Hi all,

I am off to Japan for my first time in a little over 3 weeks and the excitement is certainly kicking in!! I am going to Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Osaka during my 2 weeks.

However I first though Hakone was a nice relaxing place to sit with view of Mount Fuji however I have now heard about the Hakone Loop and that it would take around 4/5 hours to complete with some breathtaking sites and of course the pirate ship but I was wondering if anyone could help with greater detail on this?

I am greatly intreagued so any help would be much appreciated as to how I travel around the loop -i.e. what stations (bus/train) I use and what transport I use for each stage of the loop looking to start and end at Hakone-Yumoto station.

Thanks for your help!!

Here are some great links with info about the Hakone loop:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5210.html
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-307.pdf

I wouldn't go as far as calling the views 'breathtaking', but quite nice if the weather is fine.

Welcome to Flyertalk.
As a first recommendation, I suggest that you try searching for some existing threads. There are quite a few discussions on the forum where you can find recommendations for a trip to Hakone, like this one:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan...-day-trip.html

In addition, Wikitravel is a great resource:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Hakone

If you find your questions unanswered by those sources, I suggest appending specific questions to the most recent, relevant threads. (And if there's no relevant thread, then it's fine to start a new one).

Have a good trip.

Thanks so much Arevan! The Japan Guide one is a great help I just have fears of being completely lost in a non tourist area of Japan! Although I have no idea how I didnt come across that before - I have been using Japan Guide for just about everything!

Thanks again for your help though greatly appreciated!

And to jib71 - sorry I had a short look around for a thread but thanks for the tips and pointing me in the right direction!

No chance of that. You're going to be lost in some of the most touristy areas.

I've done the Hakone Loop. It's kitschy, but kind of fun, and you do see some nice scenery, although it's anybody's guess if Mt. Fuji will be visible on any particular day.

Since you will be following the same sequence of transportation as everyone else, there's not much chance of getting lost.

It's been a while since I was there, but I believe that the ticket office where you buy your tickets for the Hakone Loop has maps in English.