Guide · Passes

Hakone Free Pass: price, coverage and the cruise

The Hakone Free Pass bundles the boats on Lake Ashi with the ropeway, the mountain railway and the buses. Here is what it costs since the 2025 price change, what it leaves out and when it beats single tickets.

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Editorial team, hakonesightseeingcruise.comUpdated October 22, 2026read in 6 minutes40 sources

The matching tour Hakone: Train Pass with Unlimited Rides & Activity Discounts 4.2 (167 reviews) 2 days from$46per person Check availabilityToday's price on GetYourGuide

Quick answer

01From Shinjuku: 7,100 yen for adults, valid 2 days, Odakyu return included.¹
02From Odawara: 6,000 yen for adults for 2 days, Hakone area only.²
03The cruise: The normal cabin on Lake Ashi as often as you like.³
04Not included: The Romancecar surcharge and the Izu-Hakone Bus.⁴ ⁵
05Pays off when: You ride the loop: 8,322 yen in fares against 7,100 yen.⁶

What the pass covers

The Hakone Free Pass, written Hakone Freepass by Odakyu, lets you get on and off the transport of the Hakone area as often as you like during its validity: the Hakone Tozan Railway, the Hakone Tozan Cable Car, the Hakone Ropeway, the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise and buses in designated areas.⁷ Odakyu Hakone counts eight transport systems in all, with the Odakyu Highway Bus, the Tokai Bus and a sightseeing loop bus in their designated sections.⁸

For this site's subject, the line that matters is the cruise. With the pass, the normal cabin of the pirate ships can be used unlimited times while the pass is valid; only the special cabin costs extra on every trip.³ That makes it easy to sail from Togendai to Moto-Hakone, walk to the shrine, and take another boat on to Hakone-machi-ko without buying a new ticket each time.

Tickets bought with the Odakyu line include one return trip between your departure station and Odawara, and you may break that journey along the way.⁹ The pass also brings discounts on entrance fees at around 70 tourist spots, from museums to gardens.¹⁰

Using the pass

A day on the pass, step by step

Before you go

Buy it at a station

On sale a month ahead at Odakyu stations.¹¹
Morning

Odakyu line to Odawara

One return trip is included from your station.⁹
Midday

Railway, cable car, ropeway

Unlimited rides within the pass area.⁷
Afternoon

The boat across the lake

Normal cabin included, special cabin extra.³
Going home

Hand it in

The pass is collected at your last station.¹²

Prices from Shinjuku and Odawara

Prices rose on 1 October 2025. Since then the pass from Shinjuku costs 7,100 yen for adults for two days or 7,500 yen for three, and children pay 1,600 yen or 1,850 yen.¹ Before the change the same two-day pass from Shinjuku cost 6,100 yen.¹³ These are Odakyu's published prices, which we read on 22 October 2026.¹

The Hakone Free Pass price is lower if you start in Odawara: 6,000 yen for adults and 1,500 yen for children for two days, or 6,400 yen and 1,750 yen for three.² That version suits travelers arriving on the Tokaido Shinkansen, but note that it includes no ticket on the Odakyu line, so the trip from Tokyo is separate.¹⁴ Child fares apply from 6 to 11 years.¹⁵

There is no one-day version. The pass is sold for two or three days, which is why it pays off best when you stay a night or ride a lot in one day.¹⁶ On GetYourGuide the Hakone pass listing is a two-day train pass from $46; its voucher is exchanged at the Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center Shinjuku West.

Prices in yen

Adult prices of the Hakone and Fuji passes

yen

Odakyu's published adult prices since 1 October 2025, read on 22 October 2026; Owakudani pass from its lowest price.¹⁷ ¹⁸ ² ¹ ¹⁹

Price table

Freepass prices by starting station

Start and validity	Adult	Child
Shinjuku, 2 days	7,100 yen	1,600 yen
Shinjuku, 3 days	7,500 yen	1,850 yen
Odawara, 2 days	6,000 yen	1,500 yen
Odawara, 3 days	6,400 yen	1,750 yen

Odakyu's prices from 1 October 2025; the Shinjuku pass includes an Odakyu return to Odawara, the Odawara pass does not.¹ ² ¹⁴

The passes

Which pass covers the lake best

Most complete

Hakone Free Pass

2 or 3 days

Adult from: 6,000 yen
Cruise: Normal cabin, unlimited
Odakyu line: From Shinjuku version

Compare passes

For drivers

Cruise and Ropeway Pass

1 day

Adult: 5,000 yen
Covers: Ropeway and cruise
Child: 1,400 yen

Compare passes

Adds Mount Fuji

Fuji Hakone Pass

3 days

Adult: 11,100 yen
Adds: Fujikyu rail and bus
Child: 3,600 yen

Compare passes

Decision helper

Should you buy the pass?

Find the line that matches your Hakone plan

I ride the whole loop from Shinjuku I come by car for the lake and ropeway I join a coach day with the cruise I also want Mount Fuji I start from the Shinkansen at Odawara

Yes, the pass

8,322 yen in fares against 7,100 yen with the pass.⁶

The Cruise and Ropeway Pass

5,000 yen for adults for one day of unlimited ropeway and cruise.¹⁸

No pass needed

Tours like this site's include the ropeway and cruise tickets.

The Fuji and Hakone pass

3 days with Fujikyu rail and buses added.¹⁹ ²⁰

The Odawara version

6,000 yen for adults, no Odakyu ticket included.² ¹⁴

In addition, in the case services are suspended, a refund will be given at the last travel station. (However, only in the case the transport was not used.)

Odakyu Hakone (Hakone Navi)Source 21

Is the Hakone Free Pass worth it?

Odakyu Hakone has done the sum for its standard route, the circle it calls the golden course. Riding it from Shinjuku at regular fares with a prepaid IC card costs 8,322 yen in transport alone; with the pass the same route costs 7,100 yen for adults.⁶ Adding the Romancecar both ways raises both totals by the same seat charge, so the saving stays the same.⁶

That loop is exactly the day most cruise visitors plan: train up to Gora, cable car to Sounzan, ropeway over Owakudani to Togendai, then the boat across the lake.²² Once the ropeway and the boat are both on the list, the pass is usually ahead, and the discounts at around 70 sights are a bonus on top.¹⁰

It is not always the cheapest choice. If you drive to Hakone and want only the lake and the ropeway, the one-day Sightseeing Cruise and Ropeway Pass costs 5,000 yen for adults, and Odakyu's own example course with both comes to 6,000 yen at regular fares.¹⁸ ²³ If you join a coach tour that already includes the ropeway and the cruise, you do not need the pass at all for that day.

Checklist

Before you buy

Check

Two or three days, no one-day pass
Romancecar seat is extra
Not valid on the Izu-Hakone Bus

On the day

Keep the pass to the last station
Show it for sight discounts
Special cabin costs a little extra

Price calculator

The pass or a day tour?

Compare the pass with tours that include the boat

Hakone pass, 2 daysUnlimited ridesfrom $46 Ropeway e-ticketRopeway onlyfrom $13 Coach and bullet train dayCruise ticket includedfrom $153 Longer coach dayCruise in the itineraryfrom $128

People 2

Total from$91

per participant from $46

Check availability

Each total multiplies a listing's lowest GetYourGuide price by the number of travelers and converts it at today's ECB rate; the booking page shows the binding figure for your date.

Video

Hakone Freepass Guide: Plan the Perfect Hakone Trip

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A lake day on the pass

Here is how the pass plays out on a typical day built around the boats. Start on the Hakone Tozan Train from Hakone-Yumoto, the switchback railway that climbs to Gora, then take the cable car up to Sounzan.²⁴ ²⁵ At Sounzan the ropeway entrance is about 2 minutes on foot from the cable car, inside the same building.²⁶ None of these legs needs a ticket of its own once you hold the pass.

The ropeway carries you over Owakudani to Togendai, where the walk from the gondola to the ships is about 3 minutes.²⁷ On the lake you can sail to Moto-Hakone-ko for Hakone Shrine, walk the shore to Hakone-machi-ko, and ride the bus back to Hakone-Yumoto; the H Line takes about 40 minutes.²⁸ The same route with single tickets is the golden course whose fares Odakyu compares with the pass.⁶

The pass works just as well in reverse, starting at the lake and ending on the mountain railway, which lets you plan the day around an early boat or a late train down. Either way, keep an eye on the ropeway's closing time: 17:00 from February to November and 16:15 in December and January.²⁹

What it does not cover

The pass is generous but not total. The Limited Express Romancecar needs an extra fee on top of it.⁴ From Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto that reserved seat costs 1,200 yen more for adults one way, and Odakyu works out a full Shinjuku round trip with the Romancecar at 9,500 yen.³⁰ ³¹

The Izu-Hakone Bus cannot be used with the pass, which matters around Hakone-en and the Komagatake ropeway on the east shore, which the Izu-Hakone buses serve.⁵ ³² Within the pass area the buses count only in their designated sections, so check a route before you rely on it.⁷

The special cabin on the ships is also extra. Freepass holders pay a discounted price for it rather than the full surcharge, and on the Victory that means 100 yen off for adults and 50 yen off for children.³³ ³⁴

Where to buy it and how it works

The pass goes on sale one month before departure at all Odakyu line stations between Shinjuku and Odawara.¹¹ In Hakone it is sold at major stations, among them Hakone-Yumoto, Gora and Sounzan, and at the bus information centers by the lake, including Moto-Hakone and Hakone-machi.³⁵ ³⁶ ³⁷

Keep the receipt or the digital ticket safe all day: the pass is collected at the last station of your trip, so keep it until you are back on the Odakyu line.¹²

If weather suspends a service you have not used, Odakyu refunds that portion at the last travel station.²¹ The GetYourGuide listing states the same: the voucher itself is non-refundable, but suspended portions can be refunded at the Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center.

Other passes for the lake

If Mount Fuji is also on your list, the Fuji Hakone Pass is the bigger sibling. It is valid for three days and costs 11,100 yen for adults and 3,600 yen for children, adding unlimited rides on the Fujikyu Railway and Fujikyu buses in designated areas around Mount Fuji.¹⁹ ²⁰

It does not cover everything on the Fuji side. The JR Chuo Line from Shinjuku to Otsuki and the Chuo Expressway highway bus from Shinjuku are not included and cost extra.³⁸ For a pure Hakone visit the cheaper pass is the better fit.

For a day built around Owakudani rather than the lake, Odakyu sells an Owakudani 2-Day Pass from 3,700 yen for adults, covering the Tozan Train, the cable car and the ropeway between Sounzan and Owakudani.¹⁷ And the ASHINOKO 2-Day Pass combines the Tozan bus with the cruise for visitors heading straight to Lake Ashi and Hakone Shrine.³⁹

Your Hakone day