Hakone attract many people because of great view of Mt. Fuji, volcanic activity in front of you, various transportation, hot spring, historical site and etc. If you want to enjoy everything, you need to stay in Hakone at least 3 days. But you can enjoy Hakone even one day by taking golden route.
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Odawara station or Hakone-Yumoto station. If you are staying in Hakone area, at your hotel
This is the gateway of Hakone. From this station, we will start to take a bus to Hatajuku, the first destination of this tour
We learn how to make a wood combination pattern from real producer. Items he produces are sold only in Hakone area. It is impressive to learn how to make this Hakone Yosegi-zaiku which is listed as a traditional craft item by government.
This is an old tea house found more than 400 years ago and one family succeed this business. Current owner is 13th generation.
Amazake is a non-alcoholic beverage made from Koji( a mold used in fermentation) and rice. This tea house has a small museum related to travel in Hakone in old days. Addition to it, there is an old road used for 400 years. It means you can see how people travelled in old days.
Lake Ashi was created by eruption of volcano about 3100 years ago and is never be frozen even in winter. There are some spots to enjoy very nice view of Mt.Fuji. We will take lunch around this area
This is the oldest shrine in Hakone found about 1300 years ago. Approaching road to the main building was covered by cider trees and you can enjoy nice atmosphere which Japanese love.
This Lake Ashi cruse is very enjoyable one to see Hakone mountains from different angle.
This is one of the hi-lights of Hakone sightseeing. You can see actual volcanic activity in front of you and smell surfur.
Here you can find a very unique item which is an egg with black shell. It is a normal boiled egg but color of shell is black.
It is said that this one egg extends your life by 7 years.
After Owakudani, we will take rope-way (cable car) to Sohunzan station where you can enjoy hotspring for your feet if you wish.
On the way, you can enjoy nice view of Hakone mountains and feel you are flying.
From this station, we will take a train to Hakone Yumoto. Because this train pass very steep slope, train is special and change train direction 3 times (switch back).
End of this tour
At your hotel, Hakone Yumoto station or Odawara station
This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
guide fee only
transportation cost from my home to the meeting point
all transportation, lunch, entrance fee for you and guide.
My recommendation is to purchase Hakone free ticket for 2 days. It cost ¥5000 for an adult and ¥1000 for a kid (under 12 years old). This ticket covers all transportation from Odawara to Hakone area including bus, train, pirate ship, cable car and rope-way.
This is one typical route to enjoy Hakone. But there are many other places which is unique in Hakone for example many museums and historical sites.
For example, there is a famous "Open Air museum" where all sculptures are displayed in open air. If you wish to visit any specific place, please advice me. I will arrange this tour to meet your request.
If you can see Mt.Fuji depends on the weather condition. And please note that during summer, visibility is low and in winter it is high. It means chancesis to see Mt.Fuji in summer is low and in winter is high
Also, transportation in Hakone is affected by weather condition, especially cruise ship and rope-way ( cable car)
My name is Hiroshi Yasuo, but Hiro is good enough to call me.
I used to live in abroad total 8 years and visited more than 30 countries for business and pleasure.
And through my experience of visiting all over Japan from Hokkaido to Okinawa, I am very knowledgeable about major tourist places. It means I can help you to make your visit to Japan a very enjoyable one. Also, I like Japanese history and it helps me to explain not only surface explanation of places, but also their background of stories or history of each place. Addition to that, I am very familiar with Japanese railway system. If you give me places you wish to visit, I can tell you the best way to reach those places.
As of Mar 2021, I got Wildness First Aid certification which means I have knowledge of how to treat under emergency situation. Addition to WFA, I understand importance of LNT( Leave No trace) philosophy. It means I respect nature and can help you how to conduct less stress tour for nature.
I understand my role is to make your tour more valuable and enjoyable one.
I hope I can see many people from all over the world.
“A kind, knowledgeable expert!”
I worked with Hiroshi over nine months to plan 2 days in Tokyo, 1 in Kamakura and 1 in Hakone. After 9 hours, I am so glad for the choice. Hiroshi is extremely knowledgeable about everything from food history to shogunate trivia, from garden design to specific neighborhood districts. He adjusted his plan to accommodate our every whim and he did so with a big smile. We love our day today and can't wait for tomorrow with Hiroshi.
Hiroshi Y.
(48 reviews)Emily Thank you for your great comment about the first day in Tokyo. I will do my best in rest of our tour.
John M.
Relaxing half day tour in Yokohama
Customized
“We had a perfect day with Hiroshi !”
Hiroshi provided us (4) with an excellent tour of Yokohama. He was timely, well informed, and engaging. He speaks excellent English clearly and was easy to understand. We highly recommend him to all seeking an informed and engaging tour.
Hiroshi Y.
(48 reviews)John. Thank you for your quick review of today's tour. I tried to response as quick as possible. I enjoyed the tour with you very much. Please continue a great tour. Best wishes
“Fantastic tour of Hakone”
Hiro is an excellent tour guide! He designed a fantastic day trip visit to Hakone for our family of 8 and was highly communicative and organized both leading up to our tour date, as well as during our visit to Hakone. We got very lucky with stunning views of Mt. Fuji and appreciated Hiro's historical knowledge and Japanese cultural insights. I highly recommend booking your private tour with Hiro.