This 2-day trip plan is designed for viewing Kawazu cherry blossom from mid February to early March. And Hakone and some more places in Izu are combined with Kawazu in 2 days.
This trip plan includes these following places:
✔ Hakone (1 hour walking in Owakudani, Open Air Museum, Pirates Ship lake cruise, Hakone shrine)
✔ 30 minutes walking in Jogasaki Kaigan
✔ Ride on Izukyu Railway sightseeing train “Resort 21”
✔ Kawazu cherry blossom festival day time and evening light-up
✔ Visit the town of Shimoda
You can enjoy both mountain and ocean sceneries.
Most train rides are covered by JR Pass or JR East Pass Nagano Niigata, JR East Pass Tohoku, JR East-South Hokkaido Rail pass and Tokyo Wide Pass. But you cannot get your money worth by this 2-day trip. You may use this sample as the part of your trip.
Overview
On day 1, enjoy the popular sightseeing places in Hakone and overnight in Atami which is one of most popular hot spring resorts in Japan.
On day 2, visit Jogasaki Kaigan, Kawazu and Shimoda in the Izu Peninsula. You will visit Kawazu twice in day time and evening time. You can watch two different viewing of the Kawazu cherry blossom festival.
Day 1, Tokyo – Odawara – Hakone – Atami
On the first day of trip, you will take the Shinkansen or the limited express Odoriko to get to Odawara. The Shinkansen is faster than the limited express Odoriko. But only JR Pass covers the Shinkansen.
Buy a Hakone Free Pass 2-day at 4,000 yen at Odawara station. And then start sightseeing in Hakone. You will visit Hakone Open Air Museum and Owakudani.
Itinerary
For JR Pass user
For other than JR Pass user
| Time | Place and transporation |
|---|---|
| 09:27 | Tokyo station |
| The Tokaido Shinkansen Kodama 713 | |
| 10:02 | Odawara station Buy Hakone Free Pass 2-day |
| Time | Place and transportation |
|---|---|
| 09:00 | Tokyo station |
| The limited express Odoriko 3 | |
| 10:02 | Odawara station Buy Hakone Free Pass 2-day |
| Time | Place and transporation |
|---|---|
| 10:33 | Odawara station |
| (Hakone Tozan Railway) | |
| 10:50 / 11:09 | Hakone-Yumoto station |
| (Hakone Tozan Railway) | |
| 11:47 | Chokoku no Mori station |
| Visit Hakone Open Air Museum | |
| 12:46 | Chokoku no Mori station |
| (Hakone Tozan Railway) | |
| 12:49 / 12:54 | Gora station |
| (Hakone Cable Car) | |
| 13:04 | Sounzan station |
| Lunch time | |
| 14:20 | Sounzan station |
| (Hakone Ropeway) | |
| 14:30 | Owakudani station |
| 1 hour walking | |
| 15:35 | Owakudani station |
| (Hakone Ropeway) | |
| 15:50 / 16:10 | Togendai station |
| (Hakone Pirates Ship Cruise on Lake Ashi) | |
| 16:35 | Motohakone station |
| visit Hakone shrine | |
| 17:25 | Motohakone bus stop |
| (Tokai Bus) | |
| 18:18 / 18:27 | Mishima station |
| JR Tokaido line local train | |
| 18:43 | Atami station |
Highlight
Hakone Open Air Museum
(C)leon&mae / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
There are many museums and galleries in Hakone. Hakone Open Air Museum is located on the way to Gora and a few steps away from Chokoku no Mori station. It is very accesible and a nice place to enjoy mountain fresh air at the first visiting place in Hakone.
Owakudani
You will see the gorgeous view of Mt. Fuji from Hakone Ropeway when the weather is good.
Owakudani is one of “Must-See” spots in Hakone. This is an active volcanic area. You can see lots of steam and bubbling hot springs along a short trail. A black boiled egg is very famous in Owakudani. It is cooked in this hot spring water Just try to eat it.
Hakone Pirates Ship (Lake Ashi cruise)
Big pirates ships run on the Lake Ashi. It runs between Togendai, Motohakone and Hakonemachi. You will enjoy about 30 minutes cruise from Togendai to Motohakone.
Hakone Shrine
The red Torii gate in the lake is one of the best spots to take a photo. This shrine was build more than 1,300 years ago. Many soldiers visited this shrine to pray for a win.
Day 2, Atami – Jogasaki Kaigan – Kawazu – Shimoda – Kawazu – Tokyo
You will visit a few places in the Izu peninsula.
Itinerary
For JR Pass user
For other than JR Pass user
| Time | Place and transporation |
|---|---|
| 07:56 | Atami station |
| JR Ueno-Tokyo line local train | |
| 08:19 08:50 | Ito station Buy 1-day Izukyu-Mankitsu Free Kippu |
| Izukyu Railway Resort 21 |
| Time | Place and transportation |
|---|---|
| 08:26 | Atami station |
| Izukyu Railway Resort 21 |
| Time | Place and transporation |
|---|---|
| 09:06 | Jogasaki-Kaigan station |
| Visit Jogasaki coast | |
| 10:23 | Jogasaki-Kaigan station |
| (Izukyu Railway local train) | |
| 10:55 | Kawazu station |
| Visit Kawazu cherry blossom festival | |
| 12:30 | Kawazu station |
| (The limited express Odoriko 7) | |
| 12:41 | Izukyu-Shimoda station |
| Visit the town of Shimoda and lunch time | |
| 18:01 | Izukyu-Shimoda station |
| (Izukyu Railway local train) | |
| 18:19 | Kawazu station |
| Visit Kawazu cherry blossom festival evening light-up | |
| 19:17 | Kawazu station |
| (Izukyu Railway local train) | |
| 20:04 | Ito station |
For JR Pass user
For other than JR Pass user
| Time | Place and transporation |
|---|---|
| 20:05 | Ito station |
| JR Ueno-Tokyo line local train | |
| 20:30 20:35 | Atami station |
| The Tokaido Shinkansen Kodama 713 | |
| 21:18 | Tokyo station |
| Time | Place and transportation |
|---|---|
| 20:05 | Ito station |
| JR Ueno-Tokyo line local train | |
| 22:19 | Tokyo station |
Highlight
Jogasaki Kaigan (Jogasaki coast)
There are many places to see the ocean in the Izu peninsula. Jogasaki coast offers one of the best coastline scenery. There is a suspension bridge between cliffs.
You can get to the suspension bridge in 20 to 30 minutes on foot from Jogasaki Kaigan station. Otherwise catch a bus to get there in 10 minutes.
Kawazu
Kawazu is known as the place to see an early cherry blossom. It starts to bloom in mid February that is more than one month earlier than an ordinary cherry blossom.
In this trip plan, you will visit Kawazu twice, daytime and evening. Kawazu hold a cherry blossom festival from mid February to early March. In this period, there are many food stands and shops throughout the town. And also a light up event is held from 18:00 to 21:00. You can enjoy two different sceneries in this trip plan.
But if it is too much and tiring for you, you can skip the evening part and go back to Tokyo earlier.
Shimoda
It is located at the south end of the Izu peninsula. Shimoda has several nice beaches and many seafood restaurant. “Kinmedai” (golden eye red snapper) is very popular fish in Shimoda. If you like a seafood, you should try this yummy fish.
If you have a time, you can go up to the top of Nesugata mountain by Izukyu Shimoda Ropeway. The ropeway station is located in front of Izukyu-Shimoda station.
Travel cost
Most JR train trips are covered by JR Pass and JR East Pass Nagano Niigata, JR East Pass Tohoku, JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass and Tokyo Wide Pass. And you have to add Hakone Free Pass 2-day. There is no 1-day Hakone Free Pass.
Izukyu Railway is not covered by JR Pass. 1-day Izukyu-Mankitsu Free Kippu must be purchased at Ito station on the day of travel. This is sold at Ito station and valid on the day of purchasing.
| Trip | Cost for JR Pass user | Cost for JR East Pass user |
|---|---|---|
| The Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Odawara | Covered | – |
| The limited express Odoriko 3 from Tokyo to Odawara | – | Covered |
| Hakone Free Pass 2-day for Hakone Tozan Railway from Odawara to Gora via Hakone-Yumoto and Chokoku no Mori Hakone Cable Car from Gora to Sounzan Hakone Ropeway from Sounzan to Togendai via Owakudani Lake Ashi Pirates Ship Cruise from Togendai to Motohakone Tokai Bus from Motohakone to Mishima | 4,600 yen | 4,600 yen |
| JR Tokaido line from Mishima to Atami | Covered | 330 yen |
| JR Ueno-Tokyo line from Atami to Ito | Covered | – |
| Izukyu Railway Resort 21 from Atami to Jogasaki-Kaigan | – | Covered |
| 1-day Izukyu-Mankitsu Free Kippu for Travel from Ito to Jogasaki-Kaigan Travel from Jogasaki-Kaigan to Kawazu Travel from Kawazu to Izukyu-Shimoda Travel from Izukyu-Shimoda to Kawazu Travel from Kawazu to Ito | 1,900 yen | Covered |
| JR Ueno-Tokyo line from Ito to Tokyo | – | Covered |
| JR Ueno-Tokyo line from Ito to Atami | Covered | – |
| The Tokaido Shinkansen from Atami to Tokyo | Covered | – |
| Total cost | 6,500 yen | 4,930 yen |
Summary
I focused on the Kawazu cherry blossom festival in February and March. But you can use this trip plan in any seasons as long as you are interested in Izu and Hakone.
You may download this itinerary in Excel file (.xlsx file) and customize it. Please download it at the link below:
You can add one more overnight in Atami or Hakone. The trip will be much easier.
I hope you can enjoy this trip.
