Tokyo to Hakone...
Oct 1, 2014, 3:43 pm
#31
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It isn't "just two hours". It's a third of the limited time available to you within the precious 10am to 4pm sightseeing slot.
I don't plan itineraries that are bursting at the seams yet I still get up a lot earlier than you intend to in order to accomplish my own aims. I sincerely lack the imagination required to understand how you will manage.
Midweek in Hakone is like a weekend elsewhere. "Wednesday = closed" is just a rule of thumb for the slightly smaller attractions in this area. As a for instance; the Chimoto Yumochi shop is closed on Wednesdays. Thursdays is the other problem day, the Museum of Art is closed then.
At least you won't have to leave until quite late on Thursday, that makes a big difference to what you might achieve.
I don't plan itineraries that are bursting at the seams yet I still get up a lot earlier than you intend to in order to accomplish my own aims. I sincerely lack the imagination required to understand how you will manage.
Midweek in Hakone is like a weekend elsewhere. "Wednesday = closed" is just a rule of thumb for the slightly smaller attractions in this area. As a for instance; the Chimoto Yumochi shop is closed on Wednesdays. Thursdays is the other problem day, the Museum of Art is closed then.
At least you won't have to leave until quite late on Thursday, that makes a big difference to what you might achieve.
Last edited by LapLap; Oct 1, 2014 at 4:33 pm Reason: Posted 25% instead of 33%
Oct 1, 2014, 4:40 pm
#32
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Nope. Just spent a couple weekdays there a few weeks back. Moto Hakone, Hakone-en, Owakudani, Hakone Shrine, and Yunessun were all pretty dead.
There's a reason why plenty of Hakone businesses have closed down over the past decade.
Edit: Sorry, going back to the previous page, I see now that you were speaking in terms of attractions being open instead of being crowded.
There's a reason why plenty of Hakone businesses have closed down over the past decade.
Edit: Sorry, going back to the previous page, I see now that you were speaking in terms of attractions being open instead of being crowded.
Last edited by hailstorm; Oct 1, 2014 at 4:47 pm
Oct 1, 2014, 4:49 pm
#33
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EDIT: saw your edit. Thanks.
Oct 1, 2014, 5:14 pm
#34
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It isn't "just two hours". It's a third of the limited time available to you within the precious 10am to 4pm sightseeing slot.
I don't plan itineraries that are bursting at the seams yet I still get up a lot earlier than you intend to in order to accomplish my own aims. I sincerely lack the imagination required to understand how you will manage.
Midweek in Hakone is like a weekend elsewhere. "Wednesday = closed" is just a rule of thumb for the slightly smaller attractions in this area. As a for instance; the Chimoto Yumochi shop is closed on Wednesdays. Thursdays is the other problem day, the Museum of Art is closed then.
At least you won't have to leave until quite late on Thursday, that makes a big difference to what you might achieve.
I don't plan itineraries that are bursting at the seams yet I still get up a lot earlier than you intend to in order to accomplish my own aims. I sincerely lack the imagination required to understand how you will manage.
Midweek in Hakone is like a weekend elsewhere. "Wednesday = closed" is just a rule of thumb for the slightly smaller attractions in this area. As a for instance; the Chimoto Yumochi shop is closed on Wednesdays. Thursdays is the other problem day, the Museum of Art is closed then.
At least you won't have to leave until quite late on Thursday, that makes a big difference to what you might achieve.
We would have otherwise arrived at 12-Noon. It is indeed the difference of 2 hours and we would not have done more than a single activity before check-in on Tuesday regardless given the limited time. We'll now have roughly 2 hours to visit a museum or something.
You say the Museom of Art is closed on Thursday so we'll likely visit the Sekirakuen Garden and Moss Garden in the afternoon on arrival.
The next day we'll have lunch at the historic soba place in town and visit either POLA or Hakone Open-Air Museum; probably the former. The rest of the time will be spent indulging ourselves at GK.
The only other "musts" for me are the ropeway to Ōwakudani and the trek to Hakone Sekisho / Old Tōkaidō via the mountain and lake, as suggested by someone earlier in this thread. Both would seem very doable on our final day, don't you agree?
At some point we would like to visit Fujiya Hotel as well but that's really it. We'll walk around and explore the town a bit when we go to the soba place for lunch. I've been told by many people that a full day in Hakone is more than enough time. Granted there's a lot that I personally would like to see, but the difference of 2 hours doesn't make a huge impact. We would've been exhausted had we left much earlier and probably couldn't have lasted all day sightseeing. Keep in mind, we'll still be jetlagged at this point in our trip and we have some very late nights planned in Tokyo.
Oct 1, 2014, 5:37 pm
#36
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I don't have encyclopaedic knowledge of Hakone's attractions nor as much motivation to look things up as you do. Wednesdays (and Thursdays) ring alarm bells for me, hence the suggestion that you check.
Seeing Fuji San was a priority on my own visit to Hakone. I went straight out to the rope ways as soon as I had left my bags at the lodging I was staying at as there was some visibility on the day of my arrival. Glad I did as Mt Fuji couldn't be seen the next day.
Seeing Fuji San was a priority on my own visit to Hakone. I went straight out to the rope ways as soon as I had left my bags at the lodging I was staying at as there was some visibility on the day of my arrival. Glad I did as Mt Fuji couldn't be seen the next day.
Oct 1, 2014, 9:26 pm
#37
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The base station of the Komagatake Ropeway can only be reached by bus or boat, but above tour boats are not stopping there. The bus ride would be included in the freepass. The boat not.
Apart from that there is no reason to not start reverse direction, might be less crowded and with a bit of zig-zag you could visit the teahouse for lunch.
Oct 1, 2014, 10:58 pm
#38
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If you are in Hakone Yumoto at 2:07, you have time to check out the somewhat interesting Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History.
http://nh.kanagawa-museum.jp/info/indexen.html
http://nh.kanagawa-museum.jp/info/indexen.html
Oct 1, 2014, 11:00 pm
#39
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We're definitely planning to spend most of our time at Gora Kadan, enjoying the ryokan and onsen. We will really only explore Hakone on the day of arrival and departure. We might venture out for lunch on our second day, but not much more than that.
I definitely want to briefly visit the POLA Museum, even if just for 45 minutes to do a quick walkthrough. I love the modernist architecture and would like to see some of the impressionist painintgs.
Same with the Rodins, Miros, etc. at the Open-Air Museum. I don't mind spending a half hour just walking through the sculpture garden; it doesn't need to be an exhaustive afternoon excursion.
Perhaps on our second afternoon at Gora, we'll venture out for a few hours in the afternoon to eat and explore. I would absolutely like to visit Sekirakuen Garden and Moss Garden at Hakone Museum of Art. The autumn foliage is supposed to be brilliant this time of year and I would really like to see the painted slopes and fall colors over Gora with picturesque mountain streams running through and scenic views over the valley. It looks and sounds really beautiful.
On that same day, probably beforehand, we'd likely stop by Hatsuhana (historic soba noodle shop) for lunch followed by a short drop-in at Chimoto Yumochi Shop for wagashi and other confections. This is really the only time we'd venture out of Gora Kadan, apart from our day of arrival and departure. We could eat lunch and squeeze in a short museum visit, and maybe have tea at the Fujiya Hotel.
I definitely want to briefly visit the POLA Museum, even if just for 45 minutes to do a quick walkthrough. I love the modernist architecture and would like to see some of the impressionist painintgs.
Same with the Rodins, Miros, etc. at the Open-Air Museum. I don't mind spending a half hour just walking through the sculpture garden; it doesn't need to be an exhaustive afternoon excursion.
Perhaps on our second afternoon at Gora, we'll venture out for a few hours in the afternoon to eat and explore. I would absolutely like to visit Sekirakuen Garden and Moss Garden at Hakone Museum of Art. The autumn foliage is supposed to be brilliant this time of year and I would really like to see the painted slopes and fall colors over Gora with picturesque mountain streams running through and scenic views over the valley. It looks and sounds really beautiful.
On that same day, probably beforehand, we'd likely stop by Hatsuhana (historic soba noodle shop) for lunch followed by a short drop-in at Chimoto Yumochi Shop for wagashi and other confections. This is really the only time we'd venture out of Gora Kadan, apart from our day of arrival and departure. We could eat lunch and squeeze in a short museum visit, and maybe have tea at the Fujiya Hotel.
If it were me, I'd leave Tokyo Sta ~9.30a which would get you to Gora at 12.19p via 10a Romance Car from Shinjuku (per Yahoo Transit). I presume check-in time at Gora Kadan is some time between 2-4p. I would not check in any later than 4p. Spend the few hours before that to go tour Open Air Museum (as I said before, and as Laplap said, you need to allow 2hrs there). If that first day's a clear day, then time permitting, I would think about squeezing in a ride on Hakone Ropeway just up to Owakudani for the awesome sight of Mt.Fuji. If it happens to be a clear day, you'll want to take advantage of that, because Mt.Fuji may not be visible the next day or the day after. I will say that Mt.Fuji has been visible at one point or another in majority of my visits to Hakone... and I generally go to Hakone twice a year... maybe I've been lucky. Anyways, I understand that you want to get a good night's rest the night before. Well, you won't have to wake up that early if you could get yourself to just forget about the Tokyo Ramen Street and instead grab a bento or bread at Tokyo Station to eat on the Romance Car.
Komagatake Ropeway is kind of redundant if you've already done the Hakone Ropeway and been up to Owakudani and gotten the view of Mt.Fuji. Mt.Fuji looks the same whether from Owakudani or Komagatake Ropeway imo. The pirate ship on Ahinoko to me is nothing special, although some probably enjoy it more than others. Imho the Hakone checkpoint is nothing exciting.
I can admire your interest in so many things/places. I hope I'm not coming across as sounding critical. But you want to balance things out and make your trip feasible and not rushed.
Oct 2, 2014, 1:05 am
#40
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Every part of evergrn's last post has expressed my own thoughts perfectly. ^
+1
I understand you would be renouncing a coveted seat on the train as well as the visit to the ramen shop at Tokyo station, but, to me, neither of those things are enough of "a thing" to insist on keeping them as they are at odds with the spirit of your stated ambitions and desires.
+1
I understand you would be renouncing a coveted seat on the train as well as the visit to the ramen shop at Tokyo station, but, to me, neither of those things are enough of "a thing" to insist on keeping them as they are at odds with the spirit of your stated ambitions and desires.
Oct 2, 2014, 7:27 am
#42
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Did travel agent tell you that your train would be a VSE 50000, or did you request that... and assume that the reservation they got you at 12:40 was in that train?
Oct 2, 2014, 8:13 am
#43
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Anyhow based on all the feedback I've gotten, I think we'll try to leave earlier afterall. We'll still eat at Rokurishna but we'll catch an earlier train that will get us into Hakone no later than noon. I just wrote to my TA and requested an earlier Romance Car that could get us to Hakone by 12pm and we'll likely follow evergrn's very helpful suggestions for planning our day out.
Thanks again for all the feedback!
Oct 2, 2014, 8:21 am
#44
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The online timetable shows the 12:40 train on a weekday is an ESE and does not have panoramic seating. Unless the travel agent has access to information that is not on the web site.
Online booking for Nov 4 has not opened yet so can't check the seat availability.
Online booking for Nov 4 has not opened yet so can't check the seat availability.
Oct 2, 2014, 9:17 am
#45
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Train geek here... 
msb0b is corrent, according to the timetable published by Odakyu, Romance Car Hakone No. 23 departing Shinjyuku on 12:40 p.m. is not VSE 50000.
According to the timetable, VSE 50000 Romance Care are scheduled for:
Hakone No. 15
Depart Shinjyuku 10:40 a.m.
Arrive Hakone-yomoto 12:10 p.m.
Hakone No. 29
Depart Shinjyuku 1:40 p.m.
Arrive Hakone-yomoto 3:07 p.m.
However, the timetable by Odakyu indicates train type of Hakone No. 15 departing Shinjyuku on 10:40 a.m. can change. There is no gurantee that Hakone No. 15 Romance Car will be VSE 50000 on the day of your trip.
Hakone No. 29 departing Shinjyuku on 1:40 p.m. is indicated as run by VSE 50000 every day.
Also, Hakone No. 13 departing Shinjyuku 10:00 a.m. arriving Hakone-yumoto 11:23 a.m. is indicated as run by VSE 50000 every day.
msb0b is corrent, according to the timetable published by Odakyu, Romance Car Hakone No. 23 departing Shinjyuku on 12:40 p.m. is not VSE 50000.
According to the timetable, VSE 50000 Romance Care are scheduled for:
Hakone No. 15
Depart Shinjyuku 10:40 a.m.
Arrive Hakone-yomoto 12:10 p.m.
Hakone No. 29
Depart Shinjyuku 1:40 p.m.
Arrive Hakone-yomoto 3:07 p.m.
However, the timetable by Odakyu indicates train type of Hakone No. 15 departing Shinjyuku on 10:40 a.m. can change. There is no gurantee that Hakone No. 15 Romance Car will be VSE 50000 on the day of your trip.
Hakone No. 29 departing Shinjyuku on 1:40 p.m. is indicated as run by VSE 50000 every day.
Also, Hakone No. 13 departing Shinjyuku 10:00 a.m. arriving Hakone-yumoto 11:23 a.m. is indicated as run by VSE 50000 every day.
