Hello - has anyone on this forum beeing to Hakone? I am wondering if i should make a one or two night stop there? I will be coming from Hiroshima and from Hakone, going to tokyo. i will be by myself so am looking for interesting activites to do. Also, does anyone have any RYOKAN suggestions? I would like to stay in a nice one (not tooo expensive) and experience traditional meals.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Can't help with the question, except to note that it has been asked several times before.

You mentioned visiting Himeji on another post. Himeji is on your way from Hiroshima east toward Tokyo. Himeji is an hour east of Hiroshima on the shinkansen. You can leave your bags in a locker at the station, I believe. You could leave your bags in a locker at the station and visit the castle, then come back to continue your journey east.

thanks for your thoughtful message. i am staying in hiroshima/miyajima for two nights, so i guess what i should try to do is on the last day, leave very early, make the stop in himeji and then make it to hakone by time for dinner. does this sound feasible? i feel like himeji castle is worth the effort. also, i will have a pretty large pack - will that fit in the storage areas in the himeji train station? again thanks for your help.

oops - i actually meant to say that i'm heading from hiroshima to kanazawa - i'm not sure if himeji is on route? i will check a map...

Yes, Himeji would be enroute from Hiroshima to Kanazawa. After visiting Himeji-jo, you would hop on a shinkansen to Kyoto and transfer to a limited express train to Kanazawa (hyperdia.com also shows connections via Shin Osaka, but via Kyoto would be a bit shorter in time). I rode the train from Kanazawa to Kyoto once and enjoyed it. Biwa-ko will be viewable on the right side of the train.

The question of how big the lockers are at Himeji eki and other Himeji questions have been asked and answered in other posts, so you can do a search. I don't know the answers.