Hakone weekend @ Prince Hakone Ashinoko - Yokosuka Curry Festival, Hakone Checkpoint, Ropeway and Open Air Museum

For the second weekend during my in-laws visit, we drove back over to Hakone! My husband, MIL and I were in this area last year in November when she visited with GMIL, but we wanted to introduce my FIL to the area as well since we had a nice experience last time. 

We left on Saturday morning, we first made a stop at the Yokosuka Curry Festival which just happened to be ongoing during their visit. Yet again, it was a bit rainy and windy, but bearable. 

We made sure to get in line for the "curry picking" event. You pay 1000yen and receive a tray with a cup of rice. 

You can select 4 cups of curry from the 14 choices that are part of the event that fit right into your tray. My husband and I did this last year, and it was a good way to be introduced to lots of a different options without having to commit to a whole meal. 

We each walked around, picked up what looked interesting to us, and then found a table to sit at. Fortunately there was some curry festival staff members who were going around and wiping down the tables/chairs from the rain. 

We also got one of the curry pan packages. When I initially got in line for this, I didn't quite know what to expect. I guess it's just a grab-and-go bag of 4 different curry pan for 800yen.

Since these were already packaged to-go, we waited until we were back in the car and on the road to try them.

There was also some sort of stamp promotion where if you spent X amount from two different types of booths, then you can be a free item (with the more stamps you get, the better the free item is). We were able to get a free curry package!

Back with the main/standalone booths, my husband went to try this mori pan dog which has cheese and curry on it. It was a really long hot dog haha.

Continued to make our way back through the booths, but we were all pretty full, so we didn't get anything else to eat right then.

The rain was a little bit of a bummer (especially while we were trying to eat and stand in line for things), but it was a nice opportunity to try out some regional specialty things with my in-laws! It was fortunate that the festival was happening while they were visiting. 

Hakone Checkpoint

Onto the main attractions for the weekend, we continued on our way and got to the Hakone Checkpoint area. There's a row of shops along the way to the checkpoint that we wanted to shop around in to look for something for my husband's grandma.  

And we also paid to enter the Checkpoint area itself and understand the history a little more.

There's a nice vantage point of the lake from inside as well :)

If you're able, I would highly recommend taking the stairs up the hill at the checkpoint for the best view! It was grey and cloudy this day, but still worth it.

Sadly the cafe that my husband got some really cool watermelon themed dango from last year (September 2022) no longer sold that item! When we were making a restroom stop on the opposite side of the checkpoint, we did spot some wisteria though. It seems that it blooms later in this area compared to Ashikaga, so my MIL did get to see a little bit more!

and I got some ice cream from a vending machine since we didn't get anything from the cafe lol. 

We also stopped briefly at the little checkpoint museum where photos aren't allowed and just traced our steps back out to the car. This whole area was very lush and green!

This is our (my husband's and my) third time stopping in the area, but I think it's pretty cool and worth checking out if you're passing through Hakone or staying in the town. There's a decent number of shops that are located in close proximity with some local goods and the Checkpoint itself feels like a piece of history with a nice view of Lake Ashinoko.

Hakone Komagatake Ropeway

Unlike the other activities we did in Hakone, using the ropeway was a first for everyone! It was conveniently located right next to the hotel that we stayed at, so it was kind of a no-brainer activity lol. This is specifically the Komagatake Ropeway - there's another Hakone ropeway that has an entirely different route about 15 min away and about 3-4 times as long. 

We walked over in the morning and got 3 adult tickets since my FIL wasn't joining us. It wasn't too busy at this time and we were second in line for the 09:40 departure. 

I was thinking it wasn't too popular this day despite it being a Sunday since it was incredibly cloudy! We had a decent view for about half of the ride, but in the upper section, could see nothing but grey lol. 

Even when we got to the summit, it was damp and cloudy lol. 

I hadn't looked into what was involved with using the ropeway because honestly, I assumed it was just going to take us to a flat lookout point with maybe an elevated platform for siteseeing. To my surprise, there was actually a little hike with areas to explore at the top, and they even had hiking/walking poles you could borrow. We only had about 25 minutes, so we chose to try to get to Mototsumiya shrine and back. 

The whole area was just grey, grey, grey. But you could tell it's probably very nice (and hot lol) when it's a clearer day!

It's a rocky but short <10 min walk to the shrine. I can only imagine how much more stunning it is when the color stands out against a blue sky.

We returned the way we came back. If we had known more about what to expect (and if the weather was better), I would have liked to have spent an hour or more at the top, exploring each of the paths. But since it was so damp with limited visibility, the amount of time we had was sufficient before the next car going back down.

The car going up as we were going down was incredibly crowded (probably close or at the max of 50 people). There were only about 12-15 in our car. I guess I should have contributed the lack of crowdedness for us more to the time of day rather than the weather!

I got a better position near the window on the way down. Once we got below the clouds, you can see the expanse of the lake and even our hotel. 

Not the most ideal circumstances for this because of the cloudy weather, but it was really interesting to see and do something different for us. It fit right in between our hotel breakfast and check out (fortunately not until 11:00) and a really good location for our stay. I'd definitely consider going again on a better day and be more prepared to walk around!

Hakone Open Air Museum

We previously visited in November because the Open Air Museum is supposed to feature some nice autumn colors, but ended up enjoying it a lot for the art as well. My MIL was thinking that this would be of interest to FIL, so we made another stop on our way back home. 

To give those of us who visited previously a slightly different perspective on the museum, we decided to route ourselves the opposite way that we had done it the first time. 

And it did make a difference with some pieces we just kind of glanced at before because they were near the end of our visit last time, we opted to take a closer look at while we were still a bit more fresh lol. 

Seeing all the green landscaping was really refreshing and some of the air pieces stood out in a different way. I do enjoy this museum and definitely recommend it if you're able bodied and enjoy art like this or just being outdoors. There's a handful of fairly steep hills and some stairs throughout, so while they do have wheelchairs you can rent, it's not the 100% the most accessible. 

Prince Hotel Hakone Lake Ashinoko 

My MIL graciously booked this hotel for us with a recommendation from one of her friends who stayed here before. We had a good experience at the Hakone Kowaiken Ten-yu last time, but I was excited to stay in a slightly different area closer to Lake Ashinoko!

Check-in/guest services were very good and on par with what I'd expect with a Prince Hotel. The staff was patient and spoke well in English to communicate what we needed to know. 

With this location, none of the sections are very tall (I think it maxed out on 3 floors) so the buildings are a bit spread out. The rooms themselves were definitely more western style and huge with big beds too!

The view from our room

From the hotel, you also have direct access to shore area around the lake. We spent a handful of minutes just exploring a little bit outside, but they have fishing equipment and other stuff you can rent if you spend more time here. 

There's also a bath facility in the Annex Building (near their main restaurant). The fastest route to it does include a little bit of a walk outside, but since it wasn't raining either time I went, it was nice to be in the fresh, cool air. 

I particularly liked that this bath facility provided both bath and small towels for you, so you didn't have to remember to bring it to and from your room.

When I went before dinner on the first night, it was pretty empty but they do have a system that lets you know how crowded it is before you enter. There's at least 10 shower stalls, a small indoor bath and then a larger open air bath. The open air bath's water is actually quite hot. I think definitely above 41 or 42C. 

I was pretty pleased with the bath facility. The lockers were all reasonably sized (including some long/tall ones) and plentiful. The provided amenities (including the towels) were also adequate and the bath itself was nice and well kept as well. In the open air section, you can hear across to the men's side if it's quiet (and likely vice versa), but that's not unexpected based on the setting. 

As part of our 1-night stay, my MIL also included dinner and breakfast in our reservation, so we were able to stay in, enjoy the features of the hotel and relax

I wasn't able to get very good pictures of the buffet itself because it's a bit spread out and not wanting to get in the way of other patrons, but the spread was decent. Not the best hotel breakfast or dinner we've been to with my in-laws (in fact, it might have been on the lesser side just in comparison), but adequate and got the job done. If you're on a budget and have an easy way to get to other restaurants, I would consider going elsewhere for these meals though since they were on the pricey side. 

Overall, a very pleasant weekend getaway to bring their trip to a close. It was nice to be in both familiar surroundings while also experiencing new things with different people. My MIL definitely spoils us with the hotels she chooses, and I'm certainly grateful for that. Hakone is a nice and serene area when you're not someplace packed with tourists, and it's perfect for the weekend. 

Our previous stay in Hakone: Hakone weekend - Museum of Art, Open Air Museum, Pirate Siteseeing ship.