Hakone 2 day itinerary

HI all

My family of 5 have a an overnight stay booked at Yamanochaya Ryokan in Hakone in 2 weeks time.

I've also booked Romancecar tickets from Shinjuku, however the earliest VSE series leaves at 10am and reaches Hakone Yumoto at 1130am.

I'll likely get the Hakone Free pass too. Given we want to get to Yamanochaya to enjoy the onsen at a normal time (perhaps 4 to 5pm) what would be the best route to experience as much of Hakone as we can in those 2 days? We don't have to go back to Shinjuku early on the second day, in time for dinner would be ok.

It does seem a bit rushed to finish the Hakone round course and visit Owakudani if we start at 1130am and need to get to Yamanochaya at 430 or 5?

thanks

haha! I have the exact same problem as you!

I'm thinking I'd probably spend the day taking a bus down to Moto Hakone, maybe visit Hakone Shrine and check out Cedar Avenue / the walking trail that goes past Amazake Chaya. That would probably take a good 3-4 hours, and then take the bus back to Hakone Yumoto, walk / train to my hotel at Tonosawa.

my thoughts is, any further once you set foot on the cruise, it's kind of easier to just complete the round course than to turn back.

then on your second day, you can probably do the loop either way, but I would take the bus back down to Moto Hakone, do the cruise, ropeway, Owakudani, Souzan, Gora, and then train back to Hakone Yumoto and head back to Shinjuku. I guess I planned it that way because buses are less predictable than trains, and I really don't want to get stuck in Hakone without a method back hehe. :)

Hope that helps!