Route
Hakone
Hot springs and the old checkpoint
About 200 km round trip, with mountain sections
Length
10 hours
Distance
About 200 km round trip, with mountain sections
Best season
New green in April and May, colour in mid-to-late November; winter air is dry and clear across the lake
Before Hakone was a spa town it was Edo's checkpoint. The barrier on Lake Ashi's shore inspected what went in and who came out — weapons in, women out, and neither without papers. The hot springs are older than the barrier, but the barrier is what made Hakone matter.
Ōwakudani is the steam vent of a live volcano, heavy with sulphur; the black eggs boiled in its springs are the local product. The ropeway, the pirate ship and the mountain railway all need their own tickets. Our job is to park where the day loses the least time.
How the day runs
Times are indicative. They move with traffic, weather and your own pace.
Pickup in the city
Via the Tomei Expressway, about 1h40.
Hakone-Yumoto
The old post town; a short stop and a washroom.
Ōwakudani
Steam and black eggs; about an hour.
Lake Ashi and the checkpoint
Lunch, then the reconstructed barrier.
Sengokuhara or a museum
The pampas plain, or one of the area's collections.
Drop-off in the city
Ahead of the Sunday Tomei crawl.
Which vehicle
Decided by headcount and luggage. A full car carries fewer bags.
Included
- Driver
- Consumption tax (shown in the fare)
Not included
- Expressway tolls and parking (charged at cost)
- Sightseeing admission
- Meals
- Personal purchases
- Special arrangements outside the operating area
On charters, expressway tolls and parking are charged separately at cost. Airport transfers are the other way round — those are included.
Cautions for this route
Gas-level rules can close parts of Ōwakudani; we stop elsewhere if they do.
Ropeway, boat and museum tickets are yours to buy; we do not sell them.
Hakone is in Kanagawa, outside the operating area; pickup and drop-off stay in Tokyo.
The destination lies outside our operating area. Pickup and drop-off are both inside Tokyo's 23 wards and the Musashino–Mitaka area.