Ninety minutes from Tokyo, Hakone is Japan's classic onsen retreat: forested mountains, a lake with torii gates at the waterline and — on clear days — Mount Fuji presiding over everything. Book a ryokan with a private open-air bath, since most public onsen separate the sexes, and surrender to the rhythm of soaking, kaiseki dinners and yukata-clad idleness. November brings autumn colour and the sharpest Fuji views.
Featured in Ten spa and hot-spring escapes to switch off together · Romantic
