Beautiful Japan: Hakone, Hakone, Japan

“Not bad. We stayed in a hotel favored by the Emperor and Empress, rode a train up a mountain, travelled over an active volcanic valley via cable car, and sailed on a pirate ship. Then, the next day, we visited a castle.”

No turkey for the Dalzells this year, but given the above itinerary in Hakone for our Thanksgiving trip, we didn’t miss it.

Hakone is in Japan’s Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, roughly 60 miles west of Tokyo. It’s called a town but the area it covers includes numerous smaller mountain villages and a large lake in the crater of Hakone volcano. The area is famous for its onsen, baths fed by hot springs. There are tremendous views of Mt. Fuji, although I need to take other people’s word, since Fuji opted to hide from my camera. Hakone is one of those places in Japan that people rave about it because it encompasses so much natural beauty. I’ve wanted to plan a trip for a while but was intimidated by whether we should drive or brave public transportation. We opted for the latter for our two-night trip and I’m pleased to report it is quite easy to get around using a Hakone Free Pass, which gave us unlimited access to transportation in Hakone. For advice and info on travel, please scroll down to the end of this post. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).