Tokyo Day 4 – Day Trip to Hakone and Lake Ashinoko with the Hakone Free Pass

This is a continuation of the Japan Trip Report. You can read more here:
Booking Lufthansa First Class Using United Miles
Lufthansa First Class Denver to Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Osaka
Japan Day 1: Nijo Castle and Kinkaku-ji
Westin Osaka Review
Japan Day 2 (Part 1) – Fushimi Inari and Nara
Japan Day 2 (Part 2) – Bullet Train/Nabana no Sato Illumination
Conrad Tokyo Review
Tokyo Day 1 – Tokyo Free Guide, Geisha Show and Meiji Shrine
Tokyo Day 2 – Imperial Palace Bike Ride, Yoyogi Park, Harajuku, Cat Cafe!
Tokyo Day 3 – Odaiba, Toyota Mega Web Showroom and Akihabara

During my research on what we could do in Tokyo I came across descriptions of a day trip to Lake Ashinoko in Hakone. The pictures drew me in and with the amazing views of Mount Fuji it wasn’t hard to convince my boyfriend either. After researching it a little, we decided to go with the Hakone Free Pass through Odakyu. The pass covered the various modes of transportation inside Hakone – and there were several! It could be bought as a train ticket from Shinjuku or as a less expensive ticket if you find your own way to the Odawara station. Since we had active JR Rail passes, it was already included for us to take JR lines to Odawara, so we bought the less expensive ticket from there. It was roughly $39 per person.

And thus began our day of transportation. We started by taking the bullet train to Odawara from Tokyo.

Mode of Transit 1: Bullet Train

It was on the bullet train that we caught our first glimpse of Mt. Fuji. It was breathtaking even in the distance – but it would only get better as the day continued. After arriving in Odawara, we purchased our passes and then continued on the Hakone Tozan Railway.

Mode of Transit 2: Hakone Tozan Railway

The Hakone Tozan Railway is a local railway that winds up the mountain. It stopped a lot to share the track with trains heading down. It also went through several tunnels and curves. It was a pleasant ride. We got off at Gora, where we boarded a cable car for a more vertical ride up.

Mode of Transit 3: Sounzan Cable Car

After exiting the cable car, we immediately got onto the Hakone Ropeway.

Mode of Transit 4: Hakone Ropeway

The ropeway provided gorgeous views from the altitude.

View of the Ropeway

The area you see in the bottom right corner of the picture above is Owakudani – a volcanic region that smelled highly of sulfur. The ropeway also provided some amazing views of Mt. Fuji.

View of Mt. Fuji from the Ropeway

We got off the ropeway there and tried some of the black hard boiled eggs. The eggs supposedly add 7 years to your life.

Hardboiled Eggs with Sulfur

Even Hello Kitty enjoys the eggs.

Not sure why Hello Kitty was flicking us off..

They tasted like normal hardboiled eggs. At this point we were up high enough that when the clouds cleared briefly we had spectacular views of Mount Fuji. After exploring the store at Owakudani, we took the ropeway down to Lake Ashinoko. At the lake, we got on one of my favorite modes of transportation that day.

Mode of Transit 5: Pirate Ship!

Unfortunately by the time we got on the water it was incredibly cold out! We spent a decent portion of the boat ride inside. It was still very pretty and scenic. When we got to the final stop of the boat ride, Mt. Fuji came into view. It was worth every single mode of transportation to get to that point.

Mt. Fuji

We weren’t done with different modes of transportation yet though, our final mode of transit (6!) was a bus back to the train station. It was dark by the time we got on the bus and started the journey back to the Conrad. Even though we spent the day constantly moving through different methods, we really enjoyed our day trip to Hakone. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a day trip outside of Tokyo. The Hakone Free Pass made it very simple as well.