The Museum of the Little Prince in Hakone

My blogger friend Ashley and I decided to check out The Museum of the Little Prince in Hakone.   I admittedly had never read the famous book by Saint-Exupery but I still really enjoyed my visit.  Hakone is famous for its scenery and this museum is located among the mountains.  What I liked the most is that the museum experience is not limited to an indoor exhibition.  The grounds were made to look like it's in France.  There are many gardens too but because we went during the winter, nothing was in bloom.  I think it would be better to visit in the spring or summer for that reason.

The indoor exhibition was also really informative.  Everything was written in Japanese, but there were books with translations and corresponding numbers that you could pick up and carry with you throughout the exhibit.

We got a little booklet with our admission that had little images to place stamps from various locations within the museum.  So cute!

Ashley!

The restaurant was also super cute.  It was themed but in a less obvious and in your face kind of way.  The food was really good too.  I recommend trying the restaurant during your visit.  Here is a link to Ashley's post about the restaurant!

Overall, I recommend visiting this museum if you have a chance.  It's a little out of the way from the main tourist attractions in Japan, but if you plan to spend time in Hakone and are a fan of this book, I think the trip here is worth it.

☆ Access ☆

The bus fare to this museum from Hakone-Yumoto Station is a bit expensive (~900 JPY) but there is no other way to access the museum without a car.  Check out the official website here.