Kanto, Japan · Mountain, Lake
A classic hot-spring (onsen) area near Tokyo, with views of Mount Fuji from Lake Ashi.
Train — Train + funicular/cable car from Tokyo, no car needed
🛌 Pure relaxation🥾 Active nature
A traditional hot-spring bath, the central experience of a stay in Hakone.
A tourist pirate ship with views of Mount Fuji on clear days.
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'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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A cable car that soars over the volcanic Owakudani valley, with views of Mount Fuji on clear days.
A red torii gate standing in the waters of Lake Ashi, one of the most photographed sights in the area.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Early-November re-enactment of an Edo-period feudal lord's procession through the streets of Hakone-Yumoto, with armour, palanquins and spear dances.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sculptures by Picasso and other artists set within a natural park.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
An active volcanic area famous for eggs boiled in its sulfurous waters.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Mountain temple above Hakone-Yumoto linked to Princess Kazunomiya, where the abbot plays biwa for visitors. June hydrangeas cover the path up.
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.
Microbrewery and grill next to Gora station, one of the few places in Hakone still pouring well after 6 in the evening.
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.
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.
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.
A French-style garden on the hillside, with a tropical greenhouse and valley views.
A shrine dedicated to the nine-headed dragon god, set in a forest by Lake Ashi and reachable by boat or on foot.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Paved stretch of the historic Tokaido road lined with centuries-old cedars planted in the 17th century, walkable on foot from Hakone-Yumoto.
A museum of Western and Japanese art nestled in the forests of Hakone, featuring works by Impressionist and modern artists.
An expansive field of golden pampas grass, especially striking in late autumn.
Hakone's traditional craft: geometric wood marquetry famous for its himitsu-bako puzzle boxes, with workshops and shops in the Hatajuku district.
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.
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.
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