The Hakone Circle Tour

To start, I do not know if this self tour of Hakone is actually known as the Hakone Circle, I am only calling it that because we were able to make a full circle using every mode of transportation available in the area using the Hakone Freepass.

This image shows the available types of transportation in Hakone

Staying at the Hotel Indigo near Gora Station, this is where we decided to start our journey by taking a bus to Moto Hakone-ko. One thing to remember is that the buses in Hakone arent as rigidly on time you may be used to from Tokyo or other areas. They are generally close to the estimated times but sometimes can be early or late depending on the circumstance. The bus digital signs in Hakone, also, do not cycle through the information quickly so it can be hard to tell which bus is the one you need to take. We just kept saying our destination “Moto Hakone-ko” and got on the bus where the driver nodded a yes to us. Not the most reliable way of knowing which bus to take but it worked in the moment and ended up getting us to where we needed.

The area is quite beautiful so taking the views on this journey is recommended plus the bus ride part is along a winding path so it helps to look out the windows to avoid betting car sick.

As we got closer to Moto Hakone-ko, we disembarked the bus a stop before because there was a convenience store and this allowed us to buy water and snacks for the rest of our journey.