Hikone Castle and Lake Biwa

Is the Hikone Station on the JR line from Kyoto? If I take the Shinkasen from Kyoto, what is the train station that I should get off? Is lake Biwa within walking distance?

The 1st stop from Kyoto by Shinkansen is Maibara station. Hikone station is 1 stop back in the direction for Kyoto by conventional JR Line(JR Biwako Line).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biwako_Line

It takes about 15 minutes from Hikone sta. to the castle and maybe another 20 min to Lake Biwa. You can rent a bike close to the station. That will make your traveling much faster.

You have a couple options of getting to Hikone station. You can take a special rapid train from Kyoto to Hikone which takes about 45 minutes or you can take a kodoma or hikari shinkansen to Maibara and then take a train back one stop on the local line which takes about 35 minutes (assuming a several minute wait to transfer from shink to local train).


It's a straight walk from the station to the castle and while it takes about 15 minutes like someone else said, it's normally a pleasant enough walk.

If you like castles/want to see the lake, another nice area is Nagamahama, though that castle is a reconstruction.