Hakone Free Pass to view Mt. Fuji and an Onsen can both be accomplished in a day trip from Tokyo but it is a full day! Let me give you a realistic timeline on how to fit both in a one day. I did it and so can you! The timetable below is based on weekday travel. Please double-check the schedule if you are traveling on the weekend. I chose to go on a weekday so it would be less crowded.
First thing, you will need to buy a Hakone Free Pass to allow you to have unlimited rides throughout the Hakone on all modes of transportation including a high speed train, cable car, ropeway, boat, and bus. I would suggest buying the Hakone Free Pass to/from Shinjuku station for 5,140 Yen (~$45.50 USD). This can be purchased from the Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center in Shinjuku Station. To me, it is worth the additional 1,090 Yen (~$9.65 USD) for a one way ticket on the express train from Shinjuku. The express train only takes 75 minutes to arrive in Owadara. Your other option is to take a two hour train to Owadara and then transfer and spend another 15 minutes getting to the Hakone-Yamuto station. FYI: The JR pass doesn’t cover travel all the way to Hakone so you do need to purchase the Hakone Free Pass if you want to visit.
To start your day, board the first Romancecar train of the day from Shinjuku station leaving promptly at 7:00am and arriving into the Hakone-Yamuto station at 8:27am. When you exit at the Hakone-Yamuto stop, simply look for a train on your right called the Hakone Tozan Train to Gora. You literally only have to walk 10 feet to the other side of the platform. The train comes about every 10-20 minutes. The next train should be the 8:40am option.
I would suggest take the train instead of the bus since it is a very scenic route. You will also get to experience the conductors changing trains. Take the train to the Chokoku-no-Mori Statioj which should take about 35 minutes to arrive there.
The Hakone Open Air Museum is my first suggested stop along the way. It is an outdoor Art Museum housing various and sculptures but one of the biggest draws might be the section on Picasso. It cost 1,600 Yen ( ~$14.16 USD) to enter and was worth every penny. I am not an Art Museum lover but this may have been second all-time favorite art museum right behind the Louvre. I visited in Autumn and it was the most picturesque setting with the mountains and autumn colors that I didn’t even need to look at the art to enjoy my time there. The Hakone Open Air Museum is only a two to three minute walk from the Chokoku-no-Mori Station.
By my calculations, you should be arriving at the Hakone Open Air Museum about 9:15am which is excellent since it opens at 9am. You will be among the first to enter the museum which will allow you to get some photos without anyone else in them and just enjoy the peace and quiet and beautiful surroundings. If you are traveling for 2 days in Hakone then you could easily spend two hours walking around and taking photos. Unfortunately, since we are trying to fit it in one day, you have to give yourself a time limit. I left at 10:35am in order to keep on schedule and get the 10:46am train to Gora.
You will need to walk back to the Chokoku-no-Mori Station and take the 10:46am train one stop to Gora. If you miss that train, the next one comes at 11:01am. The train ride from Chokoku to Gora is short and will only take 5 minutes. From there, follow the signs to the Hakone Tozan Cable Car to Sounzan. The Cable Car only takes 10 minutes.
Next up you will take the Hakone Ropeway from Sounzan to Owakudani taking only 10 minutes. Owakudani was one of my favorite stops during this trip. You will have already seen the Hot Springs from the Hakone Ropeway but this is a great chance for a closer look. This stop is to take photo of the Hot Springs as well as there are a couple of places to take pictures of Mt. Fuji as well. This was the best place for me to capture a photo of me with Mt. Fuji in the background. Look around the parking lot where all the buses park. Many people were taking photos in spot A.
One of the other popular things to do at this stop is to buy a set of 4 black boiled eggs for 500 Yen (~4.75USD). The hot springs turns the eggs black when boiled in this location. The legend is if you eat a black egg that it will add 7 years to your life. So eat 1 or 4 depending on how many years you want to add to your life! To be completely honest, it tasted just like any other boiled egg I have had in my life but it is the only time I had one that was black. I had been told to eat lunch in Owakudani but after visiting I would suggest waiting until the Togendai-Ko stop. Both had similar food of some noodles options or chicken fingers and fries. But Togendai-Ko has a more beautiful view overlooking Lake Ashi. So wait just a little longer for your lunch.
Get back on the Hakone Ropeway to the next stop at Ubako which takes about 10 minutes. Not many people get off at Ubako but this is where I took the best photo of Mt. Fuji with no people and with the autumn foliage. Take the stairs down one level and you will see a door on your right. When I visited, it had a sign on the door pointing to Hotel Green Plaza Hakone. Exit that door and follow the trail a few minutes until it looks like you arrive at the back of the hotel. You can get some good photos from this little spot. Spend 5 to 10 minutes taking photos and then walk back to Ubako stop.
From Ubako, you will take the Ropway to the end of the line at Togendai-Ko stop. This is where I suggest getting your lunch. The restaurant had a beautiful view of the lake. To keep on schedule, try to catch the 1:50pm or the next boat at 2:20pm to the Hakone – Machi – Ko stop. This boat ride takes approximately 25 minutes.
When you arrive at the Hakone-Machi-Ko stop, follow the crowd to the boat on the same dock going to Moto-Hakone-Ko. This boat ride will only be 10 minutes. Try to find yourself a good spot on the railing because there are some good photo opportunities on this short 10 minute ride. You can get some photos of Mt. Fuji, the Torii gates, and at the very end you can get the lake, Mt. Fuji, and the Torii gates all in one beautiful photo.
Once arriving at Moto-Hakone-Ko, I suggesting making a 45 minute detour to get one of your best photos of the day. You can easily see where to walk along the lake to get to the Torii gate. It will take you about 25-30 minutes to walk it round-trip and the rest of the time to wait your turn in line to get a solo photo of yourself under the gate. I love a good photo so it was worth the detour for me.
Once you get back to the Moto-Hakone-Ko port, get on a Hakone Tozan Bus heading to Yunessun-Mae. That is the stop for the Yunessun Onsen which is the Onsen that I visited and suggest for you to as well. Yunessun consists of two parts the Yunessun area which is more of a Onsen Theme Park and Mori no Yu which is the traditional Japanese Onsen with a nude bathing area. I chose to visit both areas so I could compare. I arrived at Yunessun around 3:45pm and the Yunessun section closes at 7pm and the Mori no Yu section at 8pm.
I started in the Yunessun area since it closed an hour earlier then Mori no Yu. Everyone must wear a swimsuit inside the Yunessun area at all times. The outdoor area consists of three waterslides and several hot spring pools to sit in. The famous pictures of Yunessun are taken inside at their various themed bathes. They have different pools said to contain wine, green tea, and sake. All of these smelled the same to me and I am guessing they just add different food coloring to make them look like the drink that they represent. The only pool that really smelled differently was the coffee-themed one. This was unfortunate for me since I hate both the taste and smell of coffee. I would have much rather had the wine one be legit.
The inside area also had one giant hot spring pool with several powerful jets. I enjoyed just holding onto the side and letting the jets work as a massage for me. If I were you, I would consider eating at the indoor food court located within Yunessun. The only other option is to get a bento box from the train station . I found that they had been picked over by the time I arrived and I was basically left with what no one else wanted.
Overall I thought the Yunessun area was a little tacky and not quite what I had imagined from the photos. It was worth going once to experience it but I wouldn’t go back again.
Visiting Mori no Yu allowed me to see a bit of what the traditional onsens are like. They are separated by gender and you will be bathing fully nude. I saw very few other Western tourists in this area and everyone else seemed to be from Japan. I am a very modest person and hate changing in front of even my friends let alone strangers so I knew I would struggle to feel comfortable in the Mori no Yu section. But I am up for trying most things once so I figured I would give it a shot. Mori no Yu contained several small hot spring pools both inside and outside. You are allowed to bring your towel in with you so I would wrap it around myself while walking among the pools and then you must take off the towel to enter a pool. The Japanese women would take the towel and wrap it around their head probably to keep it from getting wet but mine was soaked by the time I left. Many of the Japanese women were carrying very small towels looking closer to the size of a hand towel. I noticed that none of them really seemed to be concerned about covering up at all. They start going to the baths as young kids so to them it is completely normal to be walking around naked. When all I could think is “ I would be enjoying this so much more with a swimsuit on”. The hot spring pools located in the Mori no Yu section were considerably hotter then the touristy ones upstairs. I found it similar to sitting in an extra-hot, hot tub. Due to the heat, I got restless very quickly in each pool and just couldn’t seem to relax and enjoy the Onsen.
Outside of the hot spring pools were lines of stations with a sink, soap, shampoo, and towels that you could use to give yourself a proper scrub down. I completely skipped this part and went back to the safety of the Yunessun section to take a shower in a private stall instead.
I am glad that I visited but I reconfirmed what I already knew which was that an Onsen really wasn’t for me. I was hoping that I may be proven wrong but I really do feel more comfortable with my clothes on and bathing in private!
By the time, I visited both sections and showered it was about 7:30 pm. I caught a bus back to the Odawara stop taking about 20 minutes or so to arrive back. From there, I caught the slower train back to Shinjuku station arriving back at around 930pm. There are trains departing about every 10 minutes and the last one isn’t until about 9:50pm.
Hope you enjoyed my guide to Hakone. If you are interested in more things to do in Tokyo, check out my post on 20 Things to Do in Tokyo.
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