Kiso Valley, Nikko or Hakone?

Hello
We are traveling to Japan on 11 April and have booked accommodation for the first half of our holiday, this is listed below:-

11-Apr-08 Travel
12-Apr-08 Tokyo
13-Apr-08 Tokyo
14-Apr-08 Tokyo
15-Apr-08 Miyajima
16-Apr-08 Miyajima
17-Apr-08 Okayama
18-Apr-08 Okayama
19-Apr-08 Okayama

We still have to book the second half of our holiday, we are pretty happy with the first four days Mount Koya to Kyoto, but when we leave Kyoto on the 24 we are not too sure what to do.

Do we do as planned, Takayama, Tsumago and Matsumoto?

Another option we are looking at is Nikko & Lake Chuzenji for three nights.

Or a third option is Hakone for three nights.

Could you let us know which option would be your preference?

20-Apr-08 Mount Koya
21-Apr-08 Kyoto
22-Apr-08 Kyoto
23-Apr-08 Kyoto

24-Apr-08 Takayama
25-Apr-08 Tsumago
26-Apr-08 Matsumoto

We then have one night booked in Tokyo

27-Apr-08 Tokyo

Many thanks Adam & Vicky

If it were me I'd do the Takayama, Tsumago and Matsumoto route.

Takayama, Tsumago, (or Narai), and Matsumoto would be the most interesting. 2nd would be Lake Chuzenji area. Hakone if you're studying Japanese tourist meccas.

Thanks for your recommendations, we have ruled out Hakone and are considering Takayama over Nikko.

Nikko is a beautiful site with an extensive and ornate temple complex. Lake Chuzenjji is also beautiful, with Kegon Falls worth a look.
BUT...I like Takayama better because after you see the temples and Lake at Nikko, in my opinion there isn't much else there. People talk about the monkeys in Nikko but I've been three times and never seen a one...while yes, friends have had monkeys try to steal their shopping bags.

On the other hand, Takayama has an atmospheric old section (beautiful in the evening when many tourists have left) with crafts shops, sake breweries and restaurants, and additionally is a nice town in general - you know? People live there, and work there, and it just has a nice feeling to it.
There are temples, as well, and historical houses, and it's all do-able on foot. Oh - and a morning market too.
From Takayama you can visit the open-air thatched roof houses museum (the name escapes me at the moment) which is nice, but doesn't hold a candle to the villages further on - Shirakawa-go is the best known.
Matsumoto's castle is the real deal, not a reconstruction, and if the weather is nice the setting is great - wonderful mountain views. There is also a shopping area with many of the same crafts you see in Takayama, although the souvenirs include jars of bee larva (to eat) that I haven't found many other places.
Magome and Tsumago are beautiful. Again, during the day can be crowded with tourists, but great places to stroll about in the evening. Tsumago is the best place for seeing what an old 'post town' was like, though Narai is actually bigger...Narai doesn't prohibit cars, though, and has elecrical wires & all around.
All of these places, however, are popular with japanese as well an international tourists (Nikko too) so don't expect to be finding something undiscovered. Sometimes just managing to take a picture without taking a picture of the eighteen other tourists taking a picture can be frustrating.
Still, I think that area is more rewarding than Nikko, though Nikko is a great day trip from Tokyo for those with limited time.