Escaping the busy city life of Tokyo, my husband, our 4-year-old daughter, and I embarked on a five-day family road trip to Mount Fuji. As first-time van trippers, we were excited to explore the beautiful scenery and experience the local culture. Luckily, we managed to avoid the chaos of the Golden Week holiday crowds and enjoyed a peaceful journey throughout.

📍 HAKONE

Our first stop was the town of Hakone. Despite the rainy and cloudy weather, we were excited to explore the area and take in its natural beauty. Hakone is a small town located in the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, famous for its hot springs and views of Mount Fuji.

We started our visit with a stop at the famous torii gate on Lake Ashi. The torii gate is located in the middle of the lake, making it a popular spot for photos and sightseeing. While the torii gate was a nice attraction, it didn't make a huge impression on us. The area felt a bit too touristy and lacked the authentic feel we were looking for.

However, we did appreciate our walk through the misty forest in the rain. It felt like we were transported to Scotland for a brief moment again, surrounded by greenery and fog. Despite the weather, the mist added a mystical vibe to our experience.

Overall, we enjoyed our brief stop in Hakone, but felt that the town was mostly geared towards tourists. The highlight of our visit was the peaceful walk through the forest, and we were glad we got to experience it.

📍 The Hakone Open-Air Museum

After our brief stop at Lake Ashi, we continued our exploration of Hakone with a visit to the Hakone Open-Air Museum. We were pleasantly surprised by this unique attraction, which turned out to be a highlight of our day.

The Hakone Open-Air Museum is a large outdoor museum located in the mountains, showcasing contemporary art and sculpture from both Japanese and international artists. The museum was founded in 1969 and features over 120 sculptures and installations spread over 70,000 square meters of land. The unique concept of an open-air museum was developed by the museum's founder, Kikuchi Kan, who believed that art should be accessible to everyone.

We spent over two hours wandering through the museum's various exhibits and installations, including works by Picasso, Rodin, and Miro. We also enjoyed a coffee break at the museum's small van take-away coffee stand, which had a real percolator coffee maker, and as coffee amateurs, it is always a treat. It was a unique and enjoyable experience, sipping on coffee while taking in the beautiful artwork and mountain views.

The Hakone Open-Air Museum take-away coffee stand

The museum is designed to be a family-friendly attraction, with plenty of interactive exhibits and activities for children. We saw many families with young kids enjoying the museum's playground, art workshops, and other fun attractions.

The entrance fee for the museum is ¥1,600 per person, and parking costs an additional ¥500. We found the price to be reasonable for the experience we had, and would highly recommend a visit to the Hakone Open-Air Museum to anyone visiting the area.

📍 Yunosato Okada Onsen

After a long day of exploring Hakone, we were excited to try our first onsen experience at Yunosato Okada Onsen. As soon as we arrived, we were struck by the beauty of the building and the tranquil surroundings.

At first, our daughter was a bit hesitant to get in the hot spring, but after dipping her toe in the water, she was completely smitten. We ended up spending an entire hour soaking in the warm, healing waters, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and the beautiful views.

The water was truly amazing, and we could feel its therapeutic properties working their magic on our skin and bodies. It was a wonderful way to unwind and relax after a long day of sightseeing.

However, while we thoroughly enjoyed our onsen experience, we were a bit disappointed with the food at the on-site restaurant. We tried the cold soba, ramen, and tonkatsu, but found them to be overpriced and underwhelming compared to the amazing food we had sampled in Tokyo for half the price.

Yunosato Okada Onsen is definitely worth a visit for the onsen experience alone. The building and surroundings are stunning, and the water is truly something special. However, we recommend looking for local restaurants in the area for better food options at a more reasonable price.

The entrance fee for Yunosato Okada Onsen is ¥1,800 per adult and ¥1,200 per child (3 to 12 years old).

Overall, we felt that the price was a bit too expensive but considering the quality of the facilities and the experience, we definitely enjoyed this first traditional Japanese hot spring.

📍 First night in the van

As our day in Hakone drew to a close, we were faced with the task of finding a suitable spot for the night. Initially, we had attempted to sleep in the onsen's parking lot, but were met with the unfortunate realisation that the onsen closes quite late. Exhausted from the day's activities including a long drive from Tokyo, a walk through Hakone, and a visit to the open-air museum, we had been looking forward to a peaceful night's sleep. However, the constant movement of people passing by the van made it difficult for the three of us to fall asleep, so we hit the road once again.

well, remember, this is our first van trip… Naively hoping (me!) to happen magically upon a perfect spot to park for the night, we quickly learned that the size of our van presented a challenge. We had not anticipated its sheer size when booking online, and that we had to limit our search to areas accessible by the vehicle.

Our efforts to find a great and free spot in town were futile, so we drove for two hours until we found ourselves in the countryside !! Eventually, we stumbled upon an abandoned-looking parking spot in the middle of nowhere, with only the moon as our companion. lesson learned for the rest of the trip…

Exhausted, we dozed off as soon as we hit the bed !!