Lunch in Odawara or Hakone-Yumoto?

Hi folks,

I'm wondering:
1. Is it better to have lunch at Odawara Castle/Station or Hakone-Yumoto Station/area? We will be exploring Hakone area and coming from Tokyo. First stop will be Odawara Castle and by the time we will have finished exploring, it will be around lunch time.

2. Is spending 1-1.5 hours at Odawara Castle will be enough? Beside the castle, we read online that it's a popular sakura spot.

Cheers.

There are lots of restaurant near Odawara station (not so much near the castle), and their prices are more normal compared to the ones near Hakone Yumoto station. Hakone Yumoto area is a lot more touristy, and there is a slight premium for that (not too much). Since most Onsen ryokans serve breakfast and dinner, lunch time crowd is big in Hakone Yumoto. I did have a nice soba lunch in HY.

Regarding time at the castle, 1.5 hr is a better estimate, depending on how much/little you want to see. If you want to look at every floor and all exhibits, it may take more time. If you want to shave a little time, go straight to the top floor and expect a long line.

Lunch at Odawara Station area it is then. Thanks for the tips, Boxroot.

Sounds about right - 1 to 1.5 hours at the castle.

Another option for lunch is to get something from the food floor of the station building at Odawara and take it with you. Hakone-Yumoto seems to have reasonable lunch options (although a little limited IMO) and the prices are a bit higher. However, for a tourist spot it doesn't cater for the volume of people very well.

Welcome to Odawara.Here you will found thousands of restaurant.However My Favorite restaurant called Hakone akatsukian (箱根暁庵) & Bodaiju (菩提樹) & sutamina tarou (すたみな太郎). A lot of Japanese Love Burasseri furora ブラッセリフロラrestaurant Located in hilton odawara resort & spa.

Thank you for the recommendations, Ron. We'll keep those restaurant names handy =)