The 5 Best Gardens in Hakone-machi, Kanto

Reviewed By tohxinru - Singapore, Singapore

The Little Prince Museum exhibition hall is hidden inside the fake French shops, and judging by some reviews it looks like some visitors missed entering the exhibition hall. The exhibition describes Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's life and The Little Prince story, but the exhibition panels are almost entirely in Japanese. You can rent an audio guide in Japanese, English, or Mandarin for 200 yen. You can also borrow a free guide book in different languages. Photography is not allowed in the second floor of the exhibition hall, but it is laid out in an immersive and interesting manner. You can also visit little booths within the exhibition where you can chop on the brochure to complete the illustrations. The small gardens contain statues of illustrations from the book, such as the people on different planets whom The Little Prince met. The staff members were friendly and offered to take photographs of us in the gardens. The museum shop sells many The Little Prince merchandise such as magnets and mugs. The restaurant sells themed desserts (starting from 11am) and meals (starting from 11.30am) for 1000+ yen. For example, for 1300 yen without set / 1750 yen with set, you can have rice omelette in the shape of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. I spent 3 hours here including lunch. I recommend The Little Prince Museum for those who have read and enjoyed the The Little Prince or other books by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Minimally, one should have at least watched The Little Prince movie. If not, this museum will probably be meaningless to those who have no clue what The Little Prince is about. There are lockers in various sizes next to the entrance where you can stash your bags for free, though you can lock them for 100 yen if your bags contain valuables. If you only want to visit The Little Prince Museum, you can download the HIS Coupon app, in which you can download a 200 yen discount coupon for The Little Prince Museum. If you are visiting several museums, there are combination tickets for The Little Prince Museum and Pola Museum of Art (adult 2600 yen) / Lalique Museum Hakone (adult 2600 yen) / Hakone Venetian Glass Museum (adult 2400 yen) / Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands (adult 1900 yen), Hakone-En Aquarium (adult 2500 yen). The duration of the Odakyu Hakone Highway Bus ride from Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal to The Little Prince Museum is around 2h and costs 1900 yen. The duration of the Odakyu Hakone Highway Bus ride from Gotemba Station to The Little Prince Museum is around 25min and costs around 700 to 800 yen.