Tokyo to Hakone

Updated September 8, 2026 · Fares are standard one-way adult prices

For almost everyone the answer is the Hakone Freepass, because the loop itself — not the journey out — is what costs money. Buy it at Shinjuku before you set off, then decide separately whether to pay the Romancecar surcharge for a reserved seat.

Every option, compared

Why the pass usually pays, and when it does not

The ¥6,100 two-day Freepass looks expensive against a ¥2,470 one-way ticket until you notice what Hakone actually is: a loop. The standard circuit uses a mountain railway, a cablecar, a ropeway over the sulphur vents, a boat across Lake Ashi and a bus back — five separate operators, each charging separately. The pass covers all of them plus the round trip from Shinjuku.

It does not pay in one case: you are going only to the onsen at Hakone-Yumoto and coming straight back, without doing the loop. Then two Romancecar tickets are cheaper. Everyone doing the circuit should buy the pass.

The three-day version is ¥400 more than the two-day. If you are staying two nights, take it — ¥400 is less than one bus fare in the area.

The Romancecar is a surcharge, not a ticket

This trips people up. The Romancecar is Odakyu's limited express, and its reserved-seat charge sits on top of the ordinary fare — so a Freepass does not include it. You pay the surcharge separately if you want the reserved seat and the direct run.

Without it you take an ordinary Odakyu express, change at Odawara, and arrive perhaps half an hour later for nothing extra. On the way out, when you are fresh, the ordinary train is fine. Coming back tired at the end of a long loop, the reserved seat is worth the money — and if you want the panoramic front seats, book them well ahead.

What about the shinkansen

You can take a shinkansen to Odawara in under an hour and join the Hakone network there. It is faster and it is covered by a Japan Rail Pass as far as Odawara — but the pass covers none of the Hakone loop itself, which is where the cost is. So a JR Pass holder saves on the approach and still buys local tickets or a Hakone pass on arrival.

If you are not holding a pass, the shinkansen buys you perhaps twenty minutes for a good deal more money. The Romancecar is the better trip.

Day trip or overnight

The loop fits in a long day from Tokyo, and plenty of people do it that way — see the Hakone day trip guide for the running order that avoids the worst queues. But Hakone is an onsen town, and doing it as a day trip means skipping the reason it exists.

One night at a ryokan with dinner and a bath turns a sightseeing circuit into the best evening of most first trips. The itinerary builder gives Hakone a night whenever the trip has one to spare, and treats it as a Tokyo day trip when it does not.

Frequently asked questions