I too visited Ogimachi village in Shirakawa-go by taking the bus from Takayama. While Ogimachi was quite large and had many gassho houses, some of which I went inside to inspect, it was also very crowded and touristy.

From Ogimachi there are other buses that travel to Takaoka, and on the way stop at the other two villages, Ainokura and Suganuma in Gokayama, that form part of this WHS. They are equally authentic, but are much smaller and attract far fewer visitors than Ogimachi.