Odawara

1 Odawara Station Tourist Information (小田原駅観光案内所), Sakaecho 1-1-5 (in Odawara Station.), ☏ +81 465-22-2339. Daily 09:00-17:00. Sightseeing information is available here. Don't expect much English to be spoken. (updated Mar 2023)

Odawara-Guide is an English guide site by the local tourism association.

The city's official site has a modest multi-lingual section on tourism.

By plane:

Narita Airport: the fastest way to get to Odawara - especially useful if you have a valid Japan Rail Pass - is the JR Narita Express to Shinagawa station, then walk on over to the Shinkansen platforms and take the next Kodama (こだま) all-stations service two stops to Odawara. This takes 1 hour, 45 minutes and the journey is fully covered by the pass. Without a rail pass, the journey costs ¥6,280 with an additional surcharge if you used reserved seating on the Kodama.

The alternative by train is to transfer to a local JR Tokaido Line train at Shinagawa, which brings the fare down to ¥4600 and increases the journey time to 2½ hours.

Haneda Airport: take the Keikyu Railway to Yokohama and transfer to the JR Tokaido Line for Odawara (about 90 minutes, ¥1,420).

If you have a reservation at a ryokan in or around Odawara, unless your plane lands in the morning, it is recommended that you spend your first evening in Tokyo or Yokohama, or else you might miss out on (and be charged for) dinner at the ryokan, or worse, you may be locked out of (and be charged for) your room at the ryokan's curfew time, if there is one.

The Mount Fuji-Shizuoka Airport in Shizuoka serves a few international flights from other points in Asia. Bus service to Shizuoka station takes 55 minutes and costs ¥1000; from here, Kodama bullet trains run to Odawara in 45-50 minutes (¥3,300 unreserved seat).

By train:

1 Odawara Station (小田原駅), Shiroyama 1-1-1. (updated Mar 2023)

By JR:

Odawara is a major transit hub for several rail lines: It is a stop on the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train line and the regular JR Tokaido Line local services. The private Odakyu railway operates trains from here to Shinjuku, while trains on the Hakone Tozan Line run up to the hot springs gateway of Hakone-Yumoto. Finally, the Izu-Hakone railway offers access to the Buddhist temple at Daiyuzan.