Audio walking guides in Hakone
Photo: Quercus acuta · CC BY-SA 4.0
These are self-guided audio walks around Hakone. You pick a route, put one earbud in, and the guide talks you through it stop by stop — what you are looking at, and why it is there. There is no group to keep up with and no meeting time. 10 walks covering Hakone, Hakone's Other Valley, Seventeen Springs, Odawara, Atami, Over the Pass, Shimoda, Manazuru and more, 331 minutes of narration in total.
Start your free guideA free account is needed before a guide plays. Hear a minute first if you would rather try it than sign up for it.
Every walk in Hakone
Hakone: The Checkpoint, the Lake and the Volcano
Welcome to Hakone. You are standing at the mouth of a valley, on a river, at the point where the Kantō plain gives up and the mountains begin.…
Hakone's Other Valley: Sculpture, Monet and the Orient Express
Before we look at anything, the obvious question: why is there this much art up a mountain? Because within a few kilometres of where you are standing there…
The Lake, the Shrine and the Dragon: Hakone's Sacred Water
Stand on the pier with the water in front of you and the mountains closing in on both sides, and the first thing to understand is that none…
Seventeen Springs: Hakone's Hot Water and How to Sleep In It
Everybody arrives here, and almost everybody gets straight back on a train. This is the bottom of the mountain, the end of the line from Tokyo, and the…
Odawara: The City Inside a Wall, and the Siege That Ended an Era
Most people pass through Odawara without stopping. It is the station where you change for Hakone, and the Hakone guides in this app all begin by getting you…
Atami: The Resort That Died and Came Back
Turn round from the water and look at the town, because the shape of it explains everything. There is almost no flat land. A narrow strip of shore,…
Over the Pass: Mishima, Numazu and the Water That Comes Out of Fuji
Turn round and look back the way the train came. That wall of green going up behind the station is the Hakone massif, and you have just come…
Shimoda: Where Japan Actually Opened, and the Consul Nobody Wanted
Look at where you are. A small deep bay, hills coming down close on both sides, a fishing harbour, and behind the town a wall of mountains with…
Manazuru: A Forest Planted to Catch Fish, and a Town That Wrote Sixty-Nine Rules to Save Itself
Stop under the big trees and look up. Camphor, evergreen oak, pine, cedar, some of them very large, in a dense stand running out along a narrow headland…
Izu Ōshima: Three Million Camellias, a Desert, and the Night the Whole Island Left
Look at the address on any official sign here. It says Tokyo. This island is around a hundred kilometres out into the Pacific from the capital, it is…
Questions about walking Hakone
What is the best self-guided walking tour in Hakone?
It depends how long you have. Hakone: The Checkpoint, the Lake and the Volcano (30 minutes, 6 stops) starts at Hakone-Yumoto station forecourt and is the one most people begin with. Hakone's Other Valley: Sculpture, Monet and the Orient Express covers a different part of the city in about 27 minutes. All 10 walks in Hakone are listed on this page with their length and starting point.
Do I need to book a walking tour in Hakone?
No. Every wanderaudio walk is self-guided, so there is nothing to book and no departure time. You start whenever you arrive, and you can stop halfway and pick it up the next day.
How much do the Hakone audio guides cost?
Your first guide is free. You make a free account before it plays, with an email address or a Google login, and no card. After that a single guide is $4.99, a 30-guide pass, spendable on any guides in any cities, is $29.99, and every guide in Japan is $59.99. It is a one-off payment, not a subscription.
Are these tours in English?
Yes, all 10 Hakone walks are narrated in English. Other languages are not available yet.
Can I do these walks alone?
Yes — that is what they are built for. There is no group and no guide waiting for you, so walking alone works exactly the same as walking with someone. You choose the pace and the order.