Advice on Hakone Stay

Greetings to all,

We are a family of 4 and will be visiting Japan for the first time next year. We are planning to stay overnight in Hakone for one night.

Being first-timers, I don't know which area is better to stay in, Hakone-Yumoto, Gora, Hakone Machi, Moto-Hakone, or another area there.

We want an area with a good ryokan with onsen, nice scenery, and convenient transport. We will be coming from Tokyo and leaving to Hiroshima. So frequent buses/trains from wherever we decide to stay is important to catch the Shinkansen from Odawara to Hiroshima the next day (hoping to arrive there by 3:00-3:30pm).

We are interested in doing the loop, getting these famous black eggs, enjoying the beautiful nature and of course the pirate cruise. Museums are not high on our agenda unless they are really special and/or have some English translations.

I know that all the areas I listed above may fulfil these criteria but which fulfils it more than others? I have found a lot of highly reviewed ryokans throughout Hakone, but I'm perplexed of which is the best to stay in for first-timers with our travel plan.

Your advice is much appreciated.

Hi! My family stayed at Lalaca at Gora. This was a few years ago, but the people are lovely and the food is great, the ryokan is very nice (nicer than it looks on the website) and it is in an area handy to the ropeway. They have a private bath too, and indoor and outdoor onsen.

For a family of 4, you could fit into one of the Japanese/Western rooms which are enormous even for western standards and have western beds as well as a futon area, and they have a full bathroom whereas the Japanese rooms (which are biggish for Japanese standards) have a washroom and toilet. We took a japanese/western room and the adjoining japanese room but really we could have all fit comfortably in the japanese western room, if we could tolerate staying in the same room as our kids for 3 nights, which we couldnt.

Highly recommended.

Thanks Lazy Pious!

Lalaca is one of the places I considered if we decided to stay in Gora.
My concern is the frequency of public transport from Gora and from other areas in Hakone to Odawara to catch the Shinkansen the next day. I know that it takes about an hour from Gora to Odawara but that's no problem if there are frequent buses.

I know that Hakone Yumoto is the closest to Odawara (about 15-20min) and probably has the most frequent buses and trains to it, but I heard that it is not as nice as other areas of Hakone, and the ryokans there are somehow commercialized.

So is Gora the best place to stay in Hakone? How does it compare to Hakone Machi or Moto-Hakone or other areas by the Lake Ashi?

Hi! It looks as though the train leaves Gora twice before 8AM then another 3 times from 8 to 9 and takes just over an hour to get to Odawara. A taxi would take a half hour, maybe with a family of 4 it might not cost much more than the train?

If you do stay at Lalaca try to get them to pick you up from the station. It isnt far to get there but the road they are on is super steep - it would have to be well over 20 degrees - and I can remember pulling our luggage up it.

I havent stayed in other parts of Hakone so I cant really help for that, but essentially Gora is the hub for the cablecar and then the ropeway and it is super handy for the train which gets you to the other little towns.

Thanks Lazy Pious.

We will be purchasing the 2 day Hakone Free Pass, so it should cover our travel by bus/train the next day to Odawara. A taxi maybe more convenient but it will be kind of doubling up on cost, not a big problem if this is what we end up doing. But we'll see what happens then.

Unfortunately, Lalaca is not available during the time we anticipate to spend in Hakone. So I'm looking for other options in Gora, Hakone Machi, Moto-Hakone, Yumoto Hakone, and elsewhere.

Except for Yumoto Hakone, everywhere else seems to need about 45-60min to Odawara, so I will just have to settle to what I perceive as a good ryokan (from photos and reviews) in a reasonably accessible area without too much hassle of transport.

So far I have narrowed down 3, Mushasino Bekkan in Miyonishita (not far from Gora), Yoshimatsu in Hakone Machi, Hoseio (which isn't far from Yumoto Hakone); and Yaeikan near Yumoto Hakone.

Prices are more or less the same, and the reviews are comparable, except that the first two are rated higher.

If you or any other forum member has any advice or recommendations on the above or alternate ones, feel free to provide it and I greatly appreciate it.

The Hakone Tourism Site has excellent information, here is a recent article talking about the different charms and appeal of the different villages in Hakone. https://www.hakone.or.jp/en/4327

Hakone also has a very helpful Facebook Messenger feature that responds to questions and problems very quickly. https://www.facebook.com/HakoneTravel/ It was super helpful during our visit when we were trying to figure out transportation logistics.

i was staying at Hakone Gorakan Onsen on 30th oct , this ryokan was awesome , the dinner & breakfast were so delicious , it located just 3 mins walk from Gora Station this made it so easy to take the cable car for the loop tour, as i wanted to try different Ryokan , on 31th Oct we moved from Gorakan to Merveille Hakone Gora , which is just 500m away , the friendly staff from Gora tourist information center helped us called Merveille for the free shuttle service , the hotel sent the shuttle van within 10 mins , Merveille is as good as Gorakan . the beautiful Gora Park just 3mins by foot from Merveille . both ryokan are perfect place to base in Hakone . strongly recommended !

Thank you Kintaro and peggy fong for your advice and recommendations. I will look into them.