashi, cable car to Owakudani, cable car to Goura, train back to Hakone-Yumoto, train back to Shinjuku).
For the digital pass you will need a smartphone for each person and a connection to the internet to load the ticket every once in a while when you need it.
(+) We also reserved seats for the first Romancecar at 7:37 am from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto. This was great, as we saw the commuter traffic on the regular lines, which was insane. Our train was very quiet and not even full.
(+) We took the K line bus to Amazake Chaya and got the amazake and some mochi (basically a breakfast for two for 1.800¥). This was such a fantastic and authentic experience, we definitely recommend going here.
(+) Instead of waiting for the bus, we hiked the rest of the path along the old trail, which continues behind the teahouse towards lake Ashi. The path is partly earthy and partly laid with stones, making it fun to walk. There is a warning about black bears living in the area, but we didn’t see any (luckily)
(o) The ship cruise was okay I guess. We aren’t really into ship cruises. It seemed a bit silly to have a pirate ship (pretty sure soemone called it a kaizokusen) on a lake, but that’s probably the fun of it.
(+) The cable car route to Owakudani gives a view of Mt. Fuji which was only a bit clouded today. That was nice.
(+) The sulphur fields are a sight to behold and are very much worth stopping for.
(-) The black eggs (4 for 500¥) which are advertised as prolonging life and such might as well be just eggs painted black. I expected some kind of distinct flavor, but it was just two boiled eggs and a bit of salt.
(+) The Geomuseum (100¥ p.p.) was very interesting, albeit a bit small. However there is lots of general information on hot springs and also historical as well as geographical stuff. The information is also written in English and there is some interactive stuff there. Very much worth a visit.
(o) The cable car route to Goura leads over the sulphur fields. Not much to say here.
(-) Goura did seem like a sleepy village to us. Most restaurants were closed. They seem to be open till around 2 pm and open again in the evening at 5 pm earliest. We got there at around 3 pm, so yeah. We are also very much not into exhibitions like the Open Air Museum so this stop was definitely not exciting for us and a bit of a let down with all the closed restaurants.
(o) The train back to Hakone-Yumoto goes in some kind of zig-zag line and offers some nice views onto the mountain forests. It takes around an hour to fully descend to Hakone-Yumoto.
(o) On a whim, we decided to visit an Onsen and went to Tenseien to get a private Onsen bath. This Onsen hotel is just a short walk away from Hakone-Yumoto station. We had to wait a bit, then got to the bath. Now this is one where we had mixed feelings about. In the bath, we got a beautiful view onto the mountains and the moon (it was 6:30 pm already). The bath itself was relaxing, but also nothing out of the ordinary. We are not sure what we expected ourselves, but it was basically like the thermal baths in our country due to the strong smell of chloride. For a price of around 7.700¥ (~2.800¥ per adult and ~2.000¥ for the private bath) we would not go there again, but are happy to have experienced it still. If you decide to go there, wear nice socks, as you will have to take off your shoes right after the entrance.
(o) While waiting for the Onsen, we looked up the timetables and found a Romancecar back to Shinjuku leaving at 7:50 pm. We booked the tickets online and are now back on our way.
All in all, this day trip cost around 24.000¥ and was among the most expensive days of our journey. I must admit, it was not the greatest day of our vacation, but it was also a unique experience we will surely remember for a long time.
I hope this helps some people looking for more experiences regarding single day trips to Hakone.
12 comments
Thank you for the datailed report! I plan to do mostly the same day trip next month. This helps a lot!
If you don’t mind me asking, how does the Free Pass + Romance Car work? I’ve read that the pass includes the Shinjuku – Odawara round trip, and you need to pay the 1,200 yen surcharge for the Romance Car (which you can reserve online). What do you need to show in the ticket gate to board the Romance Car?
Wouldn’t recommend buying those black eggs, they taste worse than regular eggs and are overpriced.
Thank you for this write-up. We are going in less than a month and Im trying to get the flow of packed days like this in our itinerary. May I ask, for the train back to tokyo did you reserve the romancecar via their main site still?
Edit:typo
Did you take the garish, day-glo pirate ship across the lake that looks like something out of Disneyland? Or maybe the self-propelled boat with the giant swan head?
We’re spending a night in Hakone in a couple of weeks time. As we’ve got a JR Pass already, we don’t need the ticket from Shinjuku. Is there a pass that covers the rest of your itinerary without the train from Shinjuku? I can’t seem to find one online unfortunately.
Thanks for the write up! Been meaning to add Hakone in a future trip of mine. What site were you using to book the romance cars online?
Thanks. Wife and me wanted to go to Hakone but decided to go to Kawaguchiko instead, since we feel like there is much more that you can do (event-wise).
Just for another perspective my wife and I enjoyed the open air museum. There is some interesting art and a great view from the stained glass tower. There is also an entire building of Picasso art and history.
thanks for sharing! i too am planning a full day trip to Hakone! can you advise why you felt it wasn’t the greatest day and what you would have changed/altered to make your trip better? there are so many options and routes to figure out but i am basically planning to do your route but in reverse, starting at arrival at Hakone Yumoto station, then a shuttle to go to an onsen (Yuryo) , then head to Gours station to take the cable car route to Owakudani, but don’t think i will do the pirate ship. although i do want to make it to an area of the lake, and maybe make my way to Hakone Shrine somehow. where are the sulphuric fields exactly – are they at Owakudani station area? also for the Hakone free pass, confirming this works for all buses in Hakone? where did you pick up the physical pass? and you mention a digital pass – is this the Suica card or something else? i have Suica in my Apple wallet ready to go. thank you!!
Nice write up! Recently I hiked from Yumoto to lake Ashi and the [post](https://cogley.jp/2023/09/20/old-tokaido-hike.html) might be helpful to someone.
Thanks! Super helpful, we plan to do a very similar day trip !
We are currently staying at the Prince Hotel on Lake Ashionko. It is beautiful here.