Hakone Private Day Tour from Tokyo: Sculptures & Scenery

A Hakone day tour from Tokyo packs a sculpture park, a volcanic valley, a cable car and a lake cruise into one day, and those four sit far apart on a mountain road. Doing it on the local trains and buses means queuing at each change. By car you arrive, look, and move on. Hotel pickup is included and the price covers the vehicle rather than each seat.

What you see in Hakone

The Hakone Open-Air Museum comes first, with more than 120 sculptures standing outdoors on a hillside and a hot spring foot bath at the far end. Then Owakudani, a valley still venting sulphur from the last eruption, where the smell reaches you before the view does. Lunch is at Gora Brewery and Grill. The afternoon is the Hakone Ropeway, hanging above the valley with Mount Fuji on the far side when the air is clear, a cruise on Lake Ashi, and a walk to the red torii gate of Hakone Shrine, which stands in the water at the lake edge.

How the day is paced

Pickup is from your hotel or any address inside Tokyo's 23 wards, and the drive down is around two hours. Stops run from thirty minutes at the ropeway to seventy five at the museum. The order can shift on the day, because your English-speaking guide will watch the cloud and put the ropeway and the lake in the clearest part of the afternoon rather than following a fixed list.

Who this tour suits

A good choice for a second day out of Tokyo, for anyone travelling with someone who likes art and someone who likes mountains, and for families, since the museum has a climbing structure children can play in. The museum is the only long walk of the day and it is all gentle slopes. Our drivers hold a Japan Class 2 commercial passenger licence, and the person guiding you is the person driving, at no extra charge.

Best time to visit Hakone

Autumn is the strongest season here, with maples over the museum grounds and clear air for the ropeway. Hydrangeas line the Tozan railway line in June, which is worth seeing even in rain. Winter gives the best odds of seeing Fuji from the ropeway, though the mountain air is cold. The ropeway closes at short notice when volcanic gas levels rise at Owakudani, so we always keep a second route ready.