You know what they say about the best laid plans. Our Hakone trip was a total bust. After careful planning and much excitement, we arrived in Hakone to thick fog, intermittent downpours, and two typhoons heading right towards us. My well-timed purchase of observation car seats on the Romancecar was all for naught. There was nothing to observe but thick rolling fog and rain beating against the windows.
With no views to observe, I spent my time on the train trying to adjust our schedule and figure out which, if any, of the activities we would still do. And trying to figure out where to eat. My biggest concern with our hotel choice was its isolation. Our options seemed to be to figure out transportation to and from a restaurant in another part of Hakone – but prior to 7:30 when most of them closed down – or to eat an overpriced meal at the hotel. I had a few places in mind but figured we’d wait and see how the day unfolded before deciding.
But lunch was my first priority because I knew it was a long bus ride to the hotel and was afraid we would get there and have nowhere to eat. So we grabbed some sandwiches to go from a deli/bakery in Hakone-Yumoto Station and headed to the bus station. There were 3 different bus lines that would get us there, each with an hour + ride time and a shocking number of stops. We figured out which bus would get us there first and after about a 30 minute wait one came along.
Because we had waited a while and passed on an earlier bus that would have actually gotten us there later, we were the first to board the bus. This was key because it was a local bus and there was no place to store luggage so we were lucky to get seats and be able to put our luggage next to us. The bus was crowded at the beginning and made frequent stops. The road was hilly and windy and the further up we got, the fewer stops the bus made. Which was good because it had well over 40 stops listed!
After about an hour and 10 minutes, we made it to the Hakone-en stop and were very grateful for the hotel’s excellent photo directions from the bus stop to the lobby. And for a covered walkway the whole way! After insisting (against my family’s better judgment) that we buy food at the train station, I was a little disappointed to see that there were in fact lunch options in the shopping plaza. (But I did confirm that they closed at 4:30 so they were not dinner options.)
We went to check in to the hotel and the room wasn’t quite ready yet so we ate our lunch in the lobby while we waited. At this point it was already after 2:00 and it became clear to me that even in ideal weather, we never could have completed the loop that day under the itinerary I had planned. The downside of going to the hotel first was that we did the least interesting part of the loop first (bus) and would have to repeat it at the end to get back. The bus ride was fine but not something I had the urge to do again so in retrospect going clockwise was the wrong decision. (Of course, since we ended up having our luggage with us it was really the only decision… one of the many lessons learned on this trip.)
We checked into the room at 3:00 and were pleasantly surprised by its size and what would have been a lovely lake view if the weather had cooperated. At this point our options were limited by the weather. The bus had stopped at Owakudani, an active volcano valley, and I could tell that it was completely fogged in and we wouldn’t be able to see anything. The ropeway wasn’t running because of the typhoon. I thought we could at least go see the Hakone Shrine but I got no takers from my family. They were all tired and completely disinterested in exploring anywhere in this weather.
I certainly didn’t blame them but I felt like personally I had to go somewhere in Hakone and try to salvage something from this trip. I went to the front desk, asked for directions to the shrine, grabbed an umbrella and headed out. (Read all about my shrine experience here.)
After my hour and a half shrine adventure, I returned to the hotel to relax and figure out a dinner plan. At this point, there was still very little motivation among the group to go out in the weather so we decided to bite the bullet and stay in for dinner at the overpriced buffet at the Lake Side Grill. It actually turned out to be a really nice experience – the food was pretty good (and definitely plentiful!) and we all appreciated an easy meal after a long day of travel and disappointment.
The boys played some ping pong in the hotel’s rec room and then we headed to bed. In the morning, the weather was still crummy (although not raining too hard at the moment) so I presented our options. We could go see the Hakone Shrine (the actual Hakone Shrine) or head to Osaka early. I was outvoted and we changed to the earlier hotel shuttle to Odawara Station and left after breakfast.
Despite the fact that my family saw nothing but a train station, a bus, and the inside of our hotel in Hakone, nobody complained or thought twice about what we missed out on. My youngest even told me he felt reinvigorated after the night there and was ready to tackle more adventures now. I’m so lucky to have resilient travelers in the family. I personally am disappointed that we missed out on the Hakone Loop but it just gives me another reason (of many!) to return to Japan.
