Originally Posted by
mtimmer
We could do Kanazawa-Takayama-Kyoto in either order. Any benefit to which direction is best? For example, is Kyoto even more crowded on a weekend?
If you're not set on going to Kanazawa first, you could go to Takayama first and then to Kanazawa. From Kanazawa you can take the JR Thunderbird Ltd. Express directly to Kyoto. Going from Takayama to Kyoto will involve switching trains in Nagoya.
Originally Posted by
mtimmer
Does the number of nights in each place make sense? We could add to Kanazawa and Takayama, most likely taking time away from Kyoto.
It depends on what you want to do and see. Having been to both, I feel 2 nights each in Kanazawa and Takayama are enough to see the main sights. If you're planning to make excursions to surrounding areas (Ex: Kanazawa -> Noto Peninsula or Shirakawa-go), then additional nights make sense.