Day Trip to Nara, Japan

Nara is a charming little city famous from its tame deer, beautiful cherry blossoms, and pagodas. Beyond that, Nara also has traditional houses, petite temples, great food, and sake tasting! An easy day trip from Kyoto or Osaka via Japan’s excellent train network, it a must see on your Japan trip. Here’s my guide for a Nara day trip.

• The Nara Deer
• Nara Park
• The Pagodas
• Naramachi – Traditional Houses + Small Temples
• Traditional Sweet Shops
• Sake Time!
• When to go and how
• Cherry blossom + Autumn foliage

Unless otherwise stated, all pictures are my own with full rights reserved.

The Nara Deer

Nara’s most famous attraction, the tame deer are as lovely as you would hope. Nara Park vendors sell deer snacks which you can feed to the deer by hand and make plenty of new best friends. Be careful with your human food – don’t keep any in your pockets or in accessible bags – as the deer will almost certainly try to steel your snacks! Otherwise the deer are as polite as the Japanese people – if you bow to a Nara deer, they will bow back!

Nara Park

Housing many of Nara’s key sights, Nara Park is the heart of the city. Beautiful in its own right, it is worth wandering the park and seeing the tame deer which make the park their home. Don’t miss the Ukimi-do Hall – a little gazebo sitting on a scenic lake – and the near by Garden of the Former Daijyo-in Temple.

The Pagodas

Nara is dotted with beautiful pagodas, the best being the Kōfukuji Five Storied Pagoda and the Three-Storied Pagoda, Kōfuku-ji found in the Kofuku-ji temple complex of Nara Park (by the entrance to the west, a short walk from the train station). The Kofuku-ji complex is also a great area for seeing the Nara deer, cherry blossom, and getting food (human and deer). Here you can also visit the Nan’en-dō, Kōfuku-ji temple building, known as the ‘octagon temple’.

Naramachi – Traditional Houses + Small Temples

The Maramachi area – just south-west of Garden of the Former Daijyo-in Temple – is peppered with traditional wooden buildings, mini temples, restaurants, and traditional sweet shops. It’s one of those perfect ‘lets wander and get lost’ areas (and if you hold any faith in the local tourist maps, you will definitely get lost!)

One of my favourite sights in the area is the petite Tokuyuji Temple – with its buildings, graveyard, and bell somehow fitted in among the surrounding buildings. You should also see the Naramachi Nigiwai-no-le traditional house (pictured below), the Naramachi Museum and Shop, and Koshindo Temple. But don’t focus too much on a plan – get yourself lost!

Tradition Sweet Shops

Nara has some charming traditional sweet shops. Kasiya displays its beautifully made sweets like ornaments in its front window. You can sit in and enjoy a course of Japanese sweets with tea. You can also go to the Kasuga-an and the charming Sakura sweet shops near by.

The most famous of Nara’s sweet shops is Nakatanidou (picture below), who specialise in delicious mochi cakes. Mochi is a dense rice cake, which I would best described (as a westerner) as similar to a thick jelly, sometimes with fillings such as beans. Depending on the weather they do a demonstration of ‘mochi pounding’ (mochitsuki) every 30 minutes, using a wooden mallet and loud yelling. Not to be missed!

Sake Time!

You’ve had a hard day of sightseeing, but lucky for you there is the Harushika Sake Brewery! They provide a run through of 6 different high quality sake’s, with an English menu to guide you through and small snacks. Their friendly staff can also explain to you about the sake and the brewing process. If beer is more your taste, the Nara Machi Craft Beer micro-brewery is a short walk away.

When to go and how

Japan is super easy to get around thanks to its excellent and punctual train system. Nara is east of Osaka and south of Kyoto, and can be easily reached from either for a day trip. Trains vary by price, and travel time is between 35-45 minutes depending on if you’re on an express or local train.

I would recommend the train into Kintetsu-Nara Station – the station a few minutes walk from the park – which can be reached by a 45 minute train from Kyoto on Express Kintetsu-Nara line. You can also take a cheaper train into JR Nara Train Station – around 1km from the park (15 minute walk) – which takes 45 minutes from Kyoto.

If you’re travelling in Japan for a short period (say 2-3 weeks), it is highly recommend to buy a Japanese Rail Pass. Make sure to get the right pass for your travel plan and length of stay, as the passes cover different regions and time periods. Remember to start your pass on the date you will first travel on a train – not when you start your holiday – otherwise you will waste days off your train pass.

Finally, be warned that the trains in Japan are incredibly punctual – I speak from experience when I say that being 30 seconds late will mean a missed train!

Cherry Blossoms + Autumn Foliage

Nara is beautiful city to see at any time of year, but it’s something special during the spring and autumn seasons.

In spring, Hanami – meaning ‘flower viewing’ – is truly enjoyed all over Japan. Nara Park has over 1500 blossom trees, with the area around the Kōfukuji Five Storied Pagoda and the general Kofuki-ji complex, particularly lovely with the temple and blossom views. During autumn (fall), the whole of Nara Park bursts in beautiful autumn yellows and reds.

To plan your visit, consult the annual cherry blossom and autumn foliage forecasts to see when the seasons peak. For this region, March to April is typically the best time for cherry blossom and late November for the autumn foliage. While you increase your chances through following the forecasts, they are approximate and a week or so after (blossom) or before (autumn) will still give you a beautiful display. I arrived in Kyoto a week or so after the peak cherry blossom season and I still saw beautiful blossoms.

What would you like to see the most? What’s your recommendations for Nara? Let me know in the comments!