Hakone National Park

For one modest price, you may ride all day on the local scenic rail line, all day on the bus network, all day on the funicular train up Mt. Kami, which goes on to a gondola ropeway, and all day on the cruise boat on Lake Ashi with the Hakone Free Pass. In clear weather, Mt. Fuji is visible from a number of vantage points inside the park.

On the weekends and holidays, visitors flock to the park for a breath of fresh mountain air away from the bustle of Tokyo and Kyoto. Most guests do a seven-hour circuit of the park, which takes them in a full circle. The loop may be accessible from several spots in the park (depending on your lodging), but the most common route is shown here for your convenience.

We recommend that visitors pack lightly because most places in Hakone are accessible by public transportation with little storage capacity.

Start your day off well by visiting the world-class Open Air Sculpture Museum at Chokoku No Mori, about a half-hour from Hakone-Yumoto station, the park's main entrance. The museum, which opened in 1969 and features sculptures by artists including Henry Moore, Picasso, Rodin, and Miro, was the first in Japan. The museum features over a hundred sculptures, many of which are on display at any time. The museum will likely be one of the most memorable parts of your trip to Hakone.

Take the Tozan Railway down to the mountainside settlement of Gora after seeing the museum for a while to kick off the park's entire cycle. Take the funicular train (Japanese for "cable car") up Mt. Kami from Gora. Get out here to Owakudani "Hell Valley" and wander among the boiling sulfur vents, stopping to sample one of the local specialty foods—a black egg fried in the thermal action.

Views of Lake Ashi are beautiful as the tour continues via cable car (or "ropeway" in Japanese). You may take one of the "pirate" touring ships across the lake to Moto-Hakone or Hakone Machi, the two major villages in the area after you get off the ropeway. The Old Hakone Checkpoint, which formerly guarded the route to Edo (the ancient name for Tokyo), is accessible from both locations. In 1619, the shogunate government set up a checkpoint to regulate the movement of people and weapons.

You may also stroll along Cedar Avenue, all left of the original road. Take a bus back to Hakone Yumoto station through the stunning landscape before continuing your adventure. The Komagatake Pass omits the Free Ropeway since a different firm runs it.

The Pola Museum of Art is close to Gora station and worth seeing if you are in the area. The facility is unique, with most of it situated below to protect the collection. Brightly lit rooms show Western and Japanese Western-style paintings by painters like Rodin, Delacroix, Picasso, and Saburosuke.