Updated October 2026
Hakone Free Pass (2026):
Prices, What It Covers & Is It Worth It?
One ticket for eight modes of transport around the Hakone loop — and two things it does not cover, one of which is the train most visitors want to take.
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2-day, from Shinjuku
¥7,100
2-day, from Odawara
¥6,000
1-day version?
Does not exist
Romancecar
+¥1,200, not included
The Hakone Free Pass — Odakyu spells it Freepass — costs ¥7,100 for an adult for 2 days from Shinjuku and ¥6,000 for 2 days from Odawara, with 3-day versions at ¥7,500 and ¥6,400. It buys unlimited rides on eight modes of transport around the Hakone loop — the Odakyu Line, the Hakone Tozan mountain train, the cable car, the Owakudani ropeway, the Lake Ashi pirate-ship cruise and three bus operators — and there is no 1-day version. The Limited Express Romancecar is not included: that is ¥1,200 extra for an adult on top of the pass, Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto, about 80 minutes direct. Prices read off odakyu-global.com on 25 October 2026.
What Is the Hakone Free Pass?
Hakone is not one attraction but a circuit. The classic route climbs out of Hakone-Yumoto on a switchback mountain railway, changes to a funicular, crosses the Owakudani volcanic valley by ropeway, sails Lake Ashi on a replica pirate ship and comes back by bus — five operators in one afternoon. Buying that leg by leg is both expensive and fiddly, which is the problem the Hakone Free Pass exists to solve: one ticket, unlimited rides, eight modes of transport.
It comes in two shapes. The Shinjuku version includes the Odakyu Line out of Tokyo and back; the Odawara version covers Hakone only and costs ¥1,100 less, which is the right buy if you arrive by shinkansen or are already staying in the area. Both are sold as 2-day or 3-day tickets — Odakyu publishes no 1-day Hakone Free Pass, so a day trip means buying a day of validity you will not use. If you want Hakone in a single day without that, the alternative is a guided coach tour, which our Hakone day trip guide compares against the pass in detail.
How Much Is the Hakone Free Pass?
| Pass | Adult | Child |
|---|---|---|
| 2-day, from Shinjuku | ¥7,100 | ¥1,600 |
| 3-day, from Shinjuku | ¥7,500 | ¥1,850 |
| 2-day, from Odawara (Hakone area only) | ¥6,000 | ¥1,500 |
| 3-day, from Odawara (Hakone area only) | ¥6,400 | ¥1,750 |
| Romancecar surcharge, Shinjuku → Hakone-Yumoto (not included) | ¥1,200 | ¥600 |
Prices read off Odakyu's own site, odakyu-global.com, on 25 October 2026. Two things stand out. The third day costs only ¥400 more than the second at either start point, so if there is any chance of staying on, take the 3-day. And the Odawara version is ¥1,100 cheaper because it drops the Shinjuku–Odawara leg — buy it if a shinkansen, not the Odakyu Line, is bringing you in. Every figure on this page sits alongside the other passes we have checked in our Japan attraction ticket prices table, which carries the check date for each one.
What Does the Hakone Free Pass Cover?
Odakyu counts eight modes of transport. The useful way to read the list is as the loop itself: rows two to six are the circuit, in the order you ride them.
| Transport | On the pass? | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Odakyu Line (Shinjuku ⇄ Odawara ⇄ Hakone-Yumoto) | ✓ Unlimited rides | On the Shinjuku version only. The Odawara pass starts at Odawara and leaves you to reach it yourself. |
| Hakone Tozan Train (Hakone-Yumoto ⇄ Gora) | ✓ Unlimited rides | The switchback mountain railway — the first leg of the loop from Hakone-Yumoto. |
| Hakone Tozan Cable Car (Gora ⇄ Sounzan) | ✓ Unlimited rides | A funicular, not a ropeway: it climbs the ridge from Gora to the ropeway's lower station. |
| Hakone Ropeway (Sounzan ⇄ Owakudani ⇄ Togendai) | ✓ Unlimited rides | The Owakudani volcanic valley leg, and the most expensive single ride on the loop. |
| Hakone Sightseeing Cruise (Lake Ashi pirate ships) | ✓ Unlimited rides | Togendai to Hakone-machi-ko or Moto-Hakone-ko across Lake Ashi. |
| Hakone Tozan Bus (designated areas) | ✓ Unlimited rides | How you close the loop back to Hakone-Yumoto or Odawara without retracing the whole route. |
| Odakyu Highway Bus | ✓ Unlimited rides | Within the designated Hakone sections — one of the eight modes Odakyu lists. |
| Tokai Bus (designated areas) | ✓ Unlimited rides | The eighth mode, covering the designated sections on the far side of the lake. |
| Limited Express Romancecar | ✗ Not included | A separate reserved-seat charge: ¥1,200 adult, ¥600 child, Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto. |
| Shinkansen to Odawara | ✗ Not included | Odawara is a shinkansen stop, but the pass is an Odakyu product — buy the Odawara version if you arrive that way. |
Coverage list read off odakyu-global.com on 25 October 2026. The pass also carries discounts at facilities around the loop — museums, ropeway-side attractions and hot-spring baths — which we do not price here because the participating list and the discount both change.
Does the Loop Cost More Than the Pass?
Short answer: yes, if you ride all of it. Below are the loop fares we could read off the operators' own sites. The legs whose fare tables we could not read on an official page are deliberately missing rather than estimated, which means the total below is a floor, not the real cost of doing the loop piecemeal.
| Leg | Adult | Child | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hakone Ropeway, Sounzan ⇄ Togendai (full route) | ¥2,000 one way / ¥3,000 return | ¥700 one way / ¥1,000 return | hakonenavi.jp fare notice, in force since 1 October 2025 |
| Hakone Sightseeing Cruise, Togendai ⇄ Hakone-machi / Moto-Hakone | ¥1,200 one way (+¥600 special cabin) | ¥600 one way (+¥300 special cabin) | hakonenavi.jp |
| Romancecar surcharge, Shinjuku → Hakone-Yumoto | ¥1,200 (not covered by the pass) | ¥600 (not covered by the pass) | odakyu-global.com |
The ropeway and the cruise alone are ¥3,200 one way for an adult, before the mountain train, the cable car, the closing bus or either Odakyu Line leg out of Tokyo. Odakyu publishes its own version of this sum: the Hakone route from Shinjuku at ¥9,200 using JR against ¥7,100 using Odakyu with the 2-day pass — a ¥2,100 saving for an adult. Fares checked 25 October 2026.
Is the Hakone Free Pass Worth It for Your Trip?
| Your plan | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Two days in Hakone, one night in an onsen inn | ✓ Buy the 2-day pass | The pass is priced for exactly this. ¥7,100 from Shinjuku covers the trains out and back plus every leg of the loop, and Odakyu's own published comparison puts the same Hakone route at ¥9,200 via JR against ¥7,100 via Odakyu with the pass — ¥2,100 saved for an adult. |
| Arriving by shinkansen at Odawara, or already staying in Hakone | ✓ Buy the Odawara version | ¥6,000 instead of ¥7,100, because it drops the Odakyu Line leg from Shinjuku you are not going to use. Same eight modes inside Hakone. |
| A single day trip from Tokyo, back the same night | ~ Only if you ride the whole loop | There is no 1-day version, so you pay for a second day you will not use. The full loop is still worth more than the pass price — the ropeway alone is ¥2,000 and the lake cruise ¥1,200 — but if you are only going as far as Hakone-Yumoto for an onsen and lunch, buy singles. |
| One or two stops only — Hakone-Yumoto, or just Owakudani | ✗ Skip it | Two short legs do not come close to the pass price, and the second day of validity is dead money. Pay per ride, or take a guided coach day tour where the whole day is priced as one ticket. |
| You want the loop done for you, with no timetables | ✗ Take a day tour instead | A guided coach covers Owakudani, Lake Ashi and Hakone Shrine on a fixed departure and gets you back to Tokyo the same evening, which is a different purchase from a transport pass. It is also the only version that works if you have one day and no appetite for five changes. |
Whichever row you landed on, the booking is the same two choices. The pass is a digital voucher with an English checkout — worth knowing if the Japanese retail pages reject a foreign card — and the guided loop is a fixed departure with a seat, which is the version that fits a single day. Check the cancellation terms and the departure date on the listing before you commit; a pass has a validity window and a coach has a timetable, and neither waits for a late flight.
How to Choose and Buy the Pass
Decide where your pass should start — Shinjuku or Odawara
This is the only decision that changes the price by more than ¥400. From Shinjuku the 2-day pass is ¥7,100 and includes the Odakyu Line out and back; from Odawara it is ¥6,000 and covers Hakone only. Buy the Odawara version if you are arriving by shinkansen, coming from Kyoto or Osaka, or already sleeping in Hakone. Prices checked 25 October 2026.
Pick 2-day or 3-day — there is no 1-day pass
The third day costs ¥400 from Shinjuku (¥7,100 to ¥7,500) and ¥400 from Odawara, which makes it the cheapest extension on this page. There is no 1-day Hakone Free Pass at all, so a day trip means buying two days of validity.
Add the Romancecar seat if you are doing Hakone in a day
The pass covers the Odakyu Line but not the Limited Express Romancecar, which is ¥1,200 extra for an adult and ¥600 for a child from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto — about 80 minutes, all seats reserved. Buying the limited express ticket through Odakyu's EMot Online Tickets is ¥50 cheaper than the station price.
Buy it before you are standing at a machine
Odakyu sells the pass through EMot Online Tickets, at Odakyu Line stations, at 7-Eleven (7-Ticket), at Odakyu Travel stores, at Hakone Tozan Railway ticket machines and at information centres around Hakone. Klook sells it as a digital voucher with an English checkout, which is the route that works if your card is issued abroad.
Watch the validity rule — it is calendar days, not 48 hours
Odakyu counts the date of purchase as day one regardless of the time you bought it, so a 2-day pass bought at 18:00 expires after the last service the following day. Buy it on the morning you travel, not the night before.
How Long Does Shinjuku to Hakone Take?
About 80 minutes direct from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto on the Limited Express Romancecar, per Odakyu — all seats reserved, and the ¥1,200 adult surcharge the pass does not include. The ordinary Odakyu Line services the pass covers in full take longer and usually mean a change at Odawara. On a two-day trip that difference barely matters; on a single day it decides whether you finish the loop before the last boat.
Hakone also pairs naturally with the Fuji Five Lakes, which is a separate pass and a separate region — our Mt. Fuji day trip guide covers the Mt. Fuji Pass and why it does not get you out of Tokyo. If Hakone is one night inside a longer route, both our 5-day Tokyo itinerary and the 14-day Japan itinerary show where the Hakone night sits.
Common Questions
1. How much is the Hakone Free Pass?
2. Is there a 1-day Hakone pass?
3. What does the Hakone Free Pass cover?
4. Is the Hakone Free Pass worth it?
5. Does the Hakone Free Pass include the Romancecar?
6. How long does it take from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto?
7. Where do you buy the Hakone Free Pass, and do you need to collect anything?
8. Shinjuku version or Odawara version — which should I buy?
9. Is 2 days of validity really 48 hours?
10. What happens if the ropeway or the cruise is not running?
Ride the whole Hakone loop on one ticket
Eight modes of transport, two or three days, and an English checkout that takes a foreign card. If you only have one day, the guided coach version of the same loop is the better buy.