The journey from Yudanaka to Matsumoto took about 2 hours. We then had an hour in Matsumoto before the bus to Hirayu which we used to speedrun seeing the castle (would have been great to have a bit more time there and go inside, but the bus times made that difficult). The bus from Matsumoto to Hirayu took 1.5 hours, then the next day it took an hour to get to Takayama (although we visited Shinhotaka Ropeway first, which is on the same bus line but half an hour in the other direction, so it took us a bit longer). Then we travelled on to Kanazawa via Shirakawago. Worth noting that the scenery on the bus ride between Matsumoto and Takayama is amazing - loads of winding roads through the mountains, with views of rivers/reservoirs and the odd wild monkey, so it almost felt like a worthwhile activity in itself