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Depends on what you want, we went in winter, some of the stores are closed, but we didn't care, great to get some photos of the streets with no cars, no people, still some great restaurants are open, Loved the quiet. And the Soba near the top of the town (green entrance) was the BEST Soba we have had anywhere and we eat a lot of soba. Enjoy

Narai is one of the biggest villages along the Nakasendo; it's a bit off the beaten path and a 2~3 hour train ride from Tokyo; I highly recommend it; it's a beautifully photogenic place that reflects how villages were 500+ years ago. If you go and like hikes, stay in Narai and walk the Nakasendo from Yabuhara: take the train from Narai to Yabuhara (1 station) and walk back to Narai. This legendary portion of the Nakasendo is considered the hardest because of its elevation, so bring enough water with you. The average time is 3 hours at a leisurely pace.

Narai-juku, Kiso Valley. A 400 years Edo period time warp, the 34th of 69 stations that was along the Nakasendo that connected the 540 km between Kyoto with Edo (now Tokyo), a path once taken by samurais and shoguns.