What We Spent in Hakone: A Real Cost Breakdown
Same as my Tokyo breakdown - keeping this one short and focused on the numbers. Transit isn't included here, since I tracked transportation trip-wide rather than city-by-city. For a general sense of what transportation costs, check out our full 14-day Japan cost breakdown.
Hakone was one of the two true slow-downs I built into this trip - a single overnight stop between Tokyo and Kyoto that ended up being one of our favorite parts of the entire itinerary. The second one came a bit later, when we stayed on Miyajima island.
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Hakone Subtotal (Hotel + Experiences): $466.40
Where We Stayed
Mount View Hakone — 1 night, $315
A traditional ryokan experience was one of our biggest priorities for the whole trip, and it was worth every dollar. We wanted at least one night that felt distinctly different from a standard hotel stay, and this delivered exactly that. We wore yukatas, had a traditional Japanese dinner and breakfast, and soaked in an onsen. The room itself was traditional too, with beds set up on straw-mat floors, and a tea set we made good use of. The traditional decor, mat-style floors, and sliding panel doors were exactly the vibe we were searching for.
Jackson in a yukata in our traditional ryokan room, complete with straw floors, was definitely the vibe we were searching for in Hakone.
What We Ate
There's no separate food total for Hakone since our ryokan meals were included with the room. The traditional kaiseki-style dinner and breakfast were part of the stay itself, not a separate expense, so nothing shows up here.
The dinner and breakfast were absolutely amazing. Dinner included crab legs, salad, smoked fish, tofu, sashimi, rice, and a hot pot with pork and vegetables. Breakfast was just as delicious, with smoked salmon, salad, chestnuts, spinach, sashimi, tofu, and another hot pot with meat and vegetables. There were drinks available too, beyond just coffee and tea, along with a variety of delicious sauces served alongside each meal.
If you're gluten-free like me, be sure to reach out and give advance notice before booking. I go into more detail on that in Where We Stayed in Japan, or check out my Gluten-Free Japan Guidebook for the full details.
All smiles for the deliciousness in front of them!
What We Did
Hakone Experiences: $151.40
This one number covers three things that made our single night in Hakone genuinely memorable:
A private onsen experience (~$34.44)
In-room massages (~$56.96)
Trout fishing (~$60) for an afternoon we still talk about
Definitely “off the beaten path” but so worth it!
On top of the ryokan itself, we also picked up two Hakone-specific transportation passes to get around the loop and back toward Kyoto:
Hakone Free Pass— $89.50, covers the local trains, buses, and cable car around the Hakone loop
Romancecar — $18.10, a faster, more comfortable train option for getting in and out of Hakone
These two passes aren't included in the subtotal above, since they're transportation rather than hotel or experience costs but they're worth budgeting for if you're planning a similar stop.
To see what we thought about the Hakone Loop and our other experiences in Hakone, check this out: Is Hakone, Japan Good for Kids? Our Honest Take
More From Our Japan Trip
This is one piece of a full 14-day trip through Japan. For the complete route, see our14-Day Japan Itinerary, or check out the full trip cost breakdown to see how Hakone fit into our overall budget.
Want the exact plan we used, hotel-by-hotel and day-by-day? Grab our 14-Day Japan Guidebookfor our full itinerary, transportation, hotels, timing, and planning logistics, built from this exact trip.
