:)

According to my TA (Boutique JTB) it was actually Hakone #25 and not 23. Perhaps I relayed misinformation regarding the times/schedule.

In any event, we're going to change it for an earlier train so that we can arrive in Hakone by noon-ish. Any suggestions for a Romance Car that runs on that schedule based on your knowledge?

I don't want to plan ahead for the return trip to Tokyo because I'd prefer to let our daily schedule and activities dictate.

Do the Romance Cars only run along this route btw?

I would really love to ride the VSE 50000. We're travelling between Tokyo and Minakami several days later. We're also taking trains between Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka; though these seem to be short routes and the Rapid Service Lines seem to be most convenient.

Our longest train routes are between Osaka and Matsue, Matsue and Hiroshima, and then Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The last one is our longest ride and if there's an interesting train options, I'd be most interested for this route.

Thanks! :)

Could I please get some feedback on this updated itinerary?

Does it seem more realistic and efficiently planned?



DAY 1

• EARLY Morning Check-out at The Peninsula Tokyo – (08:00 AM)

• Taxi to Tokyo Station, Yaesu South Exit

• Lineup at Rokurishna Tokyo Ramen Station – (08:30 AM)

• Take the JR Chūō Line Rapid Service to Shinjuku Station – (10:10 AM)

• Take the Odakyu Ltd. Express Hakone 17 to Hakone-Yumoto – (10:40 AM)

• Take the Hakone Tozan Railway to Sōunzan Station

• Take the Hakone Ropeway from Sōunzan to Ōwakudani; Explore the Volcanic Hot Springs and Steam Vents – Scenic Views of Mt. Fuji

• Continue along the Hakone Ropeway to Tōgendai Station

• Sightseeing Cruise around Lake Ashinoko

• Optional Stop at Hakone-machi Port: Visit Historic Chimoto Yumochi Shop

• Continue to Gora Kadan Ryokan for Check-in and Dinner



DAY 2

• Breakfast at Gora Kadan

• Relax at Ryokan!

• Lunch/Tea at The Fujiya Hotel

• Afternoon Visit (Post-Lunch) to Open-Air Museum ~ 2hr Required! (Hours: 9 AM – 5 PM)

• Return to Ryokan for Remainder of Day & Evening

• Kaiseki Dinner at Gora Kadan



DAY 3

• Early Morning Check-Out at Gora Kadan! (Store Bags at Reception)

• Taxi to Lake Ashi and Cruise to Moto-Hakone Port Alternate Option: Taxi Direct to Hakone-jinja, Moto-Hakone

• Visit Hakone-jinja; Walk to Old Tōkaidō (Kyukaido) Ancient Highway

• Follow the Old Tōkaidō (Kyukaido) Pass between Moto-Hakone and Hatajuku – (approx. 1-1.5hrs)

• Stop at Amazake Chaya for Amazake, Tea and Mochi En Route; Visit Tōkaidō Museum; Continue to Hatajuku

• Return to Starting Point and Follow Cedar Avenue between Moto-Hakone and Hakone-Machi to Hakone Checkpoint & Detached Palace

• Return to Gora Kadan for Bags; Taxi to Hatsuhana Soba * (Original Honten Location at 635 Yumoto; New Wing Located at 474-2)

• Walk to Hakone-Yumoto Station; Tokyo Bound!



PS - we'd possibly try to squeeze in a quick 1hr visit to POLA somewhere inbetween if it makes sense; we'll play it by ear and decide.

Did I streamline our plans in a way that makes more sense? Anything to add or suggestions to make?

Thanks for any input!

PPS - We could potentially skip the cruise on day 1 and head straight to POLA for an hour or two after Ōwakudani and then take a cab from Gora Kadan to Lake Ashi super early in the morning on our last day in order to get to Moto-Hakone in order to do the Old Tōkaidō road and all other sights between there and Hakone-Machi. Thoughts on this?


EDIT: I just realized that Chimoto Yumochi is very close to Hakone-Yumoto Station and the soba shop, so we'd likely do both on the final day before returning to Tokyo. No need to stop at Moto-Hakone port on day 1 as I would prefer to do all of this in the early morning hours on our final day.

I think the Peninsula offers free transportation to Tokyo station in one of their fancy. Or at least they did when I last stayed there five years ago...

If you take the 10.40am Romance Car, you'll get to Yumoto at 12.10pm, and then you transfer to Tozan train getting into Gora at 13.04pm. Note the the Tozan train only goes to Gora. From there, you xfer to Cable Car for Souunzan, then xfer to Ropeway to head up to Owakudani. You can look up the Cable Car times, but anyways it's ~30min from Gora to Owakudani. So let's say you get up to Owakudani by 1.45pm. You'll probably spend anywhere from 45min-75min there. By then you're talking 2.30~3pm-ish. If it were me, I'd probably start heading towards the hotel at this point. If you do the cruise and all that, you'd be checking in pretty late. And you're going to be doing the cruise on day3 anyways. I suppose you could squeeze in POLA Museum, although that's a lot. Btw, the highlight of the Ropeway is from Sounnzan to Owakudani imo. Owakudani to the lake portion is nothing exciting other than the potential view of Mt.Fuji which you'd have from Owakudani anyways (only not through the ropeway window). One modification you could consider is to stop by Fujiya Hotel on the first day on your way up to Owakudani... you could do this and still check in at a decent time.

I would also say that you should be flexible about adjusting your schedule according to the weather, etc. For example, if it's not raining but Mt.Fuji is not visible either (there're webcams with view of Hakone over Ashinoko, like this one: https://www.hakone.or.jp/web-camera/pop_01_4.html ), then maybe go to the Open-Air Museum on day1 and Owakudani on day2. If it's raining on day1, neither one is going to be much fun.

I would stay on the first day in Hakone-Gora area, go for tea to Hotel Fuyija and enjoy the Onsen in your Ryokan.

Second day: start early, Owakudani, Lake Ashi, Moto-Hakone, Old Tōkaidō and back (make use of the day), it is doable without rushing thru.

Third day: Museums in Hakone Area and head back to Tokyo

More efficient in my view.

Thanks so much for your feedback; all good points that we'll consider and note in our itinerary. We'll definitely scratch the cruise on Day 1. Do you know how early they start running though? I'd like to do the old Tokaido pass in the morning before any crowds, though given that it will be a Tuesday, I don't think we'll have too much of a problem with that. It looks a lot more atmospheric from photos I've seen in the early morning hours though. Same with Hakone temple. I'm hoping to get to Lake Ashi by 9AM at the latest in order to take the boat across; visit the shrine, do the Tokaido Hwy, stop at Amaze Chaya, continue along partway to Hatajuku, then cut back towards Cedar Avenue and Hakone Machi. Would that take approx. 3-4 hours total?

I would tend to agree except that we'd like to maximize our time at Gora Kadan.

I think we'll play Day 2 by ear. If we feel that we'd like to get out and about, we might add a visit to POLA in there. I suppose it's also weather dependent too. Especially with Owakudani. A friend in Tokyo highly recommends we go to the Fujiya for lunch and try their beef curry in the main dining room, so we'll likely do that for lunch on day 2. We'll see how things unfold. At least I have a better sense and general idea of timing and everything now so it'll be easier to figure out what's doable and what's not while we're there. I was a bit confused by the layout of everything and all the different rail and transit routes when I first started this thread but I think I have a much better grasp on all that now.

Final question: based on our proposed itinerary above, would you suggest it's worthwhile to spring for the 3-day Hakone Free Pass?

Thanks again for all your help!

The pirate ship schedule is here:
http://www.hakone-kankosen.co.jp/for...eet/index.html
If you're there in December, then the first ship leaves Togendai at 10am.

I can only speak to the portion from Hakone-machi to Moto-hakone. Hakone-machi to MotoHakone is ~30min walk if my memory serves. But, if you're going to swing over by Hakone Jinja and stop off at the park and the checkpoint, etc, then that'll add a lot of time.

Thanks so much! We'll be there mid-November I believe, so it looks as though the first ship departs Togendai Port at 9:30 AM. We'll let our ryokan know that we'd like to arrange a taxi for our final morning to take us to the ship for that departure. ^