Gora Koen is a small English-style garden park located at the end of the Hakone Tozan Train Line. It contains a rose garden, greenhouse, traditional Japanese tea house, cafe, and crafthouse.
Views of the surrounding mountains is quite nice from the inside the park, but I didn't find the park itself to be that impressive.
The Cafe Pic is located right beside a central fountain. This is a really nice place to have lunch, or a dessert, when the weather is nice. Their lunch menu consists of just a couple of items, including a stew, rice pilaf with shrimp, and rice with curry. I recommend the herb tea and cake set (850 yen) or herb tea with cookie set (520 yen). You can choose from 5 different herb teas which come in an individual pot.
The main saving grace of the garden is the 'Crafthouse'. Visitors can participate in glass blowing, sand blasting, pottery, dry flower arranging,... There is also a small gallery space with exhibitions that change each month.
Honestly, unless you are visiting the Crafthouse, or you want to enjoy dessert outside away from the masses, skip Gora Koen. It really isn't worth paying 500 yen to see it.
Phone: 0460-82-2825
http://www.hakone-tozan.co.jp/gorapark/index.html (Japanese only)
The park is open from 9:00am - 5:00pm, last entry at 4:30pm.
Entrance fee: 500 yen, elementary school age and younger are free
*450 yen with a coupon off the website
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