November 3 in Japan is a public holiday called 文化の日 (Culture Day) (I’ve explained what Culture Day is in my previous post if you’re interested) and to make the most of the day, we visited Hakone in Kanagawa prefecture for some workation and sightseeing.
Monday November 1 – Arriving in Hakone
We wrapped up work earlier than usual to hop on an hour ride on a shinkansen or bullet train from 品川 (Shinagawa Station) to 小田原 (Odawara). From Odawara, we caught a local bus that hiked up the mountain side.
Hakone covers a big area and we headed north to 仙石原 (Sengokuhara) area where our accommodation called Hakone Retreat före is located.
The hotel picked us up from the nearest bus station which is in front of the hotel ground entrance because the hotel is within a forest with lots of birds🦜, deers 🦌 and wild boars🐗. We’re definitely not in Tokyo anymore!
After the check in finished at around 6:40pm, we strolled for 15 minutes to Solo Pizza TARO’s for dinner.
There aren’t many options near our hotel so I wasn’t expecting much but this pizza restaurant was located on a quiet mountainous street full of luxury holiday homes and it did not disappoint. Their big pizza oven warmed up the cozy Spanish country home like building where we ate 2 pizzas and pork roast. Their pizza base was soft and chewy under a generous amount of cheese.
Solo Pizza TARO’s
Address: 999 Sengokuhara, Hakone, Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa 250-0631
Opening hour: Open Friday to Monday 11:30am-3:00pm, 5:00pm-9:00pm and Thursday 5:00pm-9:00pm, closed Tuesday and Wednesday
Because Hakone Retreat före is located within a spacious forest ground, there are many locations to take in nature:
Free Bird lounge area where many teas are offered at warm indoor space with tables and sofa, board games and art supplies while soft lounge music set the scene (although in the morning an unexpected gangster rap music was playing😳)
Terrace area outside Free Bird with outdoor seatings, hammock during the day and fire only on Friday night
Cafe lounge where teas and coffees are offered from 6:00am to 11:00pm. The cafe also includes bakery, and a small shop offering cakes and drinks for purchase. They have a sitting area for hotel guests too.
Onsen both indoor and outdoor (pathway to onsen area):
The leaves were slowly turning from green to the warm hues of yellow, orange and a flash of red.
Hakone Retreat före
Address: 1286-116 Sengokuhara, Hakone, Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa 250-0631
Website:http://hakone-retreat.com/hotel/
Check in/Check out: 3:00pm, 11:00am
Tuesday November 2 – Workation in the midst of nature
If you’re an early bird, one of the perks of staying at Hakone Retreat före is their free bread offer between 6:00am-7:00am. I kind of suspected it’s the old bread from the previous day but hey, I’m happy to sample quarter of their charcoal cinnamon roll and a quarter of cheese roll. Coffee and teas are always offered so I ordered milky cappuccino to accompany my bread while I enjoyed the relaxing and quiet morning.
I soaked in onsen to warm up before I started my workday. There is a spacious desk in our room and there were a range of places to change my workation sceneries:
For lunch, we picked up some bread from the cafe lounge and we filled it with sandwich fillings we brought with us for a picnic. Ah, the joy of remote working!
Another soak in the onsen allowed me to switch from work mode to holiday mode before dining at the hotel ground’s restaurant, Woodside Restaurant that offers 1 course menu:
Wednesday November 3 – Venturing out in Hakone
We kept our window opened in our room so I woke up to dewy, cool, and fresh air with lots of birds actively chirping.
I repeated the day before’s morning ritual with bread, coffee and onsen before picking up a coffee for my husband who enjoys sleeping in.
We stayed right until 11:00 am check out and we walked 40 minutes or so to walk through 仙石原すすき草原 (Sengokuhara Pampas Grass Field). I heard it’s beautiful in autumn and was keen to check it out. It’s right next to the road but the pampas grasses are quite tall that you can be surrounded by the field of golden pampas swaying in the air.
It’s a one way pathway on a gentle slope where we stayed for 20-30minutes (while we carried heavy back pack so it may be a quicker visit for others!)
Sengokuhara Pampas Grass Field
Address: Sengokuhara, 箱根町 Hakone, Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa 250-0631
Opening: 24 hours
The best way to travel around Hakone is by the public bus that connects key tourist areas separated by meandering roads due to narrow roads and limiting carparks. However, it is costly if you miss your stop!
Our initial destination after Sengokuhara Pampas Grass Field was 芦ノ湖 (Lake Ashino) but we missed the stop to change to another bus that heads down towards the lake and it would have taken too much time so we continued our journey towards 箱根湯本 (Hakone Yumoto).
Hakone Yumoto is the gateway to Hakone region, there’s a train station that connects directly to Shinjuku, souvenir stores, accommodation and day visit onsen in the area.
This is at least my 3rd visit in the area, the most recent visit was in September 2020 where we had a quick visit to Hakone Open Air museum after staying at a cabin near Mount Fuji.
Many tourists have returned to Hakone area queuing up for soba noodle restaurants but we dined to feast on pork on rice at Bootea, interesting a cafe specialising in pork dishes and tea.
We didn’t try their tea but the meal was a good portion with soft and succulent huge pieces of pork.
箱根BOOTEA
Address: 729 Yumoto, Hakone, Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa 250-0311
Opening hour: 11:00am-4:00pm, closed on Wednesday
Cash only
When in Rome, onsen in Hakone
I was hesitant to visit my husband’s Hakone’s go to day visit onsen, 天山 (Tenzan) because this will be my 3rd visit (5th for my husband) and it’s a hike up the hill for 25minutes.
However, upon researching for the price, the variety of onsen and size, we decided to make the visit again.
When we visited last September, the place was pretty empty but this time with no state of emergency, there were cars queuing to get in.
There were a decent amount of people where the locker area was busy but as there are 6 medium sized onsen, 1 cold bath plus steam and sauna room, I was able to enjoy a relaxing onsen.
Tenzan
Address: 208 Yumotochaya, Hakone, Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa 250-0312
Website: http://tenzan.jp/
Opening hour: 9:00am- 10:00pm
Price: 1300yen per adult, cash only
To return back to Tokyo, we caught the Romance car with larger than usual window to take in the last view of Hakone’s nature before we departed at chaotic Shinjuku megapolis letting us know we have truly left the quiet oasis.
I hope you have a safe weekend👋🏻.
Native Expat 
Hi there! I came across your blog and love your content and photos! I’m a new follower… hope you can stop by my site if you get a chance
LikeLike
Hi Tairaxo, Thanks for checking out my blog! I’ll be sure to take a look at your site 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person