Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you book through one, Tokyo Trailhead earns a commission at no extra cost to you. It never decides what appears here.
Search for the Hakone Free Pass and the prices on the first page do not agree with each other. The reason is a fare change. The pass went up by 1,000 yen on 1 October 2025, together with the ropeway and the pirate ship, and some English guides still quote the figures from before it.
This page adds up the 2026 fares, one ride at a time, from the official fare tables of Odakyu and the Hakone transport companies. Every figure below was checked on 27 September 2026.
What this guide covers11 sections
- The short answer
- The Hakone Free Pass, in figures
- 1. The classic loop, fare by fare: 8,230 yen against 7,100 yen
- 2. Three trips where the pass loses money
- 3. The discounts are 100 to 500 yen, not a reason to buy
- What the pass does not cover
- Decision table
- If you are coming from Tokyo Station
- Paper or phone, and the one counter for the GYG voucher
- Questions people actually ask
- Where to go from here
The short answer
- There is no one-day pass. The Hakone Free Pass comes in two-day and three-day versions only. A day trip means buying the two-day pass and using one day of it.
- From Shinjuku, one full loop still pays for it. The classic loop by train, cable car, ropeway, boat and bus costs 8,230 yen if you pay each fare. The pass costs 7,100 yen. You come out 1,130 yen ahead.
- From Odawara, the margin is thin. The same loop from Odawara costs 6,410 yen against a 6,000 yen pass. 410 yen ahead.
- Skip the ropeway and the pass loses. The ropeway alone is 2,000 yen of the loop. Without it, or if you only go as far as Hakone-Yumoto or Gora, you pay less with an IC card.
- The Romancecar is never included. It costs 1,200 yen extra from Shinjuku, with or without the pass.
Affiliate link. This site earns a commission if you book through it, at no extra cost to you. Photo from our own walk.
The Hakone Free Pass, in figures
| 2-day pass | 3-day pass | |
|---|---|---|
| From Shinjuku, Yoyogi-Uehara | 7,100 yen (child 1,600 yen) | 7,500 yen (child 1,850 yen) |
| From Machida | 6,820 yen (child 1,600 yen) | 7,220 yen (child 1,850 yen) |
| From Odawara, Hakone-Yumoto, Gotemba, Mishima | 6,000 yen (child 1,500 yen) | 6,400 yen (child 1,750 yen) |
| One-day version | None |
| Validity | Calendar days, not hours. The day you buy it is day one, and the 2-day pass ends after the last train or bus on the next day |
| Rides covered | Odakyu Line from your starting station to Odawara, one return trip. Inside Hakone, unlimited rides on the Hakone Tozan Train, the cable car, the Hakone Ropeway, the sightseeing cruise, and Hakone Tozan buses, Odakyu highway buses and Tokai buses in the pass area |
| Not covered | The Romancecar limited express surcharge, sightseeing tour buses, museum admission |
| Discounts | About 70 museums, hot springs and other places in Hakone. Mostly 100 to 200 yen off |
| Last price change | 1 October 2025. The Odawara two-day pass went from 5,000 to 6,000 yen |
| Where to buy | Odakyu stations (machines and counters), Odakyu Sightseeing Service Centers, the EMot app, stations in Hakone |
Children are those aged 6 to 11. Under 6, children ride free. The price depends only on where you start. The pass is the same once you reach Odawara.
Two days is not 48 hours. If you buy a paper pass the evening before, that evening counts as day one and you lose a day. Buy it on the morning you travel. The ticket machines at Odakyu stations take cash, IC cards and Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB or Diners Club.
1. The classic loop, fare by fare: 8,230 yen against 7,100 yen
The loop most visitors do is the one the pass was designed around. Up the mountain by train and cable car, over the volcanic valley at Owakudani by ropeway, across Lake Ashi by boat, and back down to Odawara by bus.
Here is what each leg costs one way, for an adult, with a paper ticket. IC card fares on Odakyu are a few yen lower. The mountain lines charge the same either way.
| Leg | Ride | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Shinjuku to Odawara | Odakyu Line (regular train) | 910 yen |
| Odawara to Gora | Hakone Tozan Train | 770 yen |
| Gora to Sounzan | Hakone Tozan Cable Car | 430 yen |
| Sounzan to Togendai, via Owakudani | Hakone Ropeway | 2,000 yen |
| Togendai to Moto-Hakone port | Sightseeing cruise | 1,700 yen |
| Moto-Hakone port to Odawara | Hakone Tozan Bus (direct) | 1,510 yen |
| Odawara to Shinjuku | Odakyu Line (regular train) | 910 yen |
| Total, paying each fare | 8,230 yen | |
| Hakone Free Pass from Shinjuku | 7,100 yen |
That is 1,130 yen saved in a single day, with the second day of the pass left over.
Start the count at Odawara instead, as you would if you came down from Tokyo Station by shinkansen, and the loop costs 6,410 yen against a 6,000 yen pass. Still a saving, but only 410 yen. At that margin, the pass is less about money and more about not buying five tickets at five counters.
Two things in this table decide the answer. The ropeway is the single biggest fare at 2,000 yen, and the round trip on the Odakyu Line is worth 1,820 yen. Keep both and the pass wins. Drop either one, and the numbers start to turn against it.
Where the figures come from: the Odakyu fare table for Shinjuku to Odawara, the Hakone Tozan Railway fare table revised on 30 July 2026, the Odakyu Hakone notice of the 1 October 2025 fare revision for the ropeway and the cruise, and the Hakone Navi route search for the bus.
Affiliate link. This site earns a commission if you book through it, at no extra cost to you. Photo from our own walk.
2. Three trips where the pass loses money
The pass wins on the full loop. It loses on shorter days, and a lot of Hakone days are shorter than the brochure. Here are three common ones, priced from Shinjuku with a regular train.
Trip one: Hakone-Yumoto or Gora only. You want a hot spring in Yumoto, or the Hakone Open-Air Museum near Gora, and back. Shinjuku to Gora and back costs 1,680 yen each way, 3,360 yen in all. The pass would cost you 3,740 yen more than that. A hot spring town and one museum do not need a pass.
Trip two: Lake Ashi by bus, no boat. You take the bus from Odawara straight up to Moto-Hakone port for the lake shore and the torii gate, then come back the same way. Two Odakyu fares and two bus fares come to 4,840 yen. The pass loses by 2,260 yen. Add a return cruise on the lake, though, at 3,000 yen, and the total becomes 7,840 yen. Now the pass wins again.
Trip three: one way through Hakone, out to Gotemba. You go into Hakone from Shinjuku, cross by train, cable car and ropeway to Togendai, and take the bus to Gotemba Station, on the way to Mt Fuji, without returning to Shinjuku. The pass area does reach Gotemba, and Mishima in the other direction, so the bus is covered. But the pass still charges you for the Odakyu ride home that you never take. Paying each fare, Shinjuku to Gotemba this way costs 5,190 yen: 910, 770, 430, 2,000, and 1,080 yen for the bus from Togendai. The pass is 7,100 yen, so it loses by 1,910 yen. Beyond Gotemba, towards the Fuji Five Lakes, you are outside the pass area in any case.
One near miss is worth knowing. Owakudani and back, with no lake, is Shinjuku to Gora, the cable car up, a ropeway round trip at 3,000 yen, and the same way home: 7,220 yen. The pass wins, but only by 120 yen.
3. The discounts are 100 to 500 yen, not a reason to buy
The pass lists about 70 places with discounts, and some guides count them as part of its value. They are real, but they are small. These are the discounts for an adult, from each listing on Hakone Navi, the official site of the Odakyu Hakone group.
| Place | Adult admission | Discount with the pass |
|---|---|---|
| Hakone Open-Air Museum | 2,000 yen | 100 yen off |
| Pola Museum of Art | 2,200 yen | 200 yen off |
| Hakone Glass Forest Museum | 1,800 yen | 100 yen off |
| Okada Museum of Art | 2,800 yen | 200 yen off |
| Narukawa Art Museum | 1,500 yen | 200 yen off |
| Tenzan Tohji-kyo (day hot spring) | See the official site | 100 yen off |
| Hakone Kowakien Yunessun (Passport ticket) | See the official site | 500 yen off |
Two museums on one day save you 200 to 400 yen. That is a pleasant extra, but it does not move a trip from the losing side of the table to the winning side. Decide on the rides alone, and take the discounts as change.
Show the pass at the ticket counter when you pay admission.
What the pass does not cover
The Romancecar. The pass covers the Odakyu Line, not the limited express seat on it. From Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto, the Romancecar surcharge is 1,200 yen for adults and 600 yen for children, bought on top of the pass. Since you would pay the same 1,200 yen without the pass, it does not change the answer above. It only changes how you get there: the Romancecar runs straight through to Hakone-Yumoto, while a regular train means changing at Odawara. Bought online through EMot, the Romancecar ticket is 50 yen cheaper.
Museum and hot spring admission. Discounts only, as above.
Sightseeing tour buses. Scheduled tour buses are not included.
A second trip on the Odakyu Line. The run from your starting station to Odawara is one return trip. You can break the journey along the way, but you cannot ride to Odawara, come back to Shinjuku, and go down again on the same pass.
Anything outside the pass area. Buses and trains leaving the area charge the fare from the edge of the area.
Decision table
| Your day | Buy | Why |
|---|---|---|
| From Shinjuku, the full loop in one day | Pass from Shinjuku, 7,100 yen | Saves 1,130 yen |
| From Shinjuku, one night in Hakone, loop plus more on day two | Pass from Shinjuku, 7,100 yen | The second day is free riding |
| From Tokyo Station by shinkansen, the full loop | Pass from Odawara, 6,000 yen | Saves 410 yen, with fewer tickets to buy |
| Hakone-Yumoto or Gora only | No pass. Use an IC card | The pass costs 3,740 yen more |
| Lake Ashi by bus, no boat | No pass | The pass costs 2,260 yen more |
| Lake Ashi by bus, with a return cruise | Pass | Saves 740 yen |
| Owakudani return trip, no lake | Either | The pass saves 120 yen |
| Through Hakone, leaving by bus to Gotemba | No pass | The pass costs 1,910 yen more |
| Three days in the area | 3-day pass | Only 400 yen more than the 2-day pass |
If you are coming from Tokyo Station
There is no pass from Tokyo Station. If you take the shinkansen to Odawara, buy the pass that starts at Odawara, for 6,000 yen, at the Odakyu ticket machines or the counter in Odawara Station, or in the EMot app before you go. Do not buy the Shinjuku pass for 7,100 yen: the extra 1,100 yen pays for an Odakyu return trip to Shinjuku that you will not use.
Paper or phone, and the one counter for the GYG voucher
There are three ways to get the pass. They cost the same. What differs is where you pick it up and how it goes through the gates.
Paper, at the station. Odakyu ticket machines and counters sell it on the day. At Shinjuku, the Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center is on B1 at the West Underground Exit of the Odakyu Line. It opens from 08:00 to 16:00 every day of the year, and the staff speak English and Chinese. The paper pass goes through the ticket gates, and it is collected at the station where your trip ends.
Digital, in the EMot app. You buy it online and scan a QR code on your phone at the ticket gates. One rule matters for families: one digital pass works on one smartphone at a time, for one person. A child without a phone of their own cannot ride on a digital pass shown on the phone of a parent, and Japanese kids phones do not work. Families with a young child are better off with paper.
A voucher, booked in advance. GetYourGuide sells the pass from Shinjuku as a voucher, paid in your own currency, in English, before you fly. You choose the 2-day or 3-day pass and the date you will use it when you book, so the date question above is settled at booking. You then exchange the voucher for the pass at the same Shinjuku West service center, which is open from 08:00 to 16:00. If your train leaves before eight, the counter is not open yet, so pick a later train or buy the pass at a ticket machine instead. The voucher is non-refundable, so book it once your dates are fixed.
Affiliate link. This site earns a commission if you book through it, at no extra cost to you. Photo from our own walk.
Questions people actually ask
Is there a one-day Hakone Free Pass? No. Only two-day and three-day passes. A day trip uses one day of the two-day pass, and it still pays for itself on the full loop from Shinjuku.
What happens if the ropeway is not running? It stops in winds of 30 metres a second or more and in extreme weather, and it closes in sections every winter for inspection. During the inspections, replacement buses run on the ropeway route, and the pass covers them. The last round ran in sections from December 2025 to February 2026. If bad weather stops a ride and you have not used that ride at all, the pass rules give you a refund for it at the station where your trip ends.
Does the pass include the Hakone Open-Air Museum? No. It gives 100 yen off the 2,000 yen adult ticket.
Does it include the pirate ship? Yes. The sightseeing cruise on Lake Ashi is one of the eight rides. The special cabin costs extra, with 100 yen off for pass holders.
Does it include the Romancecar? No. Add 1,200 yen from Shinjuku.
How much is it for children? 1,600 yen for the two-day pass from Shinjuku, for children aged 6 to 11. Under 6, free.
Is the three-day pass worth it over the two-day pass? If you are staying two nights, yes. It is only 400 yen more.
Can I use the pass on the highway bus from Shinjuku? Not for free, but at a discount. With a pass from Shinjuku, the Odakyu highway bus from Shinjuku to Gotemba costs 1,400 yen one way instead of 2,000 yen. Buy the ticket at the counter in Busta Shinjuku, not online. Inside Hakone, the same bus line from Gotemba through Sengoku to Togendai is covered by the pass.
I am coming from Kyoto or Osaka. Which pass? The pass from Odawara, 6,000 yen. The shinkansen stops at Odawara, and the Shinjuku pass would charge you for an Odakyu return trip you do not use.
If the full loop is your day, the pass from Shinjuku can be booked in advance as a GetYourGuide voucher, paid in your own currency, and exchanged for the pass at Shinjuku Station.
Affiliate link · 2 or 3 days · Includes the return trip from Shinjuku to Odawara · Exchange at Shinjuku Station · Non-refundable
Where to go from here
If you skip the pass, you will be paying bus fares in Hakone as you go, and Hakone buses are rural buses with their own rules. The guide to riding a Japanese bus on this site covers the numbered ticket, the fare board and the one-line IC card rule.
If you would rather walk up a mountain than ride up one, start with Mount Takao, and the guide to choosing a trail there. With a full day, the comparison of Mount Takao and Mount Mitake will help you pick one.