Takayama autumn festival 2024

This will be our first time on Japan, late 40 couple.

We land in Narita on 6 Oct afternoon and the Takayama festival starts on 09 Oct.
I prefer not to enter Tokoyo before the festival.

So my question is how would you plan the journey to the festival? What places we should visit? and what is the suggested route?

We only go to Tokyo on 12 Oct evening, so we wish to cover interesting places between the 6-12 OCT.

We love to drive, so we can rent a car where needed.

Thanks