Introduction to Hakone
Hakone is one of the places in Japan that I wish every traveller could experience, because I think it captures the essence of Japan. This small town has very artsy vibe thanks to its many museums, and the views over the famous Mt. Fuji are just a cherry on top.
Hakone is a mountainous town located on the shores of Lake Ashinoko. It is a part of Fuji Hakone Izu National Park that protects Mt. Fuji and its five lakes. Because of the volcanic activity, many hotels in Hakone have onsens (hot springs), where you can soak after the whole day of sightseeing. The surrounding forests offer great hiking tracks for outdoors enthusiasts, while the art lovers can do gallery hopping around the town. We spent one day in Hakone but you could stay here for a whole weekend (or even a week) without running out of things to do! Here is some inspiration from me to help your plan your visit.
Visit Hakone Shrine
If you have researched a bit about Japan and Hakone, you probably came across the picture of the large vermilion Torii gate in the water. This famous torii is part of the Hakone Shrine which became the main site of the town. The floating torii attracts many visitors and they often form a line to get their desired pictures.
Hakone shrine is bigger than the famous torii though. If you climb up the stairs through the cedar forest, you will discover the main hall that is particularly beautiful early in the morning when the forest is covered in mist.
Opening hours and entrance fees
Visiting Hakone Shrine is free of charge. The main hall is open from 8:30 am to 5 pm, but the torii in the lake is open for public 24/7.
Check out the museums
You will be surprised how many museums and art galleries there are, in such a small town. You can spend a day just museum hopping and still you won’t see them all. We visited the Hakone Open-Air Museum, which sits on a mountainside and it includes sculpture park, indoor exhibitions and even a foot bath. The tickets are a little pricy – 1600 yen per adult, but I think it is worth it. We surely enjoyed this experience!
Remarkable museums in Hakone
Other museums in Hakone worth mentioning are:
Hakone Venetian Glass Museum and Glass Forest – showcasing the best of Italian glassware, and there’s also an Italian restaurant
Pola Museum of Art – with collection of remarkable European and Japanese art
Little Prince Museum – honouring the 100th anniversary of Little Prince book
Hakone Rene Lalique Museum – dedicated to work of French jeweller Rene Lalique
Narukawa Art Museum – besides Japanese paintings you can also admire great views over Lake Ashi
Hakone Museum of Photography – with permanent and rotation photography exhibits, as well as maple tree forest within the museum grounds
Okada Museum of Art – is set in a modern building showcasing art from Japan, China and Korea
Go for a hike around the Lake Ashinoko
Lake Ashinoko and the surrounding mountains are the symbol of Hakone. The lake was formed more than 3000 years ago in the caldera of Mt. Hakone, after the volcano last erupted. Today, there are plenty of hiking tracks and walking trails around the lake. Most of them will lead you to a viewing spot from where you can observe the almighty Mt. Fuji from the distance.
To chose the best hike for your level of fitness, check official Hakone website here where you can find the most popular tracks, or visit the alltrails.com to see all the hikes in the area.
Take a boat tour
One of the best views at Mt. Fuji from Hakone is directly from the lake. There are several sightseeing cruise companies, but the most impressive are the three pirate ships that take passengers all around the lake. They depart few times a day and the cruises last for about 25 minutes. You can choose if you want to get off the ship on the other side of the lake or come back. You can find more detailed information here.
If you don’t want to go on a large ship, you can rent just a simple paddle boat as well. Some of them are in shape of swans. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to do a boat tour but it’s something I really want to do on our next visit.
Walk on the Mishima Sky Walk
Mishima Sky Walk is technically not in Hakone, but it is worth to make the trip there. Because how many times you can experience walking to the other site of the longest suspension bridge in Japan, while looking at the Japan’s tallest mountain? Moreover, the area surrounding the bridge is packed with activities for all ages. At the south end (near the parking lot), you will find cafes and restaurants, souvenir shop and a Sky Garden full of flowers hanging from the ceiling.
The north area on the other side of the bridge offers you more exciting experiences, such as zip lining, dinosaur park, Segway tours or Forest Adventure in the tree tops. For smaller children there’s also a café where they can pet puppies, bunnies and kitties, while a couple food trucks and a café will take care of you if you get hungry. The whole north area is surrounded by forest and nature. It is really fun and unusual place!
Admission fee and opening hours
The Mishima Sky Walk is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm, but the hours can change in case of strong wind and bad weather.
The entrance fee for adults is 1100 yen, for secondary school students it’s 500 yen and for primary school students 200 yen. Pre-schoolers can enter for free.
How to get there
By Car
The easiest way to get there is by car. There’s no extra charge for car park. It takes about 30 minutes (22 km) to get from Hakone to the Sky Walk.
By Train
If you want to take public transport, the closest station to the bridge is JR Mishima station. To get there, take Hakonetozan line from Hakone-Yumoto station to Odawara station. At Odawara take Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen to JR Mishima station.
At the Mishima station, take the south exit to the bus station and hop on the bus number 5. Then get off at the Mishima Sky Walk bus stop. Alternatively, you can take a taxi from the station. The taxi and bus ride both last about 20 minutes.
By Bus
You can also take a bus from Hakone, from the Hakone-Yumoto station. The bus is called Hakone Tozan Bus and it is bound to Hakone Port. Get off the bus after 35 minutes at the Motohakone Port. Transfer here to the Tokai Orange shuttle bus that will take you to the Mishima Sky Walk.
Feel the power of nature at Owakudani Volcanic Valley
Since visiting active Aso volcano on Kyushu last year, I feel drawn towards volcanos where you can really experience the true power of nature. Owakudani is a geothermic site above Hakone, where you can see sulphuric steam rising up from the mountains, which gives the whole area almost hellish atmosphere. Owakudani literally translates as ‘Great Boiling Valley’ and it was created more than 3000 years ago, after the eruption of the Hakone volcano.
Local specialty of Owakudani - kuro-tamago
Today you can visit here a geothermic museum, a couple of viewing platforms from where you can observe Mt. Fuji in the distance, there are also several restaurants and souvenir shops. And even though the scenery is absolutely spectacular, the biggest attraction is probably the local specialty kuro-tamago.
Kuro-tamago are black eggs that boiled in the hot spring water on the mountain. You can buy them fresh and warm and eat them straight away, or bring them to your hotel. They smell a little bit like sulphur, but it is said that they actually prolong your life by 5-7 years. We bought a pack and when we ate them fresh, they tasted a little bit different, but after they cooled down, they were just your regular eggs. You can buy 5 eggs for 500 yen.
Opening hours
The Owakudani site is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm, but it can be closed unexpectedly due to high volume of dangerous gasses from the volcano.
How to get there
The best way to get up to Owakudani is by Hakone Ropeway. The cable cars leave from two different station on opposite sites of the town – from Tokaido Hakone Ropeway near the Pirate ship port on the lake, or from the Gora station. Alternatively, you can also take a bus from Odawara station. There’s a parking lot on the top as well, but it not very large and can fill up pretty quickly.
Best time to visit Hakone
Hakone is an all-year-round destination and every season brings different ambiance and experiences. Mt. Fuji, however, has the best visibility during December and January. In summer it often hides behind clouds and sometimes it doesn’t peek out for several days. We visited Hakone in December at Christmas time and we saw Mt. Fuji during our whole stay. The weather was sunny and pleasant, around 9 degrees Celsius during the day.
Getting around Hakone
We travelled around Hakone by car, but the town is very well connected by public transport, so it should be fairly easy to get from point A to B. There’s a network of local buses, trains, ropeways, cable cars and sightseeing boats to take you around. You can also rent a bike in one of the rentals to explore the area in your own pace.
If you are sure that you will visit Hakone and use all the means of transportation that the city offers, you should consider purchasing Hakone Free Pass or Fuji Hakone Pass. They are available for several days and they’ll allow you to explore the area outside of Hakone too.
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