Hakone Day Tour with Onsen from Tokyo

A Hakone onsen day trip works because Hakone is a hot spring town first and a sightseeing town second. This day sees the sculpture park, the volcanic valley and the ropeway, then finishes in the water at Yunessun instead of racing back to Tokyo tired. Hotel pickup is included and the price covers the whole vehicle rather than each seat.

What you see in Hakone

The Hakone Open-Air Museum opens the day, with more than 120 sculptures standing on an open hillside and mountains behind them. Owakudani follows, a valley at around 700 metres where sulphur still rises out of the ground. Lunch is at Gora Brewery and Grill. The ropeway crosses four kilometres of that valley with Mount Fuji across the ridge on a clear day. Then Yunessun, which is not a traditional bathhouse but a themed complex with wine, coffee and green tea baths, where you keep your swimsuit on.

How the day is paced

Pickup is from your hotel or any address inside Tokyo's 23 wards, with about two hours of driving down. The stops are deliberately fewer than our other Hakone tour, because ninety minutes in the baths at the end is the point of this one. Your English-speaking guide will move the ropeway earlier or later depending on the cloud.

Who this tour suits

Right for anyone curious about onsen but uneasy about the traditional rules, since Yunessun is mixed and you stay in a swimsuit. Also right for a day after a long flight, when a full sightseeing schedule is too much. Bring a swimsuit and a towel, or rent both there. Our drivers hold a Japan Class 2 commercial passenger licence, and your guide is the person driving the car.

Best time for a Hakone onsen day

Rooms are reserved for 120 minutes. A 2-person room accommodates a maximum of two guests, while larger private rooms accommodate a maximum of four guests. Groups larger than four will require two or more rooms, with each additional room charged separately.