Private Hakone Day Tour from Your Hakone Hotel

Hakone Ropeway and Owakudani

The Hakone Ropeway carries you from Sounzan over the ridge to Owakudani and down to Togendai on Lake Ashi. The highlight is the moment the gondola crosses the valley itself, a slope of yellow sulphur and rising steam formed by an eruption of the Hakone volcano about 3,000 years ago. On clear days Mount Fuji appears on the horizon, although cloud often hides it and views are never guaranteed.

At Owakudani you can walk among the vents and taste kuro-tamago, eggs boiled in the hot-spring water until their shells turn black. The ropeway runs from about 9:00 until late afternoon, with shorter winter hours, and it can stop for wind or volcanic gas. Your guide checks the status that morning, and visitors with respiratory or heart conditions should take care in the valley.

Lake Ashi cruise and Hakone Shrine

Lake Ashi fills the caldera of the Hakone volcano and is crossed by galleon-style sightseeing ships between Togendai, Hakone-machi and Moto-Hakone, a journey of about 25 to 40 minutes depending on the route. From the deck you see forested shores, the red torii on the water and, on a clear day, Mount Fuji beyond the northern hills.

Near Moto-Hakone, Hakone Shrine stands among giant cedars; tradition dates its founding to 757, and its Peace Torii rises straight from the lake. Your guide can time your visit to avoid the longest queues for the torii photo. Visitors often ask if Hakone is worth visiting for more than one day: staying overnight, as you are, lets you see these sights in the quiet morning hours.

The mountain train and Gora

Hakone's mountain railway climbs from Hakone-Yumoto to Gora through steep forest, using switchbacks where the train stops and reverses direction to gain height. The ride takes about 40 minutes and is especially beautiful in June and July, when hydrangeas line the track. At Gora a short cable car continues up the slope to Sounzan, where the ropeway begins.

Your guide handles all the changes between train, cable car, ropeway and boat, which is where many visitors lose time on their own. Most of these fares are covered by the Hakone Free Pass, which our team can advise on before your visit. Gora itself has a formal French-style park with a tropical greenhouse and quiet lanes worth a short stop.

Hakone Open-Air Museum

Opened in 1969 as Japan's first open-air art museum, the Hakone Open-Air Museum sets large modern and contemporary sculptures across lawns and gardens with mountain views. Children enjoy the climbable art structures, and there is a foot bath filled with natural hot-spring water where you can rest your legs during the visit.

The museum is open daily from 9:00 to 17:00 and sits a few minutes from Gora on the mountain train line, so it fits easily into a private Hakone tour. Plan about 90 minutes here; the entrance ticket is paid separately. If you prefer nature to art, your guide can swap it for a lakeside walk or the cedar avenue of the old Tokaido road.

Hakone-Yumoto and onsen culture

Hakone-Yumoto, at the entrance to the valley, is the oldest of Hakone's hot-spring villages, with a busy shopping street of local sweets, pickles and woodcraft, including Hakone's famous marquetry boxes. Hot springs have drawn travellers to Hakone for centuries, and many hotels have their own baths.

If you would like to try a hot-spring bath, your guide can explain the etiquette: public baths are separated by gender, bathing suits are not worn there, and you wash thoroughly before entering the water. Private family baths, which can be reserved for your party, are a comfortable alternative. The best time to visit Hakone is spring or autumn, with clear, cold winter days giving the best chance of Fuji views.