HAKONE · JAPAN
Lake Ashi, Owakudani, and Mt. Fuji on a clear day.
Day trips out of Tokyo, ropeway rides over the volcanic valley, pirate-ship crossings of Lake Ashi, onsen overnights in the cedar forest. Plus the Hakone Free Pass and every ticket that ties the day together.
Only in Hakone
Three things only Hakone delivers.
Onsen towns exist all over Japan. Cable cars and lake cruises exist everywhere. A ropeway across a working volcano, a red torii rising from a still lake with Mt. Fuji on the horizon, ryokan steam after the day-trippers leave — that combination is one mountain.
Over the volcano
The Owakudani Ropeway
A cable car glides across an active volcanic valley with sulfur vents steaming up through the cedar forest. At the top you step out into a moonscape and buy a hard-boiled black egg cooked in the springs — the local legend says each one adds seven years. Nowhere else lets you ride over a working caldera and snack on its by-products.
- 1 Tokyo: Mt. Fuji Tour, Hakone Ropeway, Owakudani, Lake Ashi
- 2 Tokyo Day Tour in Mt. Fuji, Lake Ashi Cruise and Owakudani Cable
- 3 Tokyo:Sea of Mount Fuji, Hakone Ropeway, Ōwakudani, Enoshima
On the water
Lake Ashi & the Floating Torii
A still volcanic lake with Mt. Fuji on the horizon and a red torii gate rising directly out of the water at Hakone Shrine. The Heiwa-no-Torii is one of the most photographed structures in Japan, and the lake is crossed by replica pirate ships that double as commuter ferries.
- 1 Tokyo: Mt. Fuji, Kamakura, Big Buddha, & Lake Ashi Day Trip
- 2 Mt.Fuji Hakone Day Tour With Lake Ashi Cruise, FREE Ropeway
- 3 Hakone Private One Day Tour From Tokyo: Mt Fuji, Lake Ashi, Hakone National Park
Stay the night
Onsen Towns After Dark
Hakone has been a hot-springs retreat for four hundred years. Wooden ryokans terrace down the valley with private rotenburo pools that look out at the mountains. After the last day-trippers leave on the 6pm train, the towns belong to the overnight guests and the steam.
- 1 From Tokyo: Private Tour to Fuji/Hakone – Onsen, Art, Nature
- 2 Mt. Fuji, Hakone Private Tour from Tokyo – Onsen, Arts and Nature
- 3 Traverse Outer Rim of Hakone Caldera and Enjoy Onsen Hiking Tour
The standard day
The Hakone Loop, one stop at a time.
A clockwise tour of the mountain that locals and operators have been running for a century. Bullet train in, switchback up, cable car higher, ropeway over the volcano, pirate ship across the lake, bus home. Every Free Pass ticket covers the whole route.
- 1 Odawara Bullet train in. Roughly 35 minutes from Tokyo Station.
- 2 Hakone-Yumoto Switch to the Tozan Railway. Switchbacks up the cedar forest.
- 3 Gora & Open-Air Museum Cable car up the mountain past the Picasso pavilion.
- 4 Owakudani Ropeway over the sulfur vents. The black eggs are at the top.
- 5 Lake Ashi Pirate-ship cruise. Mt. Fuji on the horizon if the sky cooperates.
- 6 Hakone Shrine The red torii rising from the water. Last stop before the bus down.
The Fuji-Hakone classic
If you’ve got one day out of Tokyo, this is it.
The Mt. Fuji 5th Station plus Hakone day — volcano, lake, ropeway, bullet train back. The combination the entire industry is built around.
The classics
Hakone’s Most Popular Day Tours
Mt. Fuji 5th Station, Lake Ashi, Owakudani, the bullet train back. The Hakone day combinations travellers reach for first.
By place
Pick where the day goes.
Lake Ashi for the pirate ship and the floating torii. Owakudani for the steam and the black eggs. Mt. Fuji’s 5th Station for the closest view of the summit. Kawaguchiko for the reflection. Gotemba for the panorama side. Kamakura when you want the Big Buddha on the same itinerary.
By tour type
Or pick how the day moves.
Bullet train if you want to be at the lake in forty minutes. Private driver if you want flexibility on stops. Bus combo if you want the operator to sort the loop. Plus the ropeway, the pirate ship, the multi-day onsen stays and the long inland drive to the 5th Station.
When you want both in one day
Mt. Fuji and Hakone, same itinerary.
The 5th Station for the close-up view, then down through Gotemba and into Hakone for the ropeway and the lake. Three Fuji-Hakone combos that we’d send any first-timer on.
Ride the Shinkansen
Forty minutes from Tokyo Station to the mountains.
When the bullet train is half the point. Tokyo Station to Odawara in under an hour, then straight into the Hakone Tozan switchback. Our three favourite days that start with a Shinkansen ticket.
If you want to ditch the bus
Private days with an English-speaking guide.
Hotel pickup, your own pace, no rejoining a group at every viewpoint. Three private Hakone days where the driver doubles as the local who tells you where to actually stop.
Beyond the lake
Hakone plus one more thing.
Kamakura’s Big Buddha, Kawaguchiko on the far side of Fuji, Gotemba for the outlets and the panorama, Enoshima on the way back. The day trips that pair Hakone with the next-best stop on the route.
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