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Best Memories of Hakone
Joined 2014
Hakone is very popular place for one day trip from Tokyo. We will take the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Odawara and a mountain train, a ropeway and cruise Lake Ashi by the Pirate ship to enjoy her various scenery. Hakone is famous for hot spring public baths, you can try one if you want. If the weather is fine, you can see the magnificent view of Mt. Fuji from several places.
Itinerary
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
At your hotel
- I will meet you near the reception. I will show your name on my iPad.
The following is a standard plan with optional places you can choose. There also shown approximate time duration.
At your hotel
I will pick you up near the reception.
9:30-10:30 AM: Transportation to Hakone Yumoto, purchase Hakone Free Pass
Transportation: Taking the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Odawara which runs about 250 Km/h (Discount return ticket with 4600 JPY for an adult, you can use JR pass.) It is very impressive to observe other express Shinkansen passing by at Odawara station. We will buy the Hakone Free Pass which is a very economical pass to travel Hakone. The we will take a local train to Hakone Yumoto; the entrance of Hakone. If you are staying near Shinjuku station and not interested in taking the Shinkansen, I would recommend the Romance car from Shinjuku station directly to Hakone Yumoto. This express train is not so rapid, but you can save the time to go to Tokyo station and change trains at Odawara station. (The Shinkansen from 3,500 JPY, Hakone Free Pass with 5,000 JPY for adult, 1,000 for child under 12).
10:30-11:30 AM: Transportation to Lake Ashi by a bus
Transportation: Taking a bus from Hakone Yumoto to Lake Ashi to view Mt. Fuji as early as possible when it is clear (We will take the mountain train in our return trip.)
11:30-12:30 PM Hakone Shrine
Hakone Shrine; We will walk to the Hakone Shrine, which was established in 757. You can see the Torii gate for peace on the lake and the sanctuary of the nine headed dragon which used to suffer people.
12:30-13:20 PM: Lunch
Lunch; I will take you to my favorite Japanese restaurant where you can eat Tempura, Japanese noodle, Katsudon, etc. (about 2,000 JPY per person).
13:25-13:50 PM: Cruising Lake Ashi
Cruising Lake Ashi; We will take the popular pirate ship (Included in Hakone Free Pass).
14:00-15:00 Ropeway via Owakudani volcano
15:30-16:30 PM: You can choose one place from Options #A to #C shown below.
You can find pictures of these places in the following URL.
Please check out their homepages shown after HP on each place.
Option#A. Gora park
Option#B. Hakone Open Air Museum
Hakone Open Air Museum; The most popular spot for local Japanese. Many unique sculptures, funs for children and Picasso Gallery. Admission for adult/student/child: 2,000/1,800/800 JPY, Guide: free
Option#C. Hakone Museum
Hakone Museum; Popular for autumn leaves, closed on Thursdays, Admission (adult/student/child/senior): 1,430/660/free/1,210 JYP
16:30-17:30 PM: Transportation to Hakone Yumoto by a bus or the mountain train.
17:30-18:30 Return to Tokyo
Return to Tokyo by the Shinkansen or Romance car.
At your hotel
End of the tour
Special orders : You can order the following places #1 to #5
I will offer you a modified plan with necessary trade offs/ additional charge. You can find pictures of these places in the following URL.
Special#1. Narukawa Art Museum instead of Hakone Shrine
Narukawa Art Museum with good view of Mt. Fuji and fine Japanese paintings . ; Admission fee: 1,200 JPY, Guide: free, good place to view Mt. Fuji
Special#2. Old Tokaido road walking instead of Hakone Shrine
Old Tokaido road including Hakone check point museum during Edo period; 30 min walk, Admission for adult/child: 500/250 JPY
Special#3. Taking a hot spring bath at Hakone Yumoto with one hour extension
Public outdoor bath:2,000 JPY or Private indoor bath :2,000-3,000 JPY per bathroom per 40 min.+2,000 per person.
They have a private bath with 3,000 JPY/40min+2,200 per person for a family.
If you have a large tattoo, you may not be allowed to enter.
If your tattoo is small, you can cover it up.
You have to pay one hour extension fee of 5,000 JPY to take this option.
Special #4. Venetian Glass Museum instead of Owakudani and the optional place
Venetian Glass Museum; It has a beautiful garden with lots of trees made of glass which glitter under the Sun. The museum has a nice collection of Venetian glasses and souvenirs. Note that you can't visit Owakudani volcano with the ropeway if you choose this museum due to the locations of both places. Admission fee: 1400 JPY, Guide: free, good place when you cannot see Mt. Fuji
Special#5. Mishima Sky Walk instead of Hakone Shrine
Mishima Sky Walk; It's a 400m long suspension bridge with the view of Mt. Fuji, the longest walk bridge in Japan. It's a new attraction. (Admission for adult/student/child 1,100/500/200 JPY)
Ending Point
At your hotel
Want to personalize this tour?
This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
Inclusions & Exclusions
Guide fee
Hotel pick up near Tokyo
Transportation fee of you and the guide. (about 10,000 JPN/person, including the cruising)
Lunch fee of about 2000 JPN (you and the guide)
Hotel pickup within Hakone, I can pick you up at your hotel in Hakone if you pay me extra 10,000 JPY during the tour as I live about 3 hours away from there.
Tour Important Information
1. View of Mt. Fuji; The possibility of viewing Mt Fuji depends on the season, more than 60% in winter while less than 20% in summer. But there are other interesting places in Hakone such as cruising Lake Ashi and Open Air Museum.
2. Transportations; I usually take public transportations but I can arrange a chartered taxi from Odawara if you want. It will cost about 50,000 JPY per five hours up to 4 persons including me.
3. I will buy our tickets for the Shinkansen about one week before the tour to get good seats. If you are going to use JR pass, let me know by one week before the tour.
4. Congestion of transportations; Hakone will be very crowded during the first week of May (Golden week holidays) and weekend days of November (Autumn color season). But I will choose the most efficient and comfortable way.
5. Suspension of the Ropeway; The ropeway to Owakudani is sometimes closed when the sulfur gas concentration of the area exceeds 0.2ppm or during severe weather conditions. In the case of suspension, I would recommend you to visit the Venetian Glass Museum by a bus.
- The tour guide is not available on Mondays and Fridays.
- Please, send a direct message to the tour guide for confirming the availability before booking
Not available on Mondays.
Important message from the supplier
There is little restriction due to COVID 19 in Japan since 2023. I was vaccinated six times with the Pfizer one.
Cancellation Policy
- Free cancellation - 8 days prior to meeting time
- 50% Refund - 3 to 7 days prior to meeting time
- No Refund - Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time
Joined 2014
About Tour Guide Yuki K.
I was born and grew up in Yokohama. I used to work in Tokyo for more than 20 years. I became the National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter in English in 2013. At first, I had attended a volunteer group which provided a tour of the Imperial Palace East Gardens until 2015. I guided more than fifty times in the garden as a volunteer and studied about Japanese history and culture. Based on this experience, I became a tour guide of this online site in 2015.
Since then, I have guided more than 500 tours in Tokyo as well as Yokohama, Kamakura, Hakone, Kyoto, Nikko, etc., while improving my tours. My tours are very flexible and I always do my best to customize them according to the interests of my guests. I studied about the places and will provide you knowledge to appreciate them more deeply than just visiting there by yourself or a member of group tours. I like foods and I know many restaurants which provide typical Japanese lunch with reasonable price without waiting too long. Therefore, I am sure that I can provide you the best tours customized to your interests. It will be my great pleasure to help you to enjoy your stay in Japan. So please be my guest!!
Reviews
Catherine T.
One day Door to Door tour of Kyoto from Tokyo
“Great overview of Kyoto!”
We had a great time on our one day tour to Kyoto! Everything was very well timed and we felt like we had plenty of time to view each site. The restaurant where we ate lunch was especially nice. Yuki was friendly and professional and even helped us purchase our train tickets to the airport for the next day. I would definitely recommend this tour!!
Yuki K.
(367 reviews)Dear Catherine Thank you for the review. We visited most popular places in Kyoto; Fushimi Shrine, Tenryu-ji Temple in Arashiyama, Bamboo forest, and Kinkaku-ji Temple. Everything went well except the rain but it was not so hard as anticipated. Thank you very much for taking my tour. Best regards to your friends; Kara and Rachel. Yuki
“Very expensive and Disappointed ”
We met Yuki at our hotel at 9:00. The weather was overcast. Yuki leant us his passes to travel to Kegon waterfall and Lake Chuzen . By the time we arrived it was impossible to see the falls or lake, we returned to Nikko. While a guide cannot determine the weather an experienced guide would have checked ahead, avoided wasting 2 hours on a bus and suggested an alternative itinerary…..that’s what a guide with local knowledge would have done. We suggested a stop at Nikko Botanical Gardens. Yuki had not visited them …surprising again lack of local knowledge. After lunch we toured the various temples and shrines. Yuki did not tell us anything that was not on the notice boards walking ahead with no attempt to add to our knowledge. We finished about4 returning to our hotel where Yuki was helpful ….we wanted to send some luggage ahead and he compiled the necessary forms In summary very expensive…40,000yen to GowithGuide and another 20,000 to Yuki for “travel and accommodation “ a total of 60,000yen Yuki added little to what we could have done by ourselves. Yuki is not a knowledgeable guide for Nikko and should not be marketed as such We look forward to your response.
Yuki K.
(367 reviews)Dear Ian Sorry for your disappointment. I usually take my guests from Tokyo fort one day tour. You should have known that from my offer. It was very unfortunate that it was so foggy to see anything near the lake on the upper part of Nikko mountains. I planned to take you to the waterfall and lake cruise but neither seemed to work well. So I followed your request to visit the Garden. Then, I took you to Tosho-gu shrine and Rinno-ji temple after Futabasan Shrine which I added as your wife asked me. Please enjoy your trip to Japan and give my best regards to your wife. Thank you for taking my tour. Yuki
“Overcast with gusty winds at Hakone ”
This was supposed to be an eye opening experience on the Shinkansen to Hakone. Not long after we transferred to the mountain train, all power shut down so we were stuck on the train for 2 hours before the authorities allowed all passengers to exit thru the train’s emergency exit in the first car, one by one down a narrow ladder. Of course we sat in the 1st train and were the last ones to exit. We never made it to Lake Ashi or the ropeway, but had a decent lunch before heading back to Tokyo. It was a much shorter trip than originally planned, and quite expensive. Our guide Yuki was attentive and tried his best to find alternative transportation. I only wished he had offered a partial refund.
Yuki K.
(367 reviews)Dear Nina Thank you for writing a review of my tour. It was so unfortunate not only the weather but also the loss of power of the train. I had been advising you not to visiting Hakone on the day based on the weather forecast. But you insisted Hakone so I took you there. Sorry not to think of refunding you. Best regards Yuki
