❖ Pick-up from your hotel in Tokyo

08:00

Your day starts with door-to-door pick-up at your Tokyo hotel in a wheelchair-friendly vehicle, then a drive of roughly two hours to the Hakone area (pick-up between 8:00 and 10:00).

❖ Hakone Shrine

10:00 - 10:30 (30 min)

Founded in the Heian period, Hakone Shrine sits at the foot of Mount Hakone along the shore of Lake Ashi, a quiet place to begin the day. A long flight of stairs fronts the main shrine, so your driver takes the car access road straight to the main hall, bringing you to the heart of the site without the climb.

❖ Cruise across Lake Ashi (Motohakone-ko to Togendai-ko)

10:55 - 11:20 (25 min)

Lake Ashi formed more than 3,000 years ago in the aftermath of a volcanic eruption, and on a clear day it returns the favor: Mt. Fuji appears twice over, once on the skyline and once mirrored on the water, framed by the red torii gates of Hakone Shrine. You board a replica pirate ship operated by Hakone Sightseeing Boats for the 30-minute crossing from Motohakone-ko to Togendai-ko.

From 1 December to 19 March the cruise runs slightly earlier, 10:45 to 11:10.

❖ Hakone Ropeway and lunch

11:30 - 12:30 (1:00 h)

From Togendai, the Hakone Ropeway carries you to Owakudani in 16 minutes, gliding over the volcanic terrain on the way up. Lunch follows at the Owakudani Station Dining Hall, overlooking the steaming valley, and this is the place to try kuro-tamago: eggs cooked in the hot springs until the sulfur turns their shells black.

If Owakudani is closed for volcanic activity, the ropeway is skipped and an alternative such as the Komagatake Ropeway is arranged in its place.

❖ Owakudani

12:30 - 13:00 (30 min)

Owakudani is the clearest window into the intense volcanic activity that shaped Hakone, with active sulfur vents hissing within arm's reach. Time your visit with fair weather and Mt. Fuji may reveal itself across the valley.

❖ The Hakone Open-Air Museum

13:15 - 15:30 (2:15 h)

A short drive from Owakudani brings you to the Hakone Open-Air Museum, founded in 1969 to set art against the natural landscape rather than behind walls. Some 120 masterpieces by modern and contemporary sculptors are spread across a wide green garden with the mountains beyond, with further displays held indoors. The museum cafe is on hand when you want to pause.

In poor weather, the visit moves to the Pola Museum of Art instead.

❖ Return to your hotel in Tokyo

15:30

After the museum you set off back toward Tokyo, arriving at your hotel in the late afternoon (15:30 to 17:30, subject to traffic).