Hakone Highlights

It was a very chilly morning as we left our Kyoto hotel to catch the Shinkansen to Odawara to see the sights of Hakone. We caught our first glimpse of Mt Fuji from the train. It took about 2 hours to reach Odawara station where we stored our luggage in coin lockers then bought a Hakone pass. First we caught a train and then a bus to the port where we boarded the Pirate style ship for a cruise across Lake Ashi. It cruised past a Tori gate to the start of the Hakone Ropeway. The ropeway's gondolas depart every minute and fit around ten people each. Traveling the full length of the ropeway takes around 30 minutes. Along the journey, we had amazing views of Mt Fuji as well as the active, sulfuric hot spring sources. After the ropeway we caught the very slow cable car back to the station. We collected our luggage and were able to catch an earlier Shinkansen to Tokyo where we transferred to a local line to get to our hotel in Asakusa. Our hotel has the usual tiny room but lovely river and skytree views.Read more