Bus ride up the soaring Hakone mountains, visit a traditional tea house serving a hot sweet drink, walk on a historic stone-paved Hakone path, visit Hakone Shrine, lunch at Motohakone, sail on a pirate boat, panoramic views from a ropeway, stop at fuming Owakudani Valley tasting black eggs boiled by volcanic heat, cable car descent to Gora, train ride to Tonosawa, visit Benzaiten Shrine and a dip in a hot spa.
Just outside the ticket gate of Hakone Yumoto Station
Customers and guide meet
Take a taxi to Amasake Chaya Tea House
Taste hot sweet drink and sweets in an old traditional Japanese-style wooden house
Walk on a mountain path, mostly covered by cobblestones, which linked Kyoto and Edo (present Tokyo) as Tokaido Highway in the old days
Visit Hakone Shrine, with its over 1,200 years history, worshipped by two powerful Shoguns, Minamotono Yoritomo and Tokugawa Ieyasu
Take lunch at a restaurant by the Lake Ashi
Sail on a Hakone Pirate Ship from Port Motohakone to Port Togendai
Take panoramic views from a ropeway
Stop at fuming Owakudani Volcanic Valley, tasting black eggs boiled with volcanic heat
Take a cable car ride through forests
Take a train ride on a railway line which goes zigzags down the slopes using the switchback method at three locations
Visit Benzaiten Shrine at the end of the Tonosawa Station platform, which is said to make worshipper's money many times valuable
Take a hot bath at Hakone Yuryo Hot Spa, a traditionally-styled countryside one-day hot spring resort, which offers both public and private baths
End of the tour: customers and guide part
Hakone Yumoto Station
guide fee
guide's transportation fee ¥6,170, guide's spa fee ¥1,600, tourist's transportation fee ¥4,740 (starting from Yumoto Sta.and getting to Yumoto Sta. using taxi from Yumoto Sta. to Amasake Chaya +public transportations from Amasake Chaya to Yumoto Sta.), tourist's meal, tourist's drink, tourist's spa fee ¥1,600 per person (if a private bath is used, ¥9,400 for a 2-people room or ¥10,400 for a 4-people room for two hours on a weekday. On weekends, ¥11,400 for a 2-people room and ¥12,400 for a 4-people room.)
We walk more than one hour up a stone-paved path and there are some steep slopes. We take a hot spring bath. So we need following things:
1. shoes for walking
2. rain gear (umbrella or raincoat, just in case for the rain during walking)
3. changing clothes for hot spring bath
4. a washing towel and a drying towel for hot spring bath (you can buy a face towel for 250 yen and a bath towel for 450 yen)
We can shorten the tour time by omitting ferry cruising, ropeway, and cable cars.
(What To Expect)
You can experience a simple and basic style of life in Japan.
Like the travelers of old days, in a part of our tour, we walk on foot, going on a stone-paved path lined with cider trees and bamboo bushes, filled with nature.
It is dark inside the teahouse. Through the opened doors, the sunlight comes in and washes the wooden floors of the living space, elevated from the earthen floors. A hearth is dug in one wooden floor and we sit around the burning fire and are served with a hot sweet drink made from rice.
Hakone Shrine gives you a moment of peace in your mind, with the path quiet and serene leading to the main hall, the precinct light and open, and the surface of the lake bright reflecting the sunlight at the foot.
At the end of the tour, we relax in a hot spring. This spa is furnished with a variety of hot baths in the open air, facing the garden in the middle.
As means of transportation, we can try multiplicity of vehicles including bus, ferry, ropeway, cable car, and train.
1. The fee doesn't include the tourists' transportation fees.
2. The fee doesn't include the tourists' meals or beverages.
3. The fee doesn't include admission charges for visiting places or charges for hands-on activities.
4. Tourists pay the guide's transportation fees.
“Polite and attentive ”
In spite of the unexpected bad weather of cold rain and wind, Takao did his best to provide convenient transportation and take us to most of the organized list of sights planned. He was very polite and attentive.
Takao M.
(13 reviews)Hi, Theodore and Liubou. Thank you for your nice review. I didn’t expect to get such a kind and warm words. Yes, it was a challenging day. We were in the clouds and fogs and nothing was visible. I didn’t realize we were past Amasake Chaya Tea House. I kept searching for words to explain things although I was able to see nothing around. Mr. Fuji took a day off and did not show her face. I really enjoyed talking with you. That helped me to change difficulties into happy memories. I’m happy I was able to see you from the country of Cyprus which I would have never had a chance to have connections in my life without you. Have a nice trip in Japan. Best regards, Takao Mizushima
“Wonderful Day , with Takao!!”
Takao made everything easy for us. He communicated beautifully before we even met him. We saw everything that you need to see in Hakone. He anticipated our needs finding elevators to avoid some steps when we were tired.. I would not hesitate to hire him. He was a joy!
Takao M.
(13 reviews)Hi, Larry and Ellen. Thank you for taking time to write a review for me although you’re tired after today’s tour. What a review! It sounds warm to me like today’s sunshine. Larry, you’re a master of jokes. I’d like to be a man like you who can make everyone happy. Ellen, thank you for showing respect to Japanese culture. The god of Hakone Shrine is pleased when he saw you bow even on your way back when you come under the shrine gates. Please keep traveling around the world. I want to try Turkish bath myself. Kyoto cherry blossoms, please welcome warmly these open-minded travelers. Best regards,
“Hakone Outdoor Museum”
Takao was very helpful in getting us from one place to another using the buses, ropeway and train. Our first stop was the Outdoor Museum which was wonderful, even in the rain. Our visit to the Amazake-chaya Teahouse was better than I imagined and the marquetry shop was a highlight. Takao’s English needs improvement but we managed.
Takao M.
(13 reviews)Hi, Genevieve. Thank you for your review and I deeply apologize for my shortcomings. I’m sorry we were not able to visit Narukawa Museum. When I talked with you at lunch time, we were going to visit both the museum and Amasake Tea House although it would be in a short time. But later I thought visiting a museum for a short time is meaningless and it would be too dark to see anything when we visit the old garden near the marquetry shop. I couldn’t help skipping the museum. I’m also sorry that I wasn’t able to book a taxi from Hakone Open-Air Museum to Sounzan Station. I made a telephone call a few days before the tour, but it was too late and all the taxies were occupied and none left. I’m sorry too that I told you that you could use detergent to wash your marquetry trays. The staff lady actually said that in Japanese you can use senzai, which means detergent. However, when I looked at the brochure provided by the shop, I found that you cannot use the material and I warned you against the use through GoWithGuide message. I don’t know why, but there’s difference between the clerk’s words and the instruction in the brochure. I believe I can improve my English by speaking and listening to my guests. I’d be happy if I could have more guests and more chances to practice English! I appreciate Gene’s balance story of judo. Best regards, Takao Mizushima