Hakone

Kanto, Japan · Mountain, Lake

Hakone is not a spa town but a forty-square-kilometre caldera with a dome in the middle: seven historic springs, each with its own chemistry and temperature, which is why the afternoon in the ryokan's rotenburo is the plan and not the trimming. You come up on Japan's oldest adhesion mountain railway, with three switchbacks, and cross Lake Ashi by boat. June brings hydrangeas along the embankment; October, the golden susuki of Sengokuhara.

The essentials

Getting there

Train — Train + funicular/cable car from Tokyo, no car needed

What it is genuinely strong in

🛌 Pure relaxation

Frequently asked questions about Hakone

What to do in Hakone: 66 activities

• Onsen Bath at the Ryokan 2 h must-see booking

  A traditional hot-spring bath, the central experience of a stay in Hakone.

• Lake Ashi Cruise 2 h must-see

  A sightseeing pirate ship with views of Mount Fuji on clear days. Important warning: there are two different operators on Lake Ashi. The pirate ships of the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise, with piers at Togendai, Hakone-machi and Moto-Hakone, ARE included in the Hakone Free Pass; the Hakone Ashinoko Yusen, which departs from Hakone-en and Kojiri, is NOT. Many itineraries mix them up and you end up paying twice.

• Guided nature trail at Owakudani 1 h booking

  Access to the Owakudani Shizen Kenkyuro, closed for seven years after the 2015 eruption and reopened in March 2022. Entry by advance booking only, in four daily slots of thirty people maximum, accompanied by two safety monitors.

• Hakone Museum of Art and its moss garden 1.5 h

  Hakone's oldest museum, from 1952, with Japanese ceramics from the Jomon period and a moss garden of a hundred and thirty varieties under maples. Closed Thursdays, and in autumn probably the loveliest garden in the area.

• Kosuisai: offering to the dragon god and fireworks on the lake 2.5 h only 31 Jul

  On 31 July the priest of Hakone Jinja boards a ceremonial vessel to make an offering to the nine-headed dragon, and at eight in the evening some five thousand fireworks burst over the water at Moto-Hakone. The ritual part is not a show.

• Lalique Museum and tea in the Orient Express carriage 2.5 h

  A genuine 1929 Pullman carriage with more than a hundred and fifty glass panels decorated by Rene Lalique at sixty-eight, parked in the museum garden. Tea costs around 2,750 yen, lasts thirty-five minutes and is booked same-day at the restaurant desk.

• Long soak at Tenzan Tojikyo 3 h

  A hot-spring complex in the toji style, the long cure, beside the Sukumo river, with outdoor rock baths and rest rooms. Cash only, discourages groups over six and refuses organised tours: it is a place of cure, not leisure.

• The mountain railway and its three switchbacks 1 h

  The Hakone Tozan line is Japan's oldest mountain adhesion railway, with gradients of eighty per thousand, three switchbacks where driver and conductor swap cabs, and sprinklers that water the rail on the curves. 1919 engineering still running daily.

• Torii-yaki, the sacred gate in flames 2 h only 5 Aug

  On 5 August a giant torii built on the hillside above Hakone-machi bay is set alight and some three thousand five hundred fireworks are launched, closing the festival's six days. It is the most spectacular sight of Hakone's summer and almost no foreign itinerary includes it.

• Watching the Hakone Ekiden turn at Lake Ashi 3 h only 2-3 Jan

  On 2 and 3 January the whole country stops to watch this university relay, and the turning point is at Moto-Hakone. Standing at the roadside with the locals is about as Japanese as it gets, but it means an early start and bitter cold.

• A whole afternoon with no plan at a ryokan with a private rotenburo 5 h booking

  A deliberately empty block: bath, yukata, kaiseki dinner in the room and nothing else. This is how Japanese travellers use Hakone and what foreign itineraries miss most.

• Amazake Chaya tea house on the old Tokaido 0.75 h

  Thatched tea house that has been serving alcohol-free amazake and chikara mochi to Tokaido walkers for some 400 years. It is still in the hands of the same family and the recipe has not changed.

• Climb up Mount Kintoki from Sengokuhara 4 h

  A 1,212-metre summit with the best head-on view of Mount Fuji in all of Hakone and two tea houses at the top serving ramen. It is the mountain of Kintaro, the boy of Japanese folklore, which also makes it appealing for families.

• Curry and the historic dining room at the Fujiya Hotel 1.5 h booking

  Japan's oldest Western-style hotel still in operation, dating from 1878, in Miyanoshita, reopened after a full restoration. The coffered-ceiling dining room and its century-old curry are a Meiji-era lesson served on a plate.

• Full crossing of the Tokaido stone paving 4 h

  The original ishidatami sections between Hatajuku, Amazake Chaya and Moto-Hakone are stone laid in the 17th century to keep travellers from sinking into the mud. Walking the whole thing has nothing to do with seeing the cedar avenue from the bus.

• Hakone Ropeway (Sounzan-Togendai) 1.5 h

  A ropeway that flies over the volcanic valley of Owakudani with views of Mount Fuji on clear days. A clarification: the Gora-Sounzan stretch is a rail funicular, not a ropeway; the ropeway proper is the one from Sounzan to Togendai by way of Owakudani. The full route is running, but it can be suspended on individual days because of volcanic gas concentrations, something the operator makes clear is not directly related to the alert level, currently at 1. You need to check it on the morning itself.

• Hakone Shrine and Its Lakeside Torii 1 h

  A red torii gate standing in the waters of Lake Ashi, one of the most photographed sights in the area.

• Hakone Venetian Glass Museum 2 h

  Single-subject museum of 15th- to 19th-century Venetian glass in Sengokuhara, with a garden of crystal susuki that glitters in the sun and wind. In 2026 it marks its 30th anniversary with a special exhibition running until 11 January 2027.

• Himitsu-bako secret box workshop 1.5 h booking

  The himitsu-bako is the trick box with up to 72 opening moves, a 19th-century Hakone invention and a direct relative of yosegi. In the Hatajuku workshops you assemble one and grasp the geometry of the lock.

• Hydrangea train at night 1.5 h booking only mid-to-late June

  In June the mountain railway embankment fills with hydrangeas and Odakyu lights the stretches at night for the Yoru no Ajisai-go, a reserved-seat train that stops at the best points. In 2026 it ran from 13 to 30 June and sells out fast.

• Kuzuryu Hongu on foot along the forest trail 2 h

  A trail of about 40 minutes along the shore of Lake Ashi from Hakone-en, inside a paid enclosure, to the original shrine of the nine-headed dragon. This is the genuine Kuzuryu, not the subsidiary shrine inside the Hakone Jinja precinct.

• Narukawa Museum and its Mount Fuji lookout 1.5 h

  Nihonga painting collection in Moto-Hakone, with a panoramic room whose curved window looks out over Lake Ashi, the floating torii and Mount Fuji. The lookout is worth the admission even if the painting holds no interest.

• Onshi Hakone Park, the imperial villa on the lake 1.25 h

  Grounds of the former imperial rest villa on a promontory over Lake Ashi, with a 360-degree lookout towards Mount Fuji and Komagatake. Free admission and practically empty, ten minutes from the packed Sekisho.

• Pilgrimage to the three shrines of Hakone 5 h

  The Hakone Sansha Mairi strings together Hakone Shrine by the lake, Kuzuryu Hongu on the shore and Hakone Mototsumiya on the summit of Komagatake. The three make up the Hakone Sansho Gongen triad and there is a special goshuin for completing them.

• Private open-air bath at Hakone Yuryo 2 h booking

  19 private outdoor baths spread through a forest, three minutes by free shuttle from Hakone-Yumoto. With the Hakone Free Pass the hut rental drops to around 600 yen for two hours.

• Tsukinami-sai at Kuzuryu Hongu with the pilgrims' boat 2.5 h booking only the 13th of every month

  On the 13th of every month the dragon shrine holds its monthly rite and a special pilgrims' boat leaves from Moto-Hakone. It is the only way to see it full of worshippers and not of tourists: it is not a cruise, people travel in silence and the officiants are not photographed.

• Chisuji waterfall, the veil of a thousand threads 1 h

  Wide, low waterfall that slides in very thin sheets over lava rock, fifteen minutes on foot from Kowakidani station. It is a step off the main circuit and there is almost never anyone there.

• Daimonji-yaki of Gora 2 h only 16 Aug

  Every 16 August the character dai is set alight on the slope of Mount Myojo, above Gora, to send off the spirits of Obon. It is visible from the whole Gora and Miyanoshita basin.

• Daimyo Gyoretsu parade 2 h only 3 Nov

  Early-November re-enactment of an Edo-period feudal lord's procession through the streets of Hakone-Yumoto, with armour, palanquins and spear dances.

• Evangelion location route in Tokyo-3 3 h

  Hakone is literally the Tokyo-3 of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Lake Ashi, Sengokuhara, Owakudani and Komagatake appear recognisably in the series. Warning: the official campaign ran in 2019 and 2020 and has ended, so today this is landscape-spotting, not a signposted circuit.

• Forest trail at the Pola Museum 1 h

  The Pola is buried under the forest so as not to break the National Park landscape, and it has a free woodland trail of about 40 minutes with outdoor sculptures. It is the complement almost nobody takes on after seeing the collection.

• Former Hakone Checkpoint (Hakone Sekisho) 1 h

  Faithful reconstruction of the 1619 samurai barrier that watched over the old Tokaido road, with a museum of Edo-period weapons and documents. One precision: this is not a historic building but a complete reconstruction finished in 2007 from Edo-period plans. Not a problem, but worth knowing so you are not disappointed.

• Hakone Ekiden Museum 1 h

  Museum devoted to Japan's most famous university relay race, right at the outbound finish line on the shore of Lake Ashi. 750 yen for adults, open all year.

• Hakone Open-Air Museum 2 h

  Sculptures by Picasso and other artists set within a natural park.

• Hakone Wetlands Botanical Garden 1.5 h

  Some 1,700 species of wetland, alpine meadow and bog plants in Sengokuhara, with boardwalks over the water. It is the best place in Hakone to see high-altitude flora without climbing any mountain.

• Hakone-Yumoto at dawn, before the buses 1 h

  Between 6:30 and 8:30 the shopping street belongs to the residents, the delivery drivers and the guests in yukata heading down to the river. From 9:30 the first wave arrives and the town changes hands.

• Handmade soba in Hakone-Yumoto 1 h

  The sobaya in central Yumoto knead their dough with spring water. Go before 11:30 or after 2:00, because hour-long queues are the norm.

• Kamaboko and chikuwa workshop at Suzuhiro 1.5 h booking Kazamatsuri, Odawara · 20 min

  Fish paste shaped by hand and chikuwa grilled on the spot. Warning: it is in Kazamatsuri, which administratively belongs to Odawara and not Hakone, although it sits on the mountain railway line.

• Kayaking or paddleboarding on Lake Ashi 2.5 h booking

  Getting on the water first thing, before the pirate boats start running, is the only way to have the lake calm and Mount Fuji reflected in it. Booking with a local operator is required.

• Marquetry shopping in the Hatajuku workshop stores 1 h

  Hatajuku is the yosegi-zaiku village and the shops on the old Tokaido road sell straight from the workshop, with no middlemen. The difference in price and quality against station souvenirs is enormous.

• Okada Museum footbath under the giant mural 0.75 h

  100% spring-water ashiyu facing a 12-by-30-metre mural of Fujin and Raijin. It can be used on its own, without entering the museum, for 500 yen.

• Owakudani Valley and Black Eggs 1.5 h

  An active volcanic area famous for eggs boiled in its sulfurous waters.

• Panoramic seat on the Romancecar to Hakone-Yumoto 1.5 h booking

  Odakyu's GSE Romancecar trains have a glassed-in observation cabin above the driver's position, with windows a metre high. The front-row seats sell out weeks in advance.

• Route of the seven historic onsen of Hakone 4 h

  The Hakone Nanayu, the seven springs that already existed in the Edo period, each with different chemistry and temperature. They make clear that Hakone is not one onsen but an archipelago of waters.

• Soun-ji temple, mausoleum of the Hojo clan 1 h

  Rinzai Zen temple founded in 1521 as the mortuary temple of the Later Hojo, lords of Odawara. It is ten minutes on foot from Hakone-Yumoto and almost nobody walks up: the silent counterpoint to the avalanche on the shopping street.

• Tasting walk along the Yumoto shopping street 1.5 h

  Kamaboko, hot-spring manju, croquettes and wasabi ice cream along the street that leads out of the station. It is the best cheap introduction to the region's pantry.

• The 500 stone rakan of Choan-ji temple 1 h

  Hundreds of arhat statuettes scattered across the wooded hillside of Sengokuhara, each with a different gesture. Moss and maples make it one of the most photogenic and least visited corners of Hakone.

• Woods of Net at the Open-Air Museum 1 h

  Woods of Net is a wooden structure without a single nail that houses a net hand-knitted by the artist Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam, so children can climb inside a sculpture. It is within the Open-Air Museum and deserves a block of its own.

• Amida-ji temple and its biwa recital 1.25 h booking

  Mountain temple above Hakone-Yumoto linked to Princess Kazunomiya, where the abbot plays biwa for visitors. June hydrangeas cover the path up.

• Climb of the Hakone Turnpike by bike or motorcycle 2 h Odawara / Hakone · 25 min

  Toll road of 13 kilometres and more than 1,000 metres of ascent from Odawara up to the Daikanzan lookout, legendary among Japanese cyclists and motorcyclists. On clear days Mount Fuji fills half the windscreen.

• Craft beer in Gora 1.5 h

  Microbrewery and grill next to Gora station, one of the few places in Hakone still pouring well after 6 in the evening.

• Cycling loop around Lake Ashi 3 h booking

  A circuit of about 20 kilometres along the lakeshore with changing views of Mount Fuji and the torii of Hakone Jinja. There is rental in Moto-Hakone and in Togendai.

• Dinner and drinks in Hakone-Yumoto at night 2 h

  Hakone empties out as evening falls because almost everyone is a day-tripper or dines at their ryokan. The few izakaya left open in Yumoto have a local clientele.

• Glass fusing or sandblasting workshop in Sengokuhara 1.5 h booking

  The glass museum runs fusing and sandblasting sessions that send you home with a piece of your own. It works very well with children and on rainy days.

• Gora Park 1.5 h

  A French-style garden on the hillside, with a tropical greenhouse and valley views.

• Kuzuryu Shingu, the dragon sub-shrine at Hakone Jinja 1 h

  A shrine dedicated to the nine-headed dragon god, set in woodland beside Lake Ashi and reachable by boat or on foot. A clarification: there are two Kuzuryu shrines. This one is the Shingu, inside the grounds of Hakone Jinja, two minutes away and free. The original is the Hongu, on the lake shore inside the paid grounds of Hakone-en, reached by a forest path or by special boat on the 13th of each month.

• Living geology at the Hakone Geopark 2 h

  Hakone is a caldera of 40 square kilometres with a central dome, and the Geopark explains how the volcano is monitored. It makes sense of why the ropeway closes on some days even when the alert level is 1.

• Mount Komagatake ropeway and Hakone Mototsumiya shrine 2 h

  Hakone's second ropeway, separate from the Owakudani one, up to a 1,327 m summit with privileged views of Mount Fuji and Motomiya shrine, the original site of Hakone Shrine. The correct name of the summit shrine is Hakone Mototsumiya, not Motomiya, and it is not an annexe but the original place of worship of Komagatake, older than the lakeside shrine: it sits on bare rock at 1,356 metres, with no forest. Note that this ropeway is operated by Prince from Hakone-en and is NOT covered by the Hakone Free Pass.

• Night sky over Sengokuhara 1 h

  Sengokuhara and the northern shore of Lake Ashi have far less light pollution than the rest of the metropolitan area. On clear winter nights the Milky Way is visible 90 minutes from Shinjuku.

• Okada Museum of Art 2 h

  Broad collection of classical Asian art (Japanese, Chinese, Korean) in a building with a huge exterior mural and a thermal footbath facing the artwork. It is the most expensive museum in Hakone at 2,800 yen, with 200 yen off with the Hakone Free Pass. The footbath under the giant mural costs 500 yen on its own or is included with admission.

• Old Tokaido road and cedar avenue 2 h

  Paved stretch of the historic Tokaido road lined with centuries-old cedars planted in the 17th century, walkable on foot from Hakone-Yumoto.

• Pola Museum of Art 2 h

  A museum of Western and Japanese art set into the Hakone forest, with Impressionist works and modern art. It was closed from 1 to 16 June 2026 for a change of exhibition. The highlight of 2026 and 2027 is 'New Eyes, Monet and 21st-Century Art', marking the centenary of Monet's death, from 17 June 2026 to 7 April 2027. Closed on Tuesdays.

• Sengokuhara Susuki Grass Field 1 h

  An extensive field of golden pampas grass, especially striking in late autumn. The real season runs from late September to early November, with the best golden colour in the second half of October. The seven-hundred-metre trail has suffered closures from typhoon damage and stepping off it is strictly forbidden: trampling off the path is the main conservation problem at the site.

• Yosegi-zaiku marquetry workshops in Hatajuku 1.5 h

  Hakone's traditional craft: geometric wood marquetry famous for its himitsu-bako puzzle boxes, with workshops and shops in the Hatajuku district.

• Yunessun hot-spring water park 3.5 h

  Swimsuit bathing complex with themed wine, coffee and sake pools, and a separate traditional nude onsen area. It is the answer when there are children along or when someone in the group does not want to bathe naked.

• Zazen at Soun-ji temple 1.5 h booking

  Seated meditation session at a working Rinzai temple, with basic instruction in posture and breathing. It has to be arranged by telephone, and you have to accept that it is not a tourist activity but a practice.

What only happens on specific dates

• Watching the Hakone Ekiden turn at Lake Ashi 2-3 Jan
• Hydrangea train at night mid-to-late June
• Kosuisai: offering to the dragon god and fireworks on the lake 31 Jul
• Torii-yaki, the sacred gate in flames 5 Aug
• Daimonji-yaki of Gora 16 Aug
• Daimyo Gyoretsu parade 3 Nov

Ready-made routes through Hakone

Chains well with

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