Hakone
Seventeen hot-spring villages in the hills beyond Odawara, a crater lake with a shrine gate at the water’s edge, and a three-Key ryokan that was once a retreat of the imperial family.
- Arrival
- Tokyo Haneda · HND
- To Hakone
- About 80 minutes from Shinjuku by Romancecar
- Private jets
- Business jet gate at Haneda
- Best time
- April to May · October to November
The city
Steam, cedar and a lake in the crater.
Hakone is a string of hot-spring settlements climbing from Yumoto, where the Romancecar from Shinjuku ends, up the valley to Miyanoshita and Gora, and on over the ridge to Sengokuhara and Lake Ashi. The little Tozan railway switchbacks up from Odawara; a cable car and then a ropeway carry on past the sulphur vents of Owakudani to the lakeshore. The tourist association counts seventeen spring areas, and almost every inn has its own baths.
Come in spring, when the hills turn green, or in October and November, when the maples colour and the air is clear. The rainy season fills June and July, late summer is humid, and the higher villages are markedly cooler and wetter than the coast below.
- Lake Ashi The crater lake of the national park, crossed by sightseeing ships, with the red torii of Hakone Shrine at the water’s edge.
- Owakudani A volcanic valley of steaming fumaroles, reached by the Hakone Ropeway from Sounzan.
- Hakone Shrine A shrine already named in Heian-period writing, where Minamoto no Yoritomo came to pray after his defeat at Ishibashiyama.
Arriving
Land in Tokyo, take the hills by rail or road.
Hakone has no airport. Flights land at Tokyo Haneda; from Shinjuku the Odakyu Romancecar reaches Hakone-Yumoto in about 80 minutes, and the inns of Gora are a short climb further by the Tozan railway or by car.
- Seoul 1 h 50
- Shanghai 2 h 30
- Beijing 3 h 00
- Hong Kong 4 h 00
- London 12 h 40 long-range jet
When to go
April to May, and October to November.
Mild springs and autumns, a long wet summer. At Odawara, below the hills, April, May, October and November have highs of 17 to 23 °C; June to October each bring more than 165 mm of rain, with September and October the wettest. Up in Gora and around the lake it is several degrees cooler.
- 11° J 84
- 11° F 90
- 14° M 176
- 19° A 182
- 23° M 182
- 25° J 219
- 29° J 216
- 31° A 167
- 27° S 249
- 22° O 239
- 17° N 120
- 13° D 75
Where to stay
Ryokan in the valleys, an auberge on the caldera.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Gora Kadan A former retreat of the imperial family, now a 41-room ryokan with a mineral pool set among great rocks, and Hakone’s only three-Key hotel.
- ESPACIO The Hakone Geihinkan Rin-Poh-Ki-Ryu Nine villas in a valley beside the Hayakawa river, reached by a private cable car down the forested slope.
- Fufu Hakone Thirty-nine rooms on the mountainside, with one spring for the public baths and a different one piped to the rooms.
- Hakone Gora Karaku Seventy tatami and Western rooms, every one of them with its own onsen bath.
- The Hiramatsu Hotels & Resorts Sengokuhara Twenty rooms run on the lines of a French auberge, some facing the caldera, each with a spring-fed bath.
Where to dine
The best tables in the hills.
No MICHELIN Guide covers Hakone today. These are a Tabelog pick and the dining rooms of two historic hotels.
- The Hiramatsu Sengokuhara Tabelog Italian EAST 100, 2025 Italian $$$$ Sengokuhara
- Kaiseki Kadan Signature restaurant, Gora Kadan Kaiseki $$$ Gora Kadan, Gora
- The Fujiya Signature restaurant, Fujiya Hotel Classic French $$$$ Fujiya Hotel, Miyanoshita
Elsewhere in Japan
More reasons to come.
- Tokyo The capital, with Haneda airport close to the centre.
- Kyoto Some sixteen hundred temples, the bamboo of Arashiyama, and kaiseki dinners.
- Osaka The kitchen of Japan, and the airport for Kyoto.
- Kanazawa A castle town, the Kenroku-en garden, and gold leaf.
- Niseko Deep snow from December to March, and an onsen after the slopes.
Flying to Hakone?
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A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.