Hakone
Hakone is a volcanic crater with a transport system in it: one pass carries you round on a mountain railway, a cable car, a ropeway, a boat and a bus, past vents that still steam.
Hakone in a nutshell
Hakone: what to expect
The figures here sit on 562,000+ planned stops across Japan on Stippl.
Hakone is a volcanic caldera run as one integrated loop, and the loop is the destination. Ninety minutes from Shinjuku on the Romancecar puts you at Hakone-Yumoto, and from there a mountain railway, a cable car, a ropeway, a boat across Lake Ashi and a bus close the circuit in about six hours, all on one pass. Around it sit Ōwakudani's sulphur steam and black eggs, the sculpture park at the Open-Air Museum, and the vermilion torii standing in the water at Hakone Shrine. Most travellers give it 2 nights on Stippl.
Hakone is an alternative to Mount Fuji rather than a companion to it, which is the opposite of how it gets sold. Most Hakone trips on Stippl carry no Fuji stop at all, and as a pair the two sit below parity rather than above it. They are the same product, a caldera with hot springs and a mountain view, so the decision is which one and not both. 44.6% of Hakone stays are exactly two nights.
Two nights: one for the loop and one for the bath. A ryokan with a private open-air bath is the reason the place exists and it is the booking to make first. Ride the circuit on the full day, and reach the torii at Hakone Shrine before eight if you want the photograph without the queue, which runs half an hour or more. Ōwakudani can close at short notice on volcanic gas readings, so treat it as a bonus rather than a plan.
Who Hakone is for
Anyone wanting one onsen night
it is on 15.4% of our Japan trips and 86.1% of those stays are one or two nights
First-timers doing Tokyo–Kyoto
it is the natural break, and its position at 0.425 with a 7.3% opening share says our travellers treat it as the first stop out of Tokyo
People who will use the pass
the Freepass turns five separate transport modes into one ticket and the loop only makes sense with it
Families
the pirate ship, the ropeway, the cable car and the sculpture park are unusually child-friendly for a Japanese destination
Day-trippers from Tokyo
one in ten of our Hakone stops is a day trip, and every day-trip-from-Tokyo article includes it
When to go to Hakone
Cold and dry
December–February
92–118 mm a month, means 3–6°, snow at altitude, best Fuji odds and lowest prices.
Blossom
late March–May
183–193 mm, means 6–16°, and the caldera's best walking weather.
Rain and heat
June–September
201–278 mm a month, humid, with September the wettest and the typhoon month.
Autumn
October–November
colour from the ropeway downward, 144 mm in November, and the year's heaviest crowding.
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What not to miss in Hakone
A ryokan night with a private open-air bath
the reason the destination exists, and the thing every source puts first.
The Hakone loop
tozan railway, cable car, ropeway, pirate ship, bus, back to where you started, all on one pass, in roughly six hours.
Ōwakudani and the black eggs
sulphur steam, a lunar hillside and eggs boiled black, when the gas readings allow it.
The Hakone Open-Air Museum
a sculpture park on a hillside with a Picasso pavilion and a children's maze, 09:00–17:00.
Heiwa no Torii at Hakone Shrine
the vermilion gate standing in Lake Ashi, and a 30–60 minute queue for the photograph unless you arrive before 08:00.
Sengokuhara's pampas grass
a plateau of silver susuki that peaks in October and November.
The neighbourhoods of Hakone
Hakone-Yumoto
arrivals
The gateway village where the Romancecar terminates: the oldest onsen quarter, a shopping street of sweet shops and soba, and day-use baths for people who are not staying the night. Everything else in the caldera starts with a change of train here.
The oldest onsen quarter, with day-use baths and a soba shopping street.
Gōra
the loop
Halfway up the mountain where the tozan railway ends and the funicular begins. Ryokan, the Open-Air Museum, Gōra Park and a cluster of the better restaurants. The most convenient base for the loop.
Home to the Open-Air Museum, Gōra Park and the most convenient base for the loop.
Motohakone and Hakone-machi
lake views
On the southern shore of Lake Ashi: the shrine with its torii in the water, the old Tōkaidō checkpoint, the cedar avenue, and the pirate-ship pier. The most scenic base and the furthest from the trains.
The floating torii, the old Tōkaidō checkpoint and the pirate-ship pier on Lake Ashi.
Sengokuhara
quiet, autumn
The high northern plateau: pampas-grass fields that turn silver in autumn, the glass museum, and quieter, more design-led hotels. A bus ride from everything.
Pampas-grass fields that turn silver in autumn, plus the glass museum.
Ōwakudani and Sōunzan
the loop
Not somewhere to stay: the volcanic vent at the top of the ropeway, with the black eggs and the sulphur. Closes on gas readings.
The volcanic vent at the top of the ropeway, with the black eggs and sulphur steam.
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Where to stay in Hakone
The ryokan is the destination. A room with tatami, a yukata, a private or shared onsen and a kaiseki dinner is what people are buying, and our sources' four Hakone articles are all organised around it
Hakone-Yumoto
The gateway village where the Romancecar terminates: the oldest onsen quarter, a shopping street of sweet shops and soba, and day-use baths for people who are not staying the night. Everything else in the caldera starts with a change of train here.
Gōra
Halfway up the mountain where the tozan railway ends and the funicular begins. Ryokan, the Open-Air Museum, Gōra Park and a cluster of the better restaurants. The most convenient base for the loop.
Motohakone and Hakone-machi
On the southern shore of Lake Ashi: the shrine with its torii in the water, the old Tōkaidō checkpoint, the cedar avenue, and the pirate-ship pier. The most scenic base and the furthest from the trains.
Sengokuhara
The high northern plateau: pampas-grass fields that turn silver in autumn, the glass museum, and quieter, more design-led hotels. A bus ride from everything.
Ōwakudani and Sōunzan
Not somewhere to stay: the volcanic vent at the top of the ropeway, with the black eggs and the sulphur. Closes on gas readings.
What to eat in Hakone
Eggs boiled in the sulphur springs until the shells turn black; local lore adds seven years to your life per egg
The multi-course ryokan dinner, served in your room or a private dining room, the meal the stay is built around
Buckwheat noodles, the Hakone-Yumoto shopping street's staple
Tofu skin, a Kantō mountain speciality, served in the kaiseki and in speciality restaurants
The Gōra brewery is one of the few places in the caldera that reads as a night out
Steamed buns filled with red bean, sold hot on the Yumoto street
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Cultural highlights & etiquette
Onsen etiquette is not optional
wash and rinse thoroughly before entering, no swimwear, no towel in the water, tie long hair up
Tattoos are still refused
many baths turn them away, but some Hakone onsen are explicitly tattoo-friendly, small tattoos can often be covered with tape, and a private bath removes the question
The yukata is worn to dinner
it is worn around the ryokan too, and in Hakone-Yumoto out on the street
Ryokan dinner times are fixed
and being late is genuinely disruptive to a kitchen serving courses
Do
- Buy the Freepass before you start the loop.
- Wash before you get in, every time.
- Arrive at the torii before 08:00 if you want the photograph without an hour's queue.
- Check the ropeway status the morning you plan to ride it.
- Book the ryokan months ahead for November and Golden Week.
Don't
- Don't plan Hakone and Kawaguchiko on the same trip, 87.4% of our travellers don't.
- Don't assume you will see Fuji. Most days you will not.
- Don't wear swimwear into an onsen.
- Don't arrive expecting a town. It is a caldera with villages in it and a bus timetable.
Daily budget in Hakone
Budget
€44–77 (¥8,000–14,000)
A hostel bed with its own onsen, the Freepass, convenience-store meals and day-use baths
Mid-range
€138–248 (¥25,000–45,000)
A modest ryokan or onsen hotel with dinner and breakfast, the Freepass, museum entries
High-end
€331–828+ (¥60,000–150,000+)
A ryokan with a private open-air bath and a kaiseki dinner, which is what people come for
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Fun facts about Hakone
Hakone is inside an active volcanic caldera and Ōwakudani's vents still steam; the 2015 alert closed the area for months
The black eggs are said to add seven years of life each, which is why they are sold in fives
The whole basin runs as one integrated transport product: five modes on a single pass, which is unusual enough that the Freepass is itself a reason people come
The Hakone Ekiden, a two-day university relay from Tokyo to Hakone and back, is one of Japan's most-watched sporting events and runs on 2–3 January
The Old Tōkaidō checkpoint has been reconstructed on its original site by Lake Ashi, where the Edo government inspected everyone travelling between Kyoto and Edo
The Hakone Tozan railway climbs by switchback, reversing direction three times to gain height
Local tips for Hakone
The Freepass runs Hakone
¥7,100 for two days or ¥7,500 for three from Shinjuku including the round trip, or ¥6,000/¥6,500 bought inside the area. It covers all five modes of the loop plus buses and gives discounts at museums
The loop runs one direction
train, cable car, ropeway, boat, bus, and doing it clockwise from Yumoto is what every itinerary does
The Romancecar is a supplement
the ¥1,200 is not a fare, and it buys a reserved seat and 80 minutes rather than two hours with changes
Ōwakudani closes for real
it is an active volcanic vent, and hydrogen sulphide readings shut the ropeway, the valley and the hiking trails at short notice. The 2015 eruption alert closed the area for months, [official: hakone-japan.com, commercial: hakonenavi.jp, commercial: insidejapantours.com]
The onsen is the real risk
heat and dehydration are the ordinary hazard: short soaks, water between them, and no alcohol before bathing
Frequently asked questions about Hakone
One or the other, not both. They are the same product, a caldera with hot springs and a mountain view, and most Hakone trips on Stippl carry no Fuji stop at all. Lay them out in Stippl as alternatives and choose on whether you want the loop or the mountain. Then ask people who did each, in subreddits like r/JapanTravel.
It can be, and one stop in ten is: 10.41% of Hakone stops planned on Stippl carry no night. The loop runs about six hours though, and the ryokan bath is what most people came for, so the day version buys you the transport and misses the point of it.
One or two, and the split is almost even. 41.5% of Hakone stops planned on Stippl are a single night and a slightly larger share are two. Two is what gets you the whole loop plus an unhurried evening in the bath, while one means choosing between them.
About one route in six: 15.4% of Japan trips planned on Stippl include Hakone. That is high for what is essentially one valley, and the Romancecar is why, since ninety minutes from Shinjuku makes it the easiest mountain escape from the capital.
One ticket covering the round trip from Shinjuku and every leg of the loop: the mountain railway, the cable car, the ropeway, the boat across Lake Ashi and the buses. It is the normal way to do Hakone, and it exists because the circuit is run as one integrated system rather than by separate operators.
Golden Week and the peak autumn fortnight. Prices and crowds spike together, and the ryokan worth staying in sell out months ahead of both. Travellers leave 106 days between planning a Hakone stop on Stippl and arriving, which tells you how early the good beds go.
Every guide is written by the Stippl editors and checked against the trips our travellers actually plan. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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