Tokyo Cheapo's Hakone Day Trip Guide

Hakone is the beautiful region outside of Tokyo, famous for its scenic Fuji sights. Not to mention pirate ships, countryside, museums, weird museums, onsens, and even weirder onsens. It's so close to Tokyo that you can easily make a weekend or even a day trip getaway. But before you go, the first thing you want to get is the Hakone Free Pass. Not only will you have a cheap and easy way into and out of Hakone, but you'll have full access to practically every mode of transportation and tourist spot there. That includes trains, monorails, buses, ropeways, temples, parks, boats, and volcanoes. Unfortunately, it doesn't cover the romance car. So if you want to get to Hakone as comfortably and as fast as possible, you'll need to drop an extra 890 yen. Our advice is that it's worth it, but definitely don't spend money on overpriced bentos. Your first stop will be Hakone Yumoto, the gateway to the broader region. From here, your trip might differ from ours. But for our own day trip, we needed to go to Gora. Gora Station is where you'll be going if you need to access the cable car. But it's also a nice place to explore. And I'm sure Gora Koen looks great whenever it's not winter. If you plan on going to Owakudani, you'll need to take the cable car to Sonzon Station and transfer to the ropeway, which is all covered by your Hakone Free Pass. Owakudani means the great boiling valley. And it actually is an active volcanic valley. And it's one of the must visits on any Hakone tour. While our day had near perfect weather, this isn't always the case. And the visitor area can shut down if the sulfur is too bad. So check that it's actually open before going. Probably the most well-known thing about Owakudani is its Kuro Tamago, which means black eggs. These hard-boiled eggs are cooked in the valley's own iron and sulfur. And it's said to give long life. This is a Owakudani. I can't say it. This is a Owakudani Kuro Tamago. This is a black egg boiled in the pits of Hades, brought forth by across the river. I don't really know Greek mythology. How is that? That is a hard-boiled egg. Did you eat the whole thing? After our day trip to Owakudani, we headed back to Gora to check into our hotel. We splurged a bit for our own private room and onsen for the day. But you can find cheaper packages online and at tokyocheapo.com. Ours was about 12,000 yen per person. But we could use any onsen in the hotel. And our room was really nice. So yeah, a lot of these places have onsens on the balcony. So you can get married in public. Our package also included a three-course dinner, which is pretty standard. But it would have still been expensive on its own. There is tons more to see and do in Hakone. But trains end pretty early here. So keep it in mind if you're planning just a one-day trip. Hey, if you like what you just watched, subscribe to our channel for more videos like them. And for more on Hakone and other day trips from Tokyo, visit us at tokyocheapo.com. Hello, I'm Aaron. And Tokyo Cheapo wants to thank you for not smoking. Oh, I didn't see you there. Some people say I'm smoking high. I love the smell of sulfur in the morning. I'm Aaron from tokyocheapo.com. Welcome home.