Update: Thank you everyone who responded so thoughtfully. We decided to shorten our stay to afford a nice Ryokan, with a private bath, and meals. I think we will enjoy ourselves more, and then go adventure somewhere else after Hakone.
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Our family of 4 (including a teen and tween) will be in Japan for 15 days in November (mostly Tokyo), and my husband wants to get away from the hubbub for a few days in the middle to relax. We had honed in on Hakone just for easy access from Tokyo, and he likes the onsen, pirate ship, and ropeway. We originally booked a Ryokan with Onsen, but with my sizable tattoo I wouldn’t be able to use the facilities, so we re-booked at a small rental house, but it doesn’t have a hot spring access. We’ve looked for a place with a private onsen, but whoa, $$$. I’m wondering:
1. Is 3 nights too long in Hakone? Is it better to just splurge for a nicer place for 1 night? Is 1 night even worth the hassle, time or transportation etc?
2. Is it better to just get a cheaper place (non-Ryokan) and then try a day onsen like Yuryo? I’m hearing mixed things about the tattoos, that it’s ok in private onsen, but their website clearly says no tattoos.
3. Will having “just a place” that isn’t a Ryokan or spa hotel defeat the purpose of being in Hakone?
4. Is Hakone too sedate/boring for kids? It seems like after the Open-Air museum, the boat and the ropeway there isn’t much for them except hiking? They’re good sports about exploring, and they are foodies, but they don’t really have interest in onsen.
5. Is there a better alternative away from Tokyo for a relax? Nikko? Kawagoe? Kamakura?
Thank you!
11 comments
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1. Three nights is far too long unless you are a very very slow traveler. You’d have to pay me to spend three nights there. IMO only worth it in combination with the onsen / ryokan experience.
2. If it’s a private onsen, how would they know that you have a tattoo…I’d be more concerned about whether the kids want to be naked in front of the adults, at that age they can be very self conscious.
3. There’s some stuff to see in Hakone independent of onsen – Owakudani, lake, potentially a Mt Fuji view etc. Whether or not it is worth it depends on the individual, IMO the ryokan/onsen are part of the overall Hakone experience and the rest are not “special” enough to justify it standalone. For example, if you’ve been to Yellowstone or Iceland then Owakudani will pale in comparison.
4. Yes, see response to #1. Boat is one hour, ropeway is a couple of hours as is open-air museum. So there is a limited amount of things to do if these are their interests.
5. Kawagoe is a half day trip, Kamakura is for a day. Nikko on the Chuzenji side is relaxing but will be barren branches by November.
You should have looked if your ryokan offered kashikiri onsen. Private onsen you can rent by the hour (for free or for a small fee)…
We stopped in Hakone for two nights (iirc, arriving in the evening of the first night) in late November and stayed at a small ryokan. If there were any other guests, we never saw them and so the tattoo thing in the onsen wasn’t an issue. They also did a traditional Japanese breakfast, which was kind of neat. The foliage was really pretty, but there definitely is not much to do there if you’re not into relaxing. We did the boats on lake Ashi and took the ropeway up the mountain, but it was a gray drizzly day so not much of a view. The black eggs taste exactly like regular eggs (lmao).
I really enjoyed my stay but it was all adults in my party. My biggest tip would be to keep in mind that there are no restaurants/places to eat past like… 6:00/7:00. Aside from maybe this little mom and pop place (if it’s still there post-Covid) that was run on the lower level of their house. Again a neat experience, but if your family are picky eaters, it might present an issue.
My husband and I just spent two nights at a ryokan in Hakone last week. We were in Hakone specifically for a driving tour of Hakone Skyline. I felt that 2 nights was the perfect amount of time. We had a private onsen attached to our room so no issues with having tattoos since it was just for our use. Meals were provided by the ryokan, although there were some nearby konbini and a couple cafes. Apart from the driving tour, we mainly stayed in our room and read/relaxed. For 2 nights/2 people, it was $700 USD which wasn’t bad considering the room size, private onsen, and the breakfast/dinner being included.
While at the ryokan, we did witness several groups with kids/teenagers, the kids all seemed extremely bored. From what we could overhear, they were not interested in the onsen or the food the ryokan provided. Yes there are some museums nearby but I don’t know that a kid would get too excited about that. There was a shopping area about 20 minutes away from our ryokan, at Yumoto Station, but public transportation in Hakone is very minimal compared with everywhere else we’ve been in Japan, so getting there wasn’t very convenient.
Overall we enjoyed our stay there, particularly to relax since the rest of our trip was insanely busy, but I think 3 days is probably going to get old and I think your kids would not find it as stimulating as some of the other cities in Japan.
I think two nights is perfect for hakone. I thought it was a very charming place although lacking in the public transport department in comparison to other areas of japan. The buses were often late and traffic was extraordinary after 3pm. In reality you dont have much time in the day if you take i to account having to be back at your ryokan by 6ish if dinner is included. We got much less done than initially planned each day. First day we did open air museum, pola mueseum. second day was the ropeway, which was very fun. Then walked from the last station down lake ashi to hakone shrine. The walk was a highlight as it was absolutely gorgeous out and nice to find a little bit of quiet away from all the tourism. Probably only saw 10 people across the ~2 hour hike/walk.
Then an hour bus ride back to the hotel. Fortunately we had a private onsen and after four days walking Tokyo, were game to sit and soak for hours after our meal.
Hakone Open Air Museum is great to go see and you can take the little train. The resorts there will not allow you to use their onset either. I stayed at Hakone Ryokan Kowakien Ten-Yu and while I could not use the public onset, each balcony had a 1 person spring. The view is amazing, the town is really nice lazy town, walked almost everywhere except the museum, We did three days but arrived late from Nikko
Since it’s several days I recommend spending another ~90 minutes of transit each way and go to Gero Onsen north of Nagoya. It might be a great fit to your Onsen goals, has numerous tattoo friendly Onsen, and is charming, idyllic, and near enough to Takayama to give you a nice day or half day north into several main tourist destinations.
Hakone was a highlight of my Japan trip back in 2017. We left Tokyo in the morning, explored the Gora area upon arrival, and spent 1 night in a ryokan. The next morning, we took the ropeway to Togendai, and took the pirate ship across Lake Ashinoko to Motohakone for a bit more exploring. After a whirlwind of activities in Tokyo, it was such a nice way to relax and meander before another set of busy days in Osaka. I probably could have spent 2 nights max there, but was happy with the 1.
Other than just wandering around, here are some activities I found through Google Maps that I wish I did back in 2017:
* Hakone Craft House has glassblowing, pottery, and other activities.
* You could go fishing at はこね宮城野国際ます釣場. For a fee, they will grill your catch for you.
We booked Gora Hanaougi Sounkaku and the total was JPY 28,000 x 3 guests = JPY 84,000 for a Japanese-style room with a private outdoor onsen, kaiseki dinner, and breakfast. I’m sure prices are very different nowadays, and this particular location closed in 2019 due to typhoon damage. It was our splurge accommodations for the trip, and we thought it was well worth it. We absolutely loved the private onsen. My family and I took turns using it with no problems.
Edit: formatting
3 nights is fine if you really want to take it nice and slow. I did 2 nights and I found it alright, probably would have been a bit bored with 1 more nighr, but its all subjective.
Imo you shouldnt worry too much about the tattoo issue, especially if you’re going to be in an established touristy area like Hakone, and even more so if you’re clearly a tourist and not a Yakuza member. Broadly speaking most hotel onsens are unmanned and unsupervised, guests just head in and use it then leave. There’s no bouncer checking your body on entry. Unless you’re really unlucky, its entirely possible to just go in and use the onsen unimpeded. [Disclaimer: This is very broad advice and by no means a guarantee someone will not kick up a fuss against you]
Also, not sure if there are such facilities in Hakone, but you can look out for hotels/ryokans with private onsens you can book, i.e. not ensuite. So they are open for all guests to use, but only 1-2 guests can use it at any time. They cant stop you if you’re the only guest in the onsen.
I enjoyed Hakone Open Air Museum. it’s better to go right when it opens to avoid the crowd. I really didn’t like owakudani. There’s really nothing to see and do except eat black egg. also the boat tour is very touristy not for me. What I love about Hakone is the peace and quiet. Just walking around with the mountains and trees as your view is really nice.
Another alternative that you can visit aside from the usual Kamakura Nikko Kawagoe Hakone is Karuizawa and Kusatsu.