Originally Posted by
lsk4jmi
Does anyone ever make the trip in the opposite direction from Kyoto to Hakone then on to Tokyo?
I am taking the train from Tokyo to Takayama for the festival so there is no time for Hakone on the front end of my trip. From Takayama I go to Kyoto for 5 days and this cannot be changed. I am wondering if it is feasable (or makes sense) to take the train to Hakone on the way back to Tokyo. It would be just for one day.
I have done this a few years back. It is absolutely feasible. Do note that the direct Hikari train that stops at Odawara runs every other hour. For example, if you miss the 8:29 Hikari 512, the next one is the 10:29 Hikari 516. The helpful clerk at the green windows will try to put you on the direct train when you're reserving seats.
If you just missed the direct Hikari, you can either wait or get creative with the routing. In the above example, if you just missed 8:29 Hikari 512, you can take the 8:56 Hikari 460 arriving Atami at 11:01 and change to the 11:58 Kodama 642 and arrive at Odawara at 11:58, 25 minutes before Hikari 516's arrival time of 12:36.
The Nozomi option is either the 8:32 Nozomi 216 (except Sundays or Holidays) or the 8:43 Nozomi 114 to Nagoya and change to the 9:28 Kodama 640 arriving at Odawara at 11:42.
Once you get to Odawara Station, the counter that sells Hakone Free Pass is very obvious in the concourse, should you choose to buy it.
The points already discussed in this thread also applies to Hakone to Tokyo trip, just in reverse direction.