Which is the most scenic train route between Nagano and Kyoto?

We will be catching the train between Nagano and Kyoto in a few weeks. There looks to be two options:

• Nagano to Nagoya, then change and on to Kyoto (we will do this part in reverse a few days later on the way to Tokyo).
• Nagano to Kanazawa, then change and on to Kyoto.

Both take about four hours and are included with our JR pass. As such the tie breaker could be the view. Which is the more scenic route?