Mount Fuji views. A visit to an onsen. Torii gates set against a picturesque lake. This is Hakone. The beautiful region less than 2 hours from Tokyo. In this post, we’ll detail our Hakone 2 day itinerary. The wonderful things we did and our top tips to help you explore.
On our most recent trip to Japan, we set aside a few days to explore Hakone and relax at an onsen hotel. It was a refreshing few days and a nice escape from the city travels.
This won’t be a comprehensive list of all the different activities you can do in Hakone, or cover the multitude of places you can stay. It’s a large area, and it will be impossible to list them all. Instead, we’ll detail our experience of staying in Hakone for 2 days and 1 night. Our top tips and things we might have done differently. It will hopefully provide you with some inspiration to develop your own itinerary for 2 days in Hakone.
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Planning our Hakone 2 day itinerary: Where to stay
One of the biggest decisions to make when planning our 2 days in Hakone was where we would stay. Hakone is a large area with wide ranging accommodation options. We wanted to stay in a place with an onsite onsen and good transport links.
Our decision was made a little easier by the fact that we planned our trip so late. We only booked our flights to Japan a week out from departure. Our itinerary had us in Hakone on a Friday night, in quite a popular travel season. Given a lot of the best accommodation options in Hakone are small guesthouses, they do book out early. There were only a handful of options left.
All of the above led us to the decision to stay at Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori. This property has an enviable position right along Lake Ashi, one of the key attractions of Hakone. It is situated a short walk from Togendai station, which we found was a superb location transport-wise. Togendai is a transfer station where you can move between the Hakone Ropeway and the boats that circle Lake Ashi (more on transport later!).
The property positions itself as a modern ryokan with an onsite onsen. There are even some rooms offering up private onsens, some with Lake Ashi views. It looked the perfect spot for a short wellness escape with the ability to mix in exploration.
One of the reasons there were still rooms left at this property was due to its sheer size: there are 154 rooms. In addition, the property is quite pricey, particularly on weekends. We had a voucher to use, so we used that to put towards this little splurge.
Not sure how much to budget for your Japan trip? We’ve got you covered with our Japan money guide.
Planning our Hakone 2 days itinerary: The Hakone Free Pass
Now to the best budget decision of the trip: the purchase of the Hakone Free Pass.
We did some research in advance of our trip and were a little confused as to whether we should purchase the Hakone Free Pass. Despite the name, it’s not free, but ¥4700 per person for 2 days. It provides round trip transfer from Tokyo on local trains, unlimited travel in the Hakone area, plus discounted access to some attractions. As we were planning on spending some time in the hotel and at the onsen, we weren’t sure if we would have the time over our 2 days in Hakone to use the pass to its full potential. Spoiler alert: it was definitely worth it!
We decided to wait until the morning of our departure and discuss our options with the staff at the Odakyu Sightseeing Service Centre at Shinjuku West. This office has English speaking staff and are super helpful. We advised the staff member where we were staying and he took us through the options. We decided to purchase a 2 day Hakone Free Pass. Whilst the pass does include a round trip transfer either by bus from Shinjuku station or on the local trains, we opted for an upgrade to the Romance Car train. It costs ¥1100 per person each way for the upgrade. It takes just over 90 minutes to reach Hakone Yamuto station on the Romance Car.
In total, we spent about 30 minutes at the service centre. There was enough time for us to meet the next train which departed at 9.20am. It was a non-busy period, and we realised that if we had left it later, a large chunk of our day would have been waiting to purchase the Hakone Free Pass. If we did it again, we’d purchase ahead of time via Klook, which you can do before you depart.
Note: the Odakyu Romance Car is not the only way to travel to Hakone from Tokyo. If you’re in possession of a JR Pass, you can ride on the Tokaido Shinkansen for part of the journey. The trains depart from either Tokyo station or Shinagawa station, and you need a service that stops at Odawara. From Odawara you can transfer to the local trains on the Odakyu line using your Hakone Free Pass.
Need a JR Pass? Klook has you covered for this too, so you can book before you head to Japan. Find out more details about booking your JR Pass here.
Planning our Hakone 2 days itinerary: Getting around Hakone
One thing we love about Japan, is how easy it is to get around on public transport. Hakone is no different. Even with 8 different types of transport, everything appears to work flawlessly.
When you purchase the Hakone Free Pass, it gives you unlimited access to 8 different modes of transport in the Hakone area. This includes the local train, bus, an aerial ropeway, cable car and sightseeing cruise. It sounds confusing at first, but we realised that the journey to get to our hotel was part of the Hakone sightseeing experience. This Hakone Map will show you how to get around.
All the different modes of transport work to meet each other at different locations for a perfect hand off. You can explore Hakone in a pre-defined loop, which is perfect if you’re just doing a day trip.
In our case, there had unfortunately been a bad typhoon in the area in the months prior to our visit. Buses replaced the cable car and the Hakone Tozan train. We decided that once we arrived at Hakone-Yumoto station, we’d decide which way we’d make it to our hotel.
Our 2 days in Hakone: what we did and explored
The Romance Car to Hakone
With our train tickets in hand, we proceeded to the platform for the Odakyu Romance Car. Before you get there, the ticket machines are a good watch out. You need to insert both your train ticket and your Hakone Free Pass. Magically on exit, despite putting both in at the same time, the ticket collection booth knows to spit out your Hakone Free Pass and keep your train ticket.
Now I know it’s called the Romance Car, but we were disappointed to find there was nothing really romantic about it. I’m not sure what we were expecting! The train is older but somewhat luxurious with wood panelling. There is enough room in the luggage storage above your head to easily fit backpacks like ours (carrying 12 and 15 kilos respectively).
Your ticket is a reserved seat. You also have the option of reserving your seat on the way back. We opted for a later return. If we arrived at the train station early, we could simply exchange it for an earlier departure at no extra cost.
Arrival at Hakone-Yamuto station
After a seamless journey (gosh I love train travel in Japan!), we arrived at Hakone-Yamuto station. It’s a fairly small station, so you can say goodbye to those big/easy to get lost in stations of Tokyo.
Exiting the station, we instantly see copious amounts of Odakyu staff. I’m not sure if there were more staff than normal due to the transport disruptions. Even still, it’s a small area and fairly easy to see where you should be going.
After some discussion with the staff, they advise us that the easiest path to our hotel is to take a bus to Sounzan station, then the Ropeway to Togendai. They grabbed our bags and proceeded to load them directly on the next bus. They were super kind and friendly and wouldn’t let us lift a finger.
Normally, the journey to Sounzan would be taken via the Hakone Tozan Train and the Cable Car. We are a little bummed we didn’t get to ride the cable car. But the bus journey still provided gorgeous views of the Hakone region.
The Hakone Ropeway
The bus to Sounzan dropped us directly in front of the ropeway entrance. This is exactly what I meant by those seamless drop offs and transfers!
The ropeway is an aerial lift that transports you to Togendai on a gondola. The gondola took about 10 people, but there was only us and 2 other couples in ours.
Along the journey, there is an audio guide in Japanese and English, telling you all about the ropeway and what we’re about to experience. The journey from Sounzan to Togendai takes about 30 minutes, with a transfer required at Owakudani.
A few minutes out from Owakudani, we start to smell the distinctive sulphur. Then the billowing steam is right there, as the gondola makes its way directly over the sulphur fields. I hadn’t realised this is where the ropeway took us, and it’s a wonderful surprise.
On arrival at Owakudani, we depart the gondola and make our way out to the viewing platform. It’s quite incredible to be so close to all this volcanic activity. Even with our luggage, we’re easily able to enjoy the stop here.
The station has a restaurant and gift store selling souvenirs. One of the most popular things to try here is a “black egg”. It might look strange, but it’s an egg boiled in the natural hot water. The sulphur turns the shell black, and eating one is said to extend your life by 7 years. We didn’t try one so I guess we’ll never know!
Back to the gondola and we hit the jackpot with one all to ourselves. We’re on our way to Togendai, which takes 16 minutes. It’s a breath taking ride from here with views of the cedar tower and lake. Mount Fuji is visible on clear days on this leg. But like always, Mount Fuji decides to hang out behind the clouds for us this day.
Before we know it, the ropeway descends into the final station, Togendai.
Check into the hotel: Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori
Walking out of Togendai station we spot our Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori hotel straight away, it’s just across the road! I’m surprised to find that a hotel of this large size doesn’t really have a grand foyer or entrance. But once inside, we’re greeted with friendly smiles and an incredible lake view.
Upon check in we’re advised that we’ve been given a free room upgrade, winning! Our room will have its own private onsen on the balcony. We’re absolutely elated at this news. The only downside is that we’ve arrived a few hours prior to check in, and we’re not able to go to our rooms yet. But that’s okay, as we’re looking forward to exploring more of the area first.
After dropping off our bags, we head back to Togendai station. We’re catching the next cruise on Lake Ashi.
The Hakone Sightseeing Cruise
The Hakone Sightseeing Cruise circles Lake Ashi, with 3 regular stops. There’s Togendai up the top of Lake Ashi, which meets the ropeway (and our hotel). Towards the bottom of Lake Ashi there are 2 larger towns, Hakonemachi-ko and Motohakone-ko. These last two towns are also within walking distance of each other. The cruise takes 25 minutes to get from the bottom of the lake to the top at Togendai.
Now one of the fun parts of the cruise, particularly for kids, is that you actually ride on a pirate ship. There are a couple of pirate ships that do the circuit. We highly recommend trying to get on the Queen Ashinoko if you can. It’s the most regal and plush ship of all that we went on.
The cruise was enjoyable, but it did get quite frosty up top with the wind chill. We found a seat inside and warmed up before we had to get out again.
Visiting Motohakone-ko
The first stop was at Hakonemachi-ko, but we decided to continue on to visit Motohakone-ko first. We were quite hungry at this point and could see that this town had the most food options.
On arrival, we were thrilled to be greeted with a 7/11 opposite the ferry terminal. By this stage of our trip, I was completely addicted to the 7/11 Egg Salad Sandwich. Not to mention all the other treats that are served up at 7/11 in Japan. We fed our hungry bellies and then set off in the direction of the famous red tori gates.
The Hakone Shrine
A 10 minute walk around the lake from the centre of Motohakone is the Hakone Shrine. Right by the lake is one of the most picturesque torii gates you’ll see in Japan. It’s visible from the pirate ship on the lake, and now we wanted to get a view up close.
We knew that this spot is popular, but we were stunned to find a massive line up at the gate. The town was fairly quiet, and clearly every tourist was lining up here. So many people were waiting patiently to get their turn at taking a photo. We estimated that it would take at least an hour for us to get to the front if we joined the queue.
We also realised that we didn’t have that time, because the last pirate ship left for Togendai at 3:50pm. That was just over 30 minutes away.
There was so much to still explore down in this area of Lake Ashi. As the cruise ships finish early in December, we had completely run out of time this day. We were going to have to come back down here tomorrow morning and explore further. We were also now allowed to check in. Our private onsen was waiting!
We made our way back to Togendai on the last pirate ship of the day.
Enjoying our own private onsen
On arrival to our hotel, we immediately made our way up to our room. It was completely modern with all the added extras you might expect at a typical spa hotel.
As promised, our room had at its own private onsen on the balcony. This is essentially a very large bathtub that is filled with water from a nearby hot spring. The Japanese have some very strict rules and general manners around how you onsen. This includes, taking a shower before you step into the onsen and ensuring you wear your birthday suit (yep, naked). So for some visitors, a private onsen might be preferred. The hotel had a clear guide on onsen etiquette, so be sure to check this out before you partake!
It was getting close to dinner, where we were encouraged to wear a traditional yakata. This is one of the traditional cotton kimonos you’ve likely seen throughout Japan. We’d chosen one earlier from one of the communal areas of the hotel. There was a large section with yakata’s with different patterns and sizes. I chose a blue one with colourful flowers. Luckily there was also a guide in our room on how to wear this properly.
Dinner at our hotel
Whilst the accommodation was quite pricey, one of the other benefits is the included buffet dinner. We’d never been to a Japanese buffet, and we were quite excited to see what it had in store for us.
Firstly, we were delighted to see that about 90% of other guests were wearing their yakata. We hadn’t made a faux pas there. Phew.
The range of food at the buffet was incredible. First up we were each given a bamboo tray to pick out some appetizers. This included sushi, sashimi and other pickled delights. Moving onto mains, there were stations offering up fresh grilled fish, soups and salads. It was probably the healthiest buffet I’ve ever been to. We washed it all down with a Whiskey Highball and some green tea to finish.
Visiting the hotel onsen and breakfast
We got up early the next morning to try out the hotel’s public onsen. These are communal facilities that are split by gender. The benefit of this onsen is that they have an epic view out across the lake. The pictures we saw looked amazing. Yet I told Jeff that there was every chance I’d walk in and chicken out. So to expect me back at the hotel room well before him.
Well I am pleased to say that I didn’t chicken out, and tried out all 3 of the shared pools. 2 were inside and one was outside. The best experience was walking out in the freezing cold air to the outside pool. Here I had the warmth of the onsen and lovely view out towards the lake.
A buffet breakfast was also included in the accommodation. There was a large array of Japanese and Western breakfast options such as cooked eggs, salad and toast. We had a quick bite and then checked out of the hotel. We left our bags with reception so we didn’t have to drag them around with us all day.
Like the look of Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori? You can book your stay here.
A second visit to the Hakone Shrine
The plan for our morning was to visit the rest of the attractions at the bottom of Lake Ashi. We took the pirate ship back to Motohakone-ko. This time around, it had a completely different vibe. As it was Saturday morning now, the town was full of locals who compete in speed boat racing. There were boats and people everywhere. It was fun watching the boats get out onto the water and zoom around.
The other pleasant surprise, we could see Mount Fuji! Despite it being very overcast, this beautiful mountain decided to make an appearance. Whilst we couldn’t see it from the hotel, it is clearly visible from this town. After multiple attempts, we were super happy to finally get a lovely view of Mount Fuji.
Once we had soaked in the views, we made our way back to the torii gates of the Hakone Shrine. We wanted to see if we beat the day trippers. We were in luck. With only a handful of people at the site, we only needed to wait a few minutes. We were able to get the iconic photo of us standing underneath the torii gates.
Walking the ancient Cedar Avenue
Next up on our things to do in Hakone was a walk through the ancient Cedar Avenue. This path is on the walk from Motohakone-ko to Hakonemachi-ko. It runs parallel to the road.
During the Edo Period, Hakone was a key checkpoint for people travelling from Kyoto to Tokyo. The road here was the old Tokaido Highway. The cedars were said to be planted to protect travellers from inclement weather. Today, the 2km stretch of trees is a tranquil walking track.
The Hakone Checkpoint
Continuing on to Hakonemachi-ko, you’ll come across the Hakone Checkpoint. This is a restoration and shows what the Checkpoint would have looked like during the Edo Period. Here you can learn all about the history of the Edo Period. This includes the role of the checkpoint in managing the transport of weapons throughout the region.
Journey back to Tokyo
After perusing some of the stores in Hakonemachi-ko, we started the journey back to Tokyo. We were essentially repeating the same steps we made the day earlier, but in reverse. This included, the pirate ship back to the hotel to pick up our bags. Taking the Hakone Ropeway to Sounzan with the transfer at Owakudani. A bus to Hakone-Yamuto and then the Romance Car to Shinjuku station in Tokyo.
After the end of our 2 days in Hakone, we were buggered. But it was a memorable and fantastic trip.
Other notes for our Hakone 2 days itinerary
One of the top things to do in the area is a visit to the Hakone Open Air Museum. This is a museum that includes indoor and outdoor areas with a range of sculptures and paintings. It’s located near Chokoku No Mori station on the Hakone Tozan Railway. As this railway was not operational during our visit, it would have required a lot of backtracking. Given we were also visiting in winter, the transport opening times were much shorter. If we visited Hakone again, we’d make sure to include this in our itinerary.
Whilst the transport options in the area are seamless, you do need to ensure you keep an eye on the opening and closing times. This is particularly important if you’re visiting in winter as the opening hours are for a much shorter duration than normal.
Finally, if you don’t have 2 days to spare in your Japan itinerary, it is completely feasible to do a day trip to Hakone only. You can do the attractions I listed above in one loop from Hakone-Yamuto station.
If you’re visiting the area, we hope you enjoy it. And we hope Mount Fuji makes an appearance for you too!
Did you use our Hakone 2 day itinerary on your travels? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Let us know how you went in our comments box below. Is there anything else you’d add to this itinerary?
If you enjoyed our Hakone 2 day itinerary, be sure to check out our other articles about Japan. A good one to start is 25 things to know before travelling to Japan.
