Is One Night in Hakone enough?

Old Jul 28th, 2006, 06:23 AM
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Is One Night in Hakone enough?

On the way from Tokyo to Takayama, I am considering one night in Hakone but cannot decide if I should stay there for one night or stay in Tokyo with a day trip to Hakone (would be my 5th night in Tokyo hotel)? Any thoughts?
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Old Jul 28th, 2006, 12:17 PM
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The train ride to Hakone is a little less than an hour. We're glad we stayed one night there on the way from Tokyo to Takayama. The Hotel Fujiya, which feels a little like being in a time warp, has a $127 rate for foreigners. We were able to stay in the Flower Palace, on the fourth floor, and listened to the waterfall at night. We really liked the hotel. The garden is wonderful and there's an old pool which I'm not sure is still in use (it wasn't when we were there two weeks ago). It rained a lot. We didn't see Mt. Fugi, but the local enthusiasm for hydrangeas was infectious. We would have liked to see the open air museum but couldn't convince the teenagers. The hotel dining room is beautiful. Train connections to the Fujiya are copied below:

Access from the gateway stations (Odawara / Hakone Yumoto) to Fujiya Hotel
5) Bus service: Available from Odawara Sta. and Hakone Yumoto Sta. every 10 - 15 min. by 2 operators (Hakone-Tozan bus / Izu-Hakone bus) during daytime. Buses bound for "Hakone-machi", "Kojiri", "Togendai", "Moto-Hakone" or "Hakone-en" stop at "Miyanoshita Onsen", our nearby bus stop. One-way fares from Odawara and Hakone Yumoto are JPY 660 and JPY 400 accordingly. Approximate durations from Odawara Sta. and Hakone Yumoto Sta. are 35 min. and 20 min. accordingly.

6) Railway service: Available from Odawara Sta. and Hakone Yumoto Sta. every 15 - 30 min. by Hakone Tozan Railway. (The last train departs Odawara at 10:44 pm.) Trains bound for Gora stop at "Miyanoshita", our nearby station. One-way fares from Odawara and Hakone Yumoto are JPY 560 and JPY 260 accordingly. Approximate durations from Odawara and Hakone Yumoto are 40 min. and 25 min. accordingly. Following the down slope from Miyanoshtia Sta. and turn left on the Route 1, you will reach to Fujiya Hotel approximately in 10 min.

7) Taxi service: Available from Odawara Sta. and Hakone Yumoto Sta. by several operators. Approximate one-way fares are JPY 5,500 from Odawara Sta. and JPY 3,000 from Hakone Yumoto Sta. ( Late night surcharge may be applied during night time.) Approximate durations are 30 min. from Odawara and 15 min. from Hakone Yumoto.

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Old Jul 28th, 2006, 01:10 PM
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I think that Hakone would be a fine place to try out a traditional ryokan, for one night, and soak in an onsen.
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Old Jul 28th, 2006, 01:17 PM
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I absolutely think you should spend a night in Hakone, for a change from Tokyo-I did this on my very first trip to Japan some 20 years ago-and find a good spa/onsen hotel to experience the true flavor of this area.
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Old Aug 8th, 2006, 02:46 PM
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We were very pleased we chose to stay in Hakone. If you arrive early in the day, you can see all the sights and then relax at a traditional ryokan. The ryokan experience was as important to what 'made' Hakone as the lake, trams, etc. We loved relaxing in a hot spring bath after our sight-seeing, and then having a traditional dinner wearing our yukata & tanzen. I highly recommend this experience in Hakone.
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Old Aug 8th, 2006, 06:35 PM
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alan64:
Which ryokan did you stay in? Am considering a stop there next spring.

Aloha!
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Old Aug 8th, 2006, 07:04 PM
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Ichinoyu Honkan.
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Old Aug 9th, 2006, 05:14 AM
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I stayed there too. It is a bit different than some more upscale ryokans; they do not serve dinner in the room, it is in the dining room (at least that is how it was when we were there) and they do not set out your futons, etc. Good prices and we liked our room w/the private outdoor rotenburo overlooking the roaring river.

I think one night is enough to enjoy Hakone and a ryokan experience, although I could have stayed another night. There are many things to do besides the circuit (train, cable car, boat, etc.) There are some good special interest museums in Hakone also, and other attractions and hiking that I would like to go back to do.
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Old Aug 9th, 2006, 05:16 AM
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alan64, are you planning another trip to Japan? You've been away from the board for a long time and I noticed you are back, and just wondering if you are perhpas going back there.
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Old Aug 9th, 2006, 05:51 AM
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We were happy with our two-night stay at Ichinoyu Honkan. We also had breakfast & dinner in the dining room. I must admit that we struggled to enjoy the flavors and textures of the interesting and (to us) adventurous meals. I'm glad we experienced them, but as for pure enjoyment of food in Japan we preferred the more accessable yakatori, okonomiyaki, shabu shabu and sukiyaki.

The Ichinoyu Honkan was more expensive than other places we stayed, but still not as expensive as higher-end ryokans. It was a good mini-spurge for us.

I don't have any immediate plans to go back to Japan, although it's something we'll definitely do. I have been reading the Europe board here (honeymoon in Spain in October!) and peaked over to the Asia board. To my horror I saw that I never posted feedback after my Japan trip last year. Everyone here was so helpful I'm just trying to contribute the little that I learned. I just can't thank the posters here enough for helping me plan our trip.
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Old Aug 9th, 2006, 09:17 AM
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emd:

I was thinking if I should spend one or two nights in Hakone. Are there any other ryokans that you researched or are you considering going back to Ichinoyu?

yalie:

Gomen nasai....did not mean to hijack your thread.

Aloha!
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Old Aug 9th, 2006, 09:25 AM
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I think I researched every hotel in the entire area before my first trip, and then did not go to Hakone on that trip. On second trip, once we decided to stay in a ryokan, I decided pretty quickly on Ichinoyu Honkan due to price and the fact that we could get the room w/the private rotenburo for such a great price. I did look at others but they were much more expensive; I can't recall which ones they were now but I will look in my bookmarks and check for you.

Ichinoyu is a little worn around the edges but it is comfortable, friendly, and has a very convenient location, only two bus stops (or a $6 cab ride) from the Hakone Yumoto station. Some of the other ryokans are not so well located, and it can be a very long bus ride or cab to their locations.
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Old Aug 9th, 2006, 09:53 AM
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We walked w/ our roller-bags to the Ichinoyu from the train station. Not a great idea going (it's up-hill and there's little room in some spots so cars zip close by). Going down-hill at the end of the trip was fine, but I still think we were silly to do that when a cab ride or bus isn't that much money. I think we were just in a mood to hike!
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