Hakone Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Akey

Title: What Is a Private Day Tour of Hakone Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Gora, Owakudani, and the Open-Air Museum

Body:

Before the tour even began, there were requests that were physically impossible to fulfill, and the coordination through a secretary was quite demanding. The plan was to arrive at a hotel near Koen-kami Station in Gora at 11:00 after departing from Tokyo. From there, the guests wished to take the cable car and ropeway, sightsee at Owakudani and have lunch at a restaurant, ride the ropeway again and then the pirate ship, visit Hakone Shrine, and afterward see both the Open-Air Museum and the Hakone Glass Forest Museum. This was a physically impossible itinerary. No matter how the schedule was adjusted, it could not be realized. I considered whether chartering a car might make it possible, but that would mean they could not ride the ropeway or the ship they wanted. What was feasible was to exclude Hakone Shrine, have lunch at a restaurant, spend about 50 minutes at the Open-Air Museum, and about 75 minutes at the Glass Forest Museum (arriving back in Gora at 18:07).

On the day itself, from the very start it turned out we would not make the mountain railway on time, so the hotel's car took us to Sounzan. We had only 29 minutes at Owakudani, but Mount Fuji was visible and the volcanic steam of Owakudani could be seen, so it worked out well. We used first-class seating on the pirate ship. As a guide, I was able to board free of charge by presenting the itinerary. We had a meal at a soba restaurant. The bus from Hakonemachi Port to the Kowakudani bus stop took 15 minutes longer than scheduled, so we could not catch the planned mountain railway and arrived at the Open-Air Museum 30 minutes late. Once inside, the entire group loved it very much, so they gave up on visiting the Glass Forest Museum and thoroughly enjoyed the Open-Air Museum until closing time. Everyone was delighted, saying it was a truly wonderful museum. One of the guests photographed the natural flow of water, the scenery, and the sculptures extensively with a single-lens camera. I called the hotel and arranged a car to meet us at the time of our arrival in Gora. The guests were visitors from North America who ran a company.

The coordination and agreement on destinations before the day, along with building the detailed itinerary for the day, were very demanding. In the end, the originally requested Hakone Shrine and Glass Forest Museum could not be visited, but with an 11:00 departure, it was an impossible request from the start. The secretary also asked me to explain how to get to Odawara to catch the Shinkansen to Kyoto the following day; although this is not a travel agency service, I created a detailed plan and sent it to them.

Click here for more details: Hakone Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide

Tour Report by Akey

Hello, new friends! I’m Akio Yasui. I was born in Kyoto City and graduated from Doshisha University in Kyoto and moved to Tokyo for working. I used to work for international companies as a marketing advertising specialist. I have been to fourty five different countries until now and been to all prefectures in Japan.
I have deep knowledge of both traditional and modern culture of Japan based on my experience in Kyoto, Tokyo and their surrounding areas such as Kamakura, Nikko, Nara, Osaka. I can design exclusive and the optinum itineray for you and guide you not only to ordinary tour courses but also casual or hidden locations. My task is making you enjoy Japan and like our culture and people. Let me guide you any where you want to visit and enjoy Japan together.