Shirakawago vs. Kanazawa

Kanazawa will be a stop-over between Nagano and Kyoto. I'll arrive there around midday and then I'll leave the morning after.
I tought to take the bus to Shirakawago after lunch (13:25), visit it in a couple of hour, return back to Kanazawa with the last bus at 17:30, then spend the evening in the Samurai and/or The-house districs (maybe using bicycle rental to move little bit faster).
I would like to know if this is feasible or if it is better to give up on Shirakawago and spend the whole afternoon-evening at Kanazawa.
Thanks to everyone who will help!

The side trip to Shirakawago is time-consuming and not inexpensive.

In the end, I think it mainly comes down to personal interest. Which are you more interested in? Shirakawago or Kanazawa? Is your higher interest in Shirakawago worth the additional effort?

What time of year? By 5.30pm it may be becoming dark in Kanazawa, and you won�ft see much.
Personally, both places require more time than you are allowing, so I would suggest getting to Kanazawa and spending your time there.
Kenrokuen is beautiful; and close to the Geisha area. I�fd start at the Samusrai area, then onto Kenrokuen, then the Geisha area, if thats all you want to see and do.
Enjoy!

I will be there at the end of April, so I supposed it would be still light in the late afternoon.
I know that both these places require more time to be fully appreciated but I can not reduce the number of days in Kyoto (which is the following stop). I can delay the departure the day after in the late morning but not more.
I raed a lot of travel journals of tourists, some of them say that Shirakawago needs no more than a couple of hours to be visited, other say that is absolutely necessary to stay overnight there to appreciate it truly. I'm "afraid" of spending 2,5 hours to go and come back from there to see just a little of the place... That is way I was wondering in giving up on Shirakawago (even if I'm truly curious to see this aspect of Japan) and spend more time in Kanazawa.

Checking again the HyperDia website I've just found out different trains from Nagano to Kanazawa compared to the first time that I check (in January, when I organized the trip). I don't know how it is possible... Now there are a lot of Shinkansen (Hakutaka and Kagayaki), while the first time it was shown only possibilities with 1 transfer in Naoetsu using JR Shinetsu and LTD. Exp. Hakutaka. Take time 65-87 minutes compared to 226 minutes!
If the results will not change again, I can tray to do both, maybe delaying the departure a little bit the day after. The only problem is that I have to reserve the seats on the bus to Shirakawago.. but if the timetable of the train will change again? (Probably now I'm offtopic..)
Thank you for your answers!

Hyperdia gets updated periodically. Also, now with the Hokuriku extension line, things are more or less confirmed.

Shirakawago for seeing and walking about takes an hour or two. If you want to experience village life then staying overnight at a farm house is an option. This is what posters mean by full experience. If you prefer the comforts of a hotel in a city like Kanazawa then by all means there is no need to stay in Shirakawahgo.

Just because it is not the full experience does not mean you wouldn't enjoy it.

Also, I think spending more time in Kanazawa is worth while. But if you are an enginerring/arhcitrecure buff and need your fix of grass buildings, go to Shirakawago.

It is your trip, no one can decide for you. I know people who take a three hour train journey twice in a day for a few hours in Hiroshima. It all depends on the person. There is no right or wrong.

Most of the tourist places in Kanazawa (Kenrokuen, samurai houses, Higashi Chaya etc) close early, around 4.30pm. After dark there's not much to do in Kanazawa city except for eating and shopping. You can still walk around the samurai district but that's about it. I spent 3 hours in Shirakawago when I went there, it was enough for me because it's a small village and I mainly wanted to walk around and see the houses/snow. Have you already booked your hotel in Kanazawa? If not, why not spend the afternoon in Kanazawa, get the latest bus to Shirakawago and stay there overnight in a ryokan?

p.s: Petz, I just noticed your post re: trains. The new Hokiriku shinkansen line from Nagano to Kanazawa opened just last weekend. So that's why there are more options now than when you first planned your trip, when there wasn't any shinkansen.

We spent a full day hiring a car and driving to Shirakawago seeing Ogimachi and Suganuma. My wife is very interested in architecture and enjoyed the full day but myself and our 5 year old would have been happy with just a 2 hour visit.

Kanazawa was a stop off for use from Takayama to Kyoto. We were suprised at how beautiful the city was and in a rushed half day saw kenrokuen (in the rain and it was beautiful), the Samurai district Higashi Chaya District using the bus pass. We would have loved more time to see the museums and castle.

if you go to Takayama there is the Hida Folk Museum that has grass roofed buildings but is not in as scenic a location as Ogimachi.

I would recommend staying in Kanazawa

Thanks to all of you for the many tips!
I think that I will tray to arrive early (8:00-9:00 a.m.) in Kanazawa and vist Higashi Chaya and Nagamachi (maybe using the rental bicyle service). After lunch I will take the bus (13:25) to Shirakawago, vist it in a couple of hours and return back to Kanazawa with the last bus (17:30). I'll spend the evening in a good restaurant and go to bed to get up early in the morning to visit Kenrokuen and the Castle, then leave around 11:00-12:00 a.m. to Kyoto to see the last show of Miyako Odori at 16:50. I know that it is a very tight schedule but I'll tray to do it... Otherwhise I'll change a little the plan direcly when I'll be there!
Thanks again everybody!

I don't know when it end, but during the cherry blossom, Kenrokuen is open from 6 am to the evening. And it is free.

If you can visit it from 6 in the morning, it is the best moment: few peoples, and a nice light.
In the evening, it is crowed, but with the illuminations it is also wonderful.
And you can also go to the nearby castle grounds.

If you want to go to a restaurant for the evening, I would recommend the 2nd floor of the market, several places serve excellent sashimi at reasonable price.

I was last year in Kanazawa for the second time, and used all of my 3 days there.