Hakone is where Tokyo goes to get away from itself. The mountain resort sits in the caldera of an old volcano southwest of the capital, about an hour and a half by road without traffic, with Lake Ashi in the middle and Fuji looming to the northwest on a good day. Odawara, on the coast below, is the practical town, with its castle and its fish markets, while the hot-spring villages scattered through the hills have catered to travellers for centuries. The old Tokaido highway crossed these mountains, and you can still walk stretches of its stone-paved surface and see a reconstructed checkpoint beside the lake, where officials of the Tokugawa shogunate once inspected every traveller's papers.
On a bike, the draw is the mountain road. The Hakone Turnpike climbs from the coast in a long run of bends, open and smooth, with good visibility and a toll that keeps heavy trucks away. The Skyline and the roads around the crater rim offer views over the lake and the Pacific. Expect weekend crowds of cars and motorcycles, especially on fine autumn days, and be careful in fog, which rolls into the caldera quickly and can drop the temperature several degrees. Winter mornings can bring ice on the higher sections.
Landscape matters here as much as the road. Owakudani, the steaming valley of sulphur vents above the lake, is the remains of a violent eruption roughly three thousand years ago, and the smell of rotten eggs drifts across the road. Locals boil eggs in the hot pools there until the shells turn black, and tell you each one adds seven years to your life. The pampas grass fields of Sengokuhara turn silver in autumn, and the cedar avenue along the old highway is cool and dark even in midsummer.
Fuel is straightforward, with stations in Odawara and along the main road up the valley, but the mountain sections have fewer, so fill at the bottom. Konbini stores at the lakeside and along the turnpike sell hot drinks and snacks. A cup of coffee at a mountain cafe, with the lake and the trees outside, is a decent reward after the climb.
Come on a weekday if you can, and early. By midday the lake road is slow, and by evening the mist often comes back down.