Hakone

By plane

The nearest airports to Hakone are in Tokyo. Note that if you have a reservation at a ryokan in Hakone, unless your plane lands in the morning, it is recommended that you spend your first evening in Tokyo or Yokohama, or else you might miss out on and be charged for dinner at the ryokan, or worse, you may be locked out of and be charged for your room at the ryokan's curfew time, if there is one.

Allow about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to reach Hakone from Narita Airport by train, and about 1 1/2 to 2 hours from Haneda Airport.

By train

The fastest and most expensive method of reaching Hakone from Tokyo is to take a Tokaido Shinkansen Kodama こだま train from Tokyo to Odawara, then transfer to the Hakone-Tozan Line for the run to Hakone-Yumoto trains operated by Odakyu Railway. The one-way ride lasts one hour with a good connection, and costs ¥3430, but if you use the Japan Rail Pass, you need only to pay ¥300 for the Hakone-Tozan line.

Be aware that the JR East Rail Pass does not provide access to the Tokaido Shinkansen and to make use of this pass you will need to ride the regular Tokaido Main Line to Odawara. From Tokyo, a convenient choice that is valid with the JR East Pass is the "Odoriko" limited express train service. These trains have bigger windows and better seating than the regular commuter trains, and seat reservations can be made. As of March 2007, there are at least four daily runs, arriving in Odawara one hour later; there may also be additional runs on certain days. All trains make a pickup stop at Yokohama, while a few also stop at Shinagawa and Kawasaki stations.

You also have the option of boarding comfortable Green Car seats on regular JR commuter train runs. These seats are available on a first-come, first-serve basis, and you can purchase light snacks and drinks at your seat. You should purchase a Green Car fare ticket prior to boarding, which is done electronically using a SUICA card: Once you purchase the Green Car fare from a special machine, you wave the SUICA card over the seat that you wish to sit in and the light above you will turn from red to green. The fare for these seats between Tokyo and Odawara is ¥950 on weekdays and ¥750 on weekends and holidays; you can also purchase a Green Car seat on the train for an additional ¥250 surcharge. Holders of the Green Car Japan Rail Pass and JR East Pass can use these seats at no additional charge, and with no fare tickets required: simply board a train with a Green Car, show your Green Car pass to the attendant and inform him/her of your destination.

Without any sort of JR pass, the regular fare from Tokyo to Odawara is ¥1450 additional for the Green Car; the trip takes about 70 minutes.

The affordable method of reaching Hakone from Tokyo is to take the Odakyu Odawara Line from Shinjuku station. The fastest train on the Odakyu Line is the Hakone はこね Limited Express train 特急 tokkyū, which runs twice an hour for most of the day. The 85-minute journey makes only two stops enroute and costs ¥2020. Note that some trains, called Super Hakone スーパーはこね, use newer train equipment, while evening rush hour runs from Shinjuku are called Home Way ホームウェイ. The slower Odakyu express train 急行 kyūkō runs twice an hour at a cost of only ¥1150, reaching Hakone in two hours.

Rail connections can be made at Odawara from Nagoya 2 1/2 hrs, Kyoto 3 hrs and other locations throughout Japan.