Pretty early start to the day, we wanted to get out early so we could have a full day looking around Hakone before we do the bike tour on Sunday. We left Tokyo on the 7.04 Shinkansen. Knowing nothing in Japan opens much before 7am, our chances of getting coffee were slim, however we did find one place in the station. Coffee was pretty bad, too hot and burnt, but drank it anyway.
It took three trains to get to Gora, bullet train to Odawara which only takes 30 min then two local trains. At Odawara you purchase a “Hakone Free Pass” (¥5000) which lets you use almost all transport within Hakone and covers the trains up from Odawara.
There was a little bakery here, so grabbed an interesting looking thing. Turns out it was like lemon custard filled donut. Nicer than it sounds and looks.
The second train is really interesting, in parts it goes up an 8% incline, which for a train is super steep. It’s one of the steepest railways in the world. It has three “switch backs” along the route to deal with the mountains it climbs.
We were at the hotel by 9:30 so left our bags to go and explore around Hakone. The hotel is great, right next to the station for easy access to everything, really modern and has its own Onsen.
Lemon Pastry for Breakfast
Hakone-Yumoto station
Gōra Station and Hotel
Later in the evening when we returned the the hotel, they had a café open, so decided to try the coffee. Machine made and they charge ¥500 for it. Better than the breakfast coffee!
It's all about the coffee 