Gujo Hachiman or Kiso Valley

Which of the above two small town environment do you prefer? I read Gujo is very rural and not touristy, but Kiso Valley towns provides a full day excursion which I like.

I have never been to Kiso Valley, so I can't comment about that location. I can tell you a little bit about Gujo Hachiman since I lived close by.

Gujo Hachiman isn't a huge tourist town, but there is a small central downtown area. In the town center you can find places where they make the fake food that are displayed in front of restaurants. You can take a class on how to make those kinds of things.
You also have Gujo Castle, but it's not an original. The best original castle in Chubu is probably Inuyama castle in Inuyama, Aichi. The best time to go to Gujo Hachiman is during the summer when it's obon season, when they perform traditional obon dances, which last all night long. A tradition that dates back 400 years.

Thanks, Mike. How's the the Sakura in Gujo? I plan to be there during the second week week of April.

Mel

See.
http://www.gujohachiman.com/kanko/index_e.html

I was in Gujo Hachiman in April 2010 - I stayed two nights and found it to be charming. I did the walks downloaded from the town website. Also the day I arrived there was a small festival with all sorts of goings on. I highly recommend a visit there. The Tourist office was very helpful explaining things as there is not too much English info or wasn't at that time...

Sorry, meant to say I did the walk from Magome to Tsumago the day before I went to Gujo Hachiman. That was very enjoyable as well. But I don't think there is that much to do in those two towns although Magome has a couple of small museums that I visited before the hike.