Can anyone answer a few questions about Hakone?
how easy it is to get around Hakone? (We are staying in Odawara very close to the train station). Should we rent a car or use public transit? (3 of us traveling)
Would the Hakone Free pass work for these locations? Here’s a rough idea of what we’re thinking of doing. We have more time in the region if anyone has more suggestions too! 🙂
Day 1 – Hakone open air museum; hakone shrine; mishima skywalk; Atami (maybe if there’s time); back to odawara. (may need a rental car for this day?)
Day 2 – Hakone ropeway, Owakudani; old Tokkaido road, cedar avenue; Tatsumi garden for lunch; Amazake-chaya teahouse for tea/sweets
Day 3 – Hiking along the Haya river, sakura trees; Hakonetsuri bridge; Hakone Yuryo onsen or Tenzan Onsen; which is better? We are staying in an airbnb so need a day use or public onsen.
​
We also want to see the Jogasaki Coast and will be staying in Shimoda later in the trip. Would it be better to see it from Hakone or from Shimoda? We will have a car the whole time in Shimoda but it looked like a bit of a trek.
thanks so much! I really appreciate any help
9 comments
I only went to Hakone for a single day last time I went, but we had no problem with public transport with Hakone itself. We did the full circuit of Hakone Ropeway, Owakudani, Lake Ashi, Hakone Shrine, and then a ryokan for the night. There was a local bus that took us pretty close to our ryokan and we did a lot of walking!
The Hakone area is a bit sprawling – it was about a 30-40 minute bus ride from Odawara station to Gora, which is where you’ll find the Open Air Museum and the cable car to the ropeway. Fortunately our Gora hotel had a shuttle that transported us to and from Odwara.
There’s a local train as well but we didn’t take it. I bet it’s a really scenic trip, but I have no idea how long it is.
Was recently in hakone and used the free pass was great for the rope ways, trains, buses, and lake cruises. However it’s a bit of a trek from odawara up to gora so if your not staying in hakone itself it would be a decent trip in to the area everyday using public transportation.
Used the bus mainly to get to Mishima skywalk and back found it a lot more difficult to figure out which stop to get on/off than when using the trains.
There is a Toyota RentaCar beside Odawara Station, maybe 200m away from the Shinkansen.
We are in our early 50’s
We drove in via the Hakone Turnpike and drove around Hakone for 2 days. It is the same side of the road as Australia, so pretty easy.
Our first day in Hakone was all fog, so we didnt see much and our second day was windy and freezing so we did not go to the open air museum or do that many outdoor activities. Having the car was a great base, was a great break from public transport and we would easily make the same decision again to get the car and to visit Hakone.
‘Ashinoko skyline’ – Great
Mishima Sky Walk – ok
Hakone Venetian Glass Museum (Glass Forest) – better than expected
old Tokkaido road, cedar avenue – Looked Great
​
We stayed at
Hakone Kowakien Mikawaya Ryokan – Good
Kijitei Hoeiso – Amazing
​
We had lunch at
La Terrazza – Great Italian place
Bakery & Table – super crowded – if it was less crowded then great
I did a counter clockwise trip through the area and stayed at the Hotel Green Plaza (ryokan / onsen). Then day 2, lake ashi, the tori gate, got some dessert at the Port Town and went to the aforementioned chaya.The hakone pass covered everything.
Owakudani was beautiful but do be warned it is a sulfur vent (smells like rotten eggs!). The staple black coloured charcoal egg is just a boiled egg. Nothing special about it.
I did enjoy the Open Air Museum the most. Lovely area. If I could go back, I would do it clockwise and stay at the port town on the first night. Day 2: Heiwa Tori early in the morning, pirate ship ferry, Owakudani, Gora, Open Air Museum and head out.
The open air museum is a 5 minute walk from the ropeway so makes way more sense to do those at the same time tbh. You may as well get the boat at the bottom of the ropeway and do the old tokkaido road after that – it makes sense as a bit of a loop.
You can do it all in one day.
Check to see if your hotel has a direct shuttle to/from Hakone Yumoto Station or Odawara Station. Mine did and it was a huge time saver (it did require reservation though so I had to call and reserve ahead of time). Otherwise, depending on where you stay, it can be a real time consuming hike involving buses, trains, or cable cars and possibly needing to transfer at some points and even more challenging if you have luggage. (There is a great luggage transfer service at Hakone Yumoto though that will send your luggage on to your hotel for you though and I imagine that’s really helpful for those who want to take the long scenic route but without the luggage! It’s beautiful, for sure, but all things to keep in mind. Public transport ends early, like by 6, so that can be limiting as well. All that said, Hakone is beautiful and well worth it, just takes some preparation and research ahead of time (which I appreciate you’re doing now!)
I’ve been a few times, and the first time debated doing a stay trip or just one night. Now, I’d recommend doing a 2 night stay, it alleviates the pressure to do and see and get everywhere in time, when it’s a place you deserve to enjoy some leisure!
Hakone is well connected and has a pretty good public transportation system. With that said, you’ll have to be prepared to do a fair bit of walking and allocate travel and wait times getting between each place.
I rented a car and I’m so glad I did. It saved me a lot of time and I was able to see a lot more in Hakone than if I relied on just public transportation. However, if you’re driving, then you must be prepared for traffic and paying for parking where necessary.