Odakyu: Odawara ticket office hour?

I was thinking of doing the Hakone Round Course in a daytrip and planning to leave Tokyo early to beat the morning rush hour. Wanted to inquire as to what time does the Odakyu ticket office at Odawara station open to buy the Hakone Free Pass.

What time would it be advisable to leave Tokyo for Odawara (by JR rail) in order to beat the morning rush hour?

I don't remember the exact open time at Odawara but early enough. The purchase office is located on the way from JR side to Odakyu side. You can use a vending machine, too. You can buy at any Odakyu stations, Odakyu Travel Agent, JTB, etc. in Tokyo from one month ahead of the travel date. Make sure to pick up the Hakone timetable booklet(has English notes). Also, make sure to ask for attraction discounts by presenting, i.e. Open Museum, Sekisho(Old check point)Museum(free to enter w/ Pass), etc. as the Hakone Free Pass discount price is not posted.

The Hakone free pass can be bought at one month or the station.
The deluxe coach�hromace�@car�h is comfortable though the special express charge is necessary even if it doesn't avoid the rush hour.

As mentioned the pass can also be purchased at automatic vending machines.

Thanks for the replies. I have a have JR Rail Pass in effect during this period which I'll use to get from Ueno station (where my hotel is) to Odawara station. Then buy my Hakone Free Pass there to reduce the cost. Glad to hear that the free pass can be bought over ticket machines,

What will be a suitable time to depart Ueno/Tokyo station to avoid the morning rush to go to Hakone?

The peak rush hour period tends to be from around 8:00 to 9:00.

You have not mentioned this yet... but are you planning to take the Tokaido Shinkansen to Odawara? This is a very quick ride and I highly recommend it since your JR Pass will cover it. The first "Kodama" train, which stops at Odawara, leaves Tokyo Station at 6:33, getting to Odawara in roughly 35 minutes. The next train leaves at 6:56, and thereafter trains leave at 26 and 56 past the hour.

If you take the Yamanote or Keihin Tohoku Line south from Ueno to Tokyo at around 6 AM, you'll arrive with plenty of time to make the connection to the first Kodama.

I wish to propose an alternative that you could try, which I have done without fail in my last trip to Japan. You can do this at any time, and you have to walk a little more but in return you don't have to deal with the crowds on the commuter trains.

On my last trip I went from Ueno to Osaka, and had to leave right in the middle of rush hour. I had some luggage with me and was concerned about boarding the Yamanote Line given the hour. So what I did was walked all the way down to the Ueno bullet train platforms and stood in a non-reserved carriage from Ueno to Tokyo. Once in Tokyo there is a bullet train transfer gate that goes to the Tokaido Shinkansen. I wasn't stopped, and even if I was, the JR pass is indeed VALID on such a peculiar but efficient journey. If you try this then be sure to look up the timetables for the best connection and do not take a HAYATE or KOMACHI train from Ueno to Tokyo.

"but are you planning to take the Tokaido Shinkansen to Odawara?

Yes, since I have the JR Rail Pass. Might as well make it more worth it by taking the more expensive train option.

For a daytrip using the Hakone Round Course, what sights would one strongly recommend visiting during the course since there are so many options to choose from?

One of the sights that I would recommend is at Owakudani, the station where you change from one ropeway to the other. There is a nice restaurant on the station proper with a great view of the steaming mountains. After that you can head on over towards an area where you can eat some eggs that have been boiled in the sulfur, thereby turning the shells a dark color.

On the other side of Ashinoko, at the Moto-Hakone pier (NOT the Hakone-machi pier) there is a preserved section of the Tokaido Road that you can walk on, and the reconstructed Hakone Checkpoint. Back in the Edo days, travelers who were walking on the Tokaido between Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto would have to stop here to present travel permits to the authorities.

Morning rush hour tends to be people coming INTO Tokyo, since you are leaving out of Tokyo the crowds are not as bad on trains going out of Tokyo.