Odawara or Mishima for car rental

Hi,
We are going in ten days from Tokyo to hakone (one night in Gora), kawaguchiko (one night) and then to the Izu peninsula for two nights (not booked yet) before taking the train to Kyoto. At first, I planned to rent the car in Odawara but I wonder if it is not a better plan to do it in Mishima as it might be easier to drop the car off in Mishima from the Izu peninsula. However, I wonder it is not quieter as for trafic to do it in Odawara.
If you have any suggestions (as well as for the Izu peninsula) I am all ears

Probably either is fine.
If you are staying in Tokyo on the shinjuku side I would take Odakyu line to Odawara and rent the car there. But if you have to take Shinkansen anyway, then Odawara or Mishima sounds fine.

Thanks a lot for your answer. I'll go for Odawara. By the way, you mention the Odakyu line and the Shinkansen. Which one do you think is easier from Waseda station, we'll certainly depart from Tokyo around 11am. I have booked the car in Odawara at 1pm, I don't like to rush.

The main problem with Kawaguchiko is the number of train transfers which is a pain in the backside.

If you are going to Izu from Lake Kawaguchiko, then there seems to be a bus that goes between the two every hour and only takes 90 minutes compared to the 2.5 hours instead. This bus goes directly from Kawaguchiko station to Mishima.

In general, Odawara is a more major station than Mishima and will have more shinkansens stopping at it

Thank you Mfedley, but I am going to rent a car especially to avoid all these problems of transfer and buses. So, considering what Likebike told earlier, I have already booked the car in Odawara. Now my main concern is to choose between Odakyu line or Shinkansen to go to Odawara from waseda station.

Google maps tells me that both is possible. Shinkansen (as expected) is more expensive but a bit faster. Odakyu line if you take Romance car cheaper but needs 2 transfers to get from Waseda to Odawara while Shinkansen only needs one. But that one is a long walking one.

I�fd say both options are relatively similar. Romance car is the nicer train and the slightly nicer landscape. And you do get your Shinkansen experience later when traveling onwards from Odawara.

Grumble....

There is a direct bus between Kawaguchiko and Mishima. It takes 90 minutes and leaves every hour according to Google Maps

To get from Kawaguchiko to Odawara - there is no direct bus to the best of my knowledge. There is however multiple train/bus connections which is what you are trying to avoid. Some of the fastest connections includes the bus to Mishima and then a train from Mishima to Odawara.

I've visited all 3 locations.

@medfley, I am normally not for car but with Kawaguchiko I think a car is actually a good option to see a lot of other nice places around. Yes, maybe some of it is doable by public transport but it makes transport a lot more complicated and you can�ft go to the more secluded spots.

If they are driving to Kawaguchiko from Mishima or Odawara - that makes perfect sense. However - I thought they wanted to catch public transport from Kawaguchiko to one of those locations and THEN drive around Izu.

I personally like Kawaguchiko but find it a pain in the backside to visit via public transport.