Day 5 - Explore Hakone
Morning at Yama No Chaya
Train, Cable Car & Ropeway
Lake Ashi & Pirate Ship Cruise
Open Air Museum
Evening at Yama No Chaya
Hakone is a beautiful vacation spot full of onsens / hot springs, and is a popular getaway from Tokyo. We didn’t visit any public onsens because we enjoyed the ones at our ryokan, but that’s certainly a popular activity here. There’s also a popular one-day itinerary that includes cable car and ropeways as well as a the pirate ship cruise and a stroll along the lake. Open Air Museum was unique and was one of our favoriate spots in Hakone.
This itinerary was jam-packed for one day and required us to move at a brisk pace. If we could do it again, we would probably slow down a bit and move the open air museum to the next day before heading to Tokyo, and just take a later train to Tokyo.
The most popular one-day itinerary is to take the train from the Hakone Yumoto station to Gora station, then take the cable car to Souzan station, then take the ropeway to Togendai station via a transfer at Owakudani station. You can take the stop at the Open Air Museum but we only decided to visit it at the end of the day so we took a bus there after the pirate ship.
Voyagers Tip: Ask for a Hakone map and the travel directions from the ryokan. The map and directions we got was super helpful and helped guide our day.
Unlike Tokyo subways which run like clockwork, the bus schedules here are not reliable. Be prepared for long waits for buses and account for this in your schedule.
Morning at Yama no Chaya
Starting the day with a soak in the in-room spa was a nice treat. After the relaxing dip, we got dressed for our in-room breakfast at 8am. Megan and I really enjoyed the Japanese breakfast, whereas for the girls it was more of a mixed review.
Train, Cable Car & Ropeway
The main starting point for the day-long itinerary is the Hakone Yumoto station, which is also the station for the RomanceCar to/from Tokyo. We took a bus to get here. From Hakone Yumoto station, we took the train to Gora Station, then transferred onto the Hakone Tozan Cable Car to the Souzan station, where we jumped onto the Ropeways.
Once you get on the ropeway, enjoy the view! There is a transfer at the Owakudani station where you can take a nice stroll outside the station, try their hot springs black eggs, before jumping onto the transfer ropeway to the Togendai station.
The Togendai station is where you can buy the tickets to the pirate ship cruise, which takes you to Hakone Machi-Ko pier. There are beautiful walking paths from the Togendai station and we wished we had more time to explore these paths but only had a short stroll before getting on the pirate ship cruise.
Pirate Ship Cruise
For the cruise, you can buy the regular class or the “first class” in the front of the ship where there are less people. The upgrade is less than $4 USD per person and totally worth it. I would highly recommend getting this upgrade. You can then get good seatings downstairs or go upstairs for some “Titanic” pictures at the front of the ship while enjoying the fresh breeze. Round trip tickets are available, but we took the one-way cruise and got off at Hakone Mochi-Ko to continue our journey to the Open Air Museum.
Open Air Museum
The open air museum was on our “optional” list and we’re so glad we decided to go! It’s a very unique outdoor museum with interesting artwork in a beautiful outdoor setting to stroll around. There was also an outdoor maze, a “net forest” for kids to climb through, a Piccaso museum, a hot springs foot spa, and a tall watch tower with beautiful stained glasses and spiral stairs. We really enjoyed this place and wished we had more time to spend here.
evening at yama no chaya
Back at our ryokan, we enjoyed another private bath and a multi-course dinner served in our room. I also took a nice dip in the shared onsen, which was a great way to relax before bed!