Nara itinerary

1. 1

   Nara Park - Where 1,200 Wild Sika Deer Roam Free

   Nara Park spreads across roughly 660 hectares at the foot of Mount Wakakusa and acts as the connective tissue for almost everything else on this list. About 1,200 wild sika deer live in it. They are not tame pets. They…

   Address

   469 Zoshicho, Nara 630-8211, Japan

   Nearest transit

   Kintetsu Nara Station, 5-minute walk east along Noborioji-dori

2. 2

   Todai-ji - Home of Japan's Largest Bronze Buddha

   Todai-ji was consecrated in 752, and its Great Buddha Hall, the Daibutsuden, is still among the largest wooden buildings on the planet at 57 m wide and 48 m tall. The hall you walk into today was rebuilt in 1709 and is…

   Address

   406-1 Zoshicho, Nara 630-8587, Japan

   Nearest transit

   Kintetsu Nara Station, 20-minute walk, or Nara Kotsu bus to Todaiji Daibutsuden stop then 5 minutes on foot

3. 3

   Kasuga Taisha - Three Thousand Lanterns in the Cedar Forest

   Kasuga Taisha was founded in 768 as the tutelary shrine of the Fujiwara clan, and for centuries it was demolished and rebuilt every twenty years under the shikinen zotai tradition. Around 2,000 stone lanterns line the…

   Address

   160 Kasuganocho, Nara 630-8212, Japan

   Nearest transit

   Nara Kotsu bus from Kintetsu Nara Station to Kasuga Taisha Honden stop, about 25 minutes door to door including a 5-minute walk

4. 4

   Kofuku-ji - The Five-Storey Pagoda Above Sarusawa Pond

   Kofuku-ji occupies the rise directly above Sarusawa Pond, five minutes from Kintetsu Nara Station, which makes it the natural first stop of any Nara day. Its five-storey pagoda reaches 50.1 m, second only to To-ji in…

   Address

   48 Noboriojicho, Nara 630-8213, Japan

   Nearest transit

   Kintetsu Nara Station, 5-minute walk south

5. 5

   Isuien Garden - Borrowed Scenery and a Teahouse Pond

   Isuien is Nara's only stroll garden built on the shakkei principle, in which distant scenery is deliberately pulled into the composition. Stand at the rear pond and the tiled roof of Todai-ji's Nandaimon Gate and the…

   Address

   74 Suimoncho, Nara 630-8208, Japan

   Nearest transit

   Kintetsu Nara Station, 15-minute walk east, or Nara Kotsu bus to Todaiji Daibutsuden stop then 5 minutes on foot

6. 6

   Naramachi - The Old Merchant Quarter South of Sarusawa Pond

   Naramachi is the grid of narrow lanes south of Sarusawa Pond where Nara's merchant families lived and traded from the Edo period onward. The houses are machiya: skinny street frontages running back a very long way, a…

   Address

   44 Nakashinyacho, Nara 630-8332, Japan

   Nearest transit

   Kintetsu Nara Station, 12-minute walk south; JR Nara Station, 15-minute walk east

7. 7

   Mount Wakakusa - The Grass Hill With the Best View in Nara

   Mount Wakakusa rises 342 m directly behind Nara Park, a bare grass dome stacked in three tiers. The climb from the northern gate takes 30 to 40 minutes at a steady pace up a stepped path, and the first tier alone hands…

   Address

   Zoshicho, Nara 630-8211, Japan (northern entrance gate, opposite Mizuya-jinja)

   Nearest transit

   Nara Kotsu bus from Kintetsu Nara Station to Kasuga Taisha-mae stop, then a 10-minute walk to the northern gate

8. 8

   Yakushi-ji - Twin Pagodas From the Eighth Century

   Yakushi-ji was founded in 680 by Emperor Tenmu as a prayer for his consort's recovery and moved to its present site in 718. The East Pagoda is the only original structure still standing, raised in 730, and its…

   Address

   457 Nishinokyocho, Nara 630-8563, Japan

   Nearest transit

   Nishinokyo Station on the Kintetsu Kashihara Line, 1-minute walk; about 8 minutes from Kintetsu Nara Station changing at Yamato-Saidaiji

9. 9

   Toshodai-ji - The Temple Built by a Blind Chinese Monk

   Toshodai-ji was founded in 759 by Ganjin, a Chinese priest who attempted the crossing to Japan five times over eleven years, lost his sight to infection somewhere along the way, and finally landed on the sixth attempt…

   Address

   13-46 Gojocho, Nara 630-8032, Japan

   Nearest transit

   Nishinokyo Station on the Kintetsu Kashihara Line, 8-minute walk north

10. 10

    Horyu-ji - The Oldest Wooden Buildings on Earth

    Horyu-ji, out in Ikaruga town southwest of Nara city, holds the oldest surviving wooden buildings anywhere in the world. The Kondo and the five-storey pagoda in the Western Precinct date to roughly 700, rebuilt after a…

    Address

    1-1-1 Horyuji Sannai, Ikaruga, Ikoma District, Nara 636-0115, Japan

    Nearest transit

    JR Horyuji Station on the Yamatoji Line, 11 minutes from JR Nara Station, then Nara Kotsu bus 72 to Horyuji-mae, about 8 minutes

From the trip1 travel guide “10 Best Things to Do in Nara” · trip1.com