I am so glad we did 3 nights in Hakone with our kids! Most people only do one night on the way from Tokyo, but we wanted to spend time in quieter places. I had also never been to Hakone, and it seemed like a good one to check off my list while we were doing a fairly basic Japan tour with the kids. Accordingly we headed there from Nagoya on our way to Tokyo (and from Osaka before that) ready for some mountain time.
Day 1: Relaxing in Hakone
After an exhausting end to our Nagoya trip and the baby still a bit sick, we all knew we needed a calm day.
For lunch we got pizza at this funky brewery tucked away up a hill. Then we walked around to see a temple. We bought convenience store food for a casual dinner in our room. And then enjoyed the private onsen together. That was it. Maybe our slowest day so far!
Day 2: Hakone Loop
This is a famous tourist loop that gets you from where we started in Yumoto all the way up the mountain. We took bus R / K and tried some traditional treats at this tea house. These were not that good and it was smoky inside because of the cooking. My son was also a bit carsick from the windy bus ride (luckily not too bad). Next time I’d just get a drink or use it as an easy way to start the trek.
From here you can get on the hiking path, the old Edo Road, and we walked to Motohakone at the edge of Lake Ashi. This took about 45 minutes at a slow pace. It was very doable for my 4-year-old. For me, with a baby in a carrier, it was a little bit stressful because I couldn’t see my feet, haha. I don’t recommend doing it if it’s wet or rainy with a carrier.
Motahakone seemed fun and it would have been nicer to relax a bit more here, but we ended up rushing to catch the boat after we ate some great pizza overlooking the water. My son was in love with pirates at this point and it was really fun to get him on a pirate ship! This took us to the cable cars in about 30min.
Unfortunately the entire way up the cablecars was foggy and we saw absolutely nothing. Of course no Mount Fuji at all, which my poor son had been waiting to spot for the whole trip. It was literally pure white. We smelled a bit of sulphur, but that was all. Haha.
It would have also been nice to stop at a cafe in Gora on the way back, or even go to the Hakone Open Air Museum or Photography Museum, but it felt like too much with the kids, the weather was rainy, and the baby was conveniently napping by then. So we headed home on the train.
The Hakone Loop seems a bit overwhelming when you read about it, but actually doing it was fairly relaxed and easy. I recommend it, but for sure don’t bring a stroller on the hiking portion. We did the route clockwise, starting in Yumoto.
For dinner we ate at this amazing yuba tofu place along the river in Yumoto. I was so happy, the food was delicious and the view was lovely. I really recommend it. I would have gone again if I could have convinced my husband to.
Day 3: Shopping and pizza in Yumoto
We checked out, had pizza again for lunch (our third time in three days), and headed to Tokyo’s outskirts where my friend picked us up. We also got this delicious tiramisu!
Kid-friendly with all the onsen trappings: Yumoto Fujiya Hotel
This hotel was really amazing for families. It’s got a little bit of a retro, Japan Bubble-era vibe and had absolutely everything we needed.
There are lots of different restaurants within the hotel itself. Hakone hotel-goers tend to spring for half-board plans, but we only got breakfast as we like having the option to conk out in the room at the end of the day. (Not so fun sitting through stressful hotel dinners with kids.) There are also a lot of fun dining options nearby.
But we definitely availed ourselves of their facilities! They have toys in the lobby for the kids to play with, and a whole playroom for kids upstairs. This was fantastic. Laundry, vending machines everywhere, friendly staff with the kids, changing tables and space for them to run around.
We also used the karaoke, booking ourselves a room for one hour after doing the loop. I have to say, belting out Mr. Brightside with my husband whilst our son stared entranced at the screen and we gulped down Sapporo beers was a real highlight! If you have a baby though be careful because at one point he did crawl to the machine and turn the volume WAY up…
We also got very cheap in-house massages (£40 for 1 hour), paid the small fee for the private onsen (I recommend the smaller one for families with babies — it was safe for my son to just sit / crawl around while we soaked, whereas the bigger one had pebbles he kept trying to eat). I also took my son into the women’s onsen area, which is the done thing for little kids regardless of gender. Showing him how to shower off before soaking in the hot springs outside with him and then doing the sauna was such a treat. It was really nice to share that experience!
Our room was the typical Japanese style (futon), and this was the best sleep we had on the whole trip. My baby still wakes a lot, but having him right next to me in a futon made it so easy to deal with the wakeups. We had a lovely view of the river and trains coming in and out of the station.
This was also a really good ‘starter’ experience for onsen if you are not Japanese. I saw groups of foreigners there on tours, and they had non-Japanese staff who were clearly in training trying their best. It was a good experience all around.
The location is also very convenient — just a couple minutes walk straight from the train station. Some people recommend staying deeper into Hakone, but with lots of luggage and kids it made more sense for us to stick to the main transport hub of the area, which is Yumoto station. And from there, we were able to take the express train straight to my friend’s home on the outskirts of Tokyo for the last chapter of our Japan trip.
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