I'm looking for advice that takes trains into consideration, which is why I'm posting here, I hope that is OK! I will be back to learn about various rail pass options once we get our itinerary finalised.
Our current itinerary is
Nights 1&2 -- arriving in Tokyo at the start of September, staying there 2 nights.
Nights 3&4 -- Kyoto
Night 5-- temple on Mt Koya
Nights 6&7 -- 2 more nights in Kyoto
Night 8-- ???
Night 9 -- Hakone Hyatt
Nights 10,11 &12-- Toyko
Night 8 is currently open to be filled however we want. One option is a different hotel for another night in Hakone, but I think it might be nice to explore a bit more.
I've been reading about the Kiso Valley and thought that might be a great option, but I can't tell whether there are any sensible trains between either Tsumago or Magome and Hakone/Odawara -- when I plug in NAKATSUGAWA into Hyperdia, it tells me that it's a 4+ hour journey, which seems a bit long. If I put in Magome, it says it's only 54 minutes, but the travel page for Magome says there isn't a station there so I assume it isn't actually the same place?
Any thoughts on this route, or suggestions for somewhere else we can stay that's interesting and not an epic journey from Odawara station would be most appreciated. Thank you in advance!