Nara is by far my most favorite place in Japan, the rich nature, wildlife, and the small city atmosphere make it a very relaxing place to visit. We have been there many times and every time when I traveled to Japan I made certain to pass by Nara.
Nara is located in the Kansai region of Japan, except for the nature there is also quite a lot of history and culture to be found. Nara used to be the capital of Japan in the 8th century. Now it is home to some of the country’s most beautiful temples, shrines, and gardens. I haven’t met anyone yet who went to Nara and didn’t enjoy their time there, although you need to be quite active as visiting all places requires a lot of walking.
Walk everywhere!
The best way to see Nara is by walking from place to place. Everything is reasonably close-by and even if the places you want to see are slightly far, you probably still save time by just walking everywhere. It has it’s benefits, you’ll see many different things which you would miss out on if you were to go by bus everywhere.
Walking is really the best way to experience the city’s charm and beauty as well. The city is rather small, but don’t be mistaken by the size as there is still a lot which can be done and explored in and around the city. Nara is a compact city, and most of its attractions are located within walking distance from each other. The biggest attraction, and what Nara is most known for, feeding the deers.
Feeding the Deer
One of the unique things you can do in Nara is feed the deer that roam freely around the city. You can find them anywhere from the park till the forests on the mountain side. There are also quite a few on top of the mountain which is connected to the city.
These deer are considered to be sacred messengers and are protected by law. Feeding the deer is a very popular tourist attraction. You can purchase deer crackers from vendors which are located in different places throughout Nara, to find these places, look where big amounts of deer are waiting hahah. One of my most favorite things to do in Nara park is not to feed the deers, but to watch tourists feeding the deer, almost every time they end up getting stalked or attacked by the deer. ^^”
Temples and Shrines
From Nara park you easily have access to numerous temples and shrines, Kyoto may be well known for temple hunting, but Nara still has some of the most impressive temples and shrines in my opinion. Most require an entrance fee, luckily these aren’t very expensive and it helps them to maintain the temples in a better way.
Todai-ji Temple, which houses the world’s largest bronze Buddha statue, is really worth a visit. It is quite spectacular to see that statue and on certain special days in the year, the windows go open so the statue can look outside. Then there is also Kasuga Taisha Shrine, known for its beautiful lanterns, it is the place where I went to with my wife when I met her for the first time and we also got married there last year. When visiting the temples and shrines, make sure to respect the customs and traditions. You might be required to remove your shoes and avoid taking photos in certain areas.
These are just 2 of the many places you can visit, just walk around and you’ll end up stumbling across some of the others.
A place of events
There is so much to do in Nara already, but they also have events quite often, one of my favorite one is the light event on which they put up candles and lights all around the city. Nara is already quite beautiful, but at night with these night decorations … just amazing! Talking about events, if you really want to know the ins and outs of Nara, be certain to get a free student guide!
Student guides
If you want to explore Nara whilst also learning things about the city and the culture, why not ask a guide? Nara has student guides and the call themselves “Free Nara student guides”. A very fitting name as it is exactly what it says hahaha. I had a student guide on my first trip to Nara and it was quite fun to be able to learn so much about the culture and see places which I probably would not have found by myself.
Explore the Nature
Nara is surrounded by beautiful nature and it is also connected to a mountain area, perfect for people who like hiking. When you go hiking in Nara, especially during summer, you better take enough drinks and snacks as there aren’t any options on top of the mountain. There are some vending machines but those prices are … yeah ^^”.
If you reachthe top, don’t go directly down, if you walk a bit further into the forest and you’ll find a waterfall! Mount Wakakusa offers a breathtaking view of Nara prefecture. It is the mountain I have hiked the most in Japan but be aware that there are snakes and hornets. The hornets are especially troublesome during peak summer. Same like the mosquitos as they really like foreign blood. ^^”
Too many things to do
I could keep talking about Nara, there is a toy museum, a sake brewery, wine tasting, temples, shrines, many small museums which are completely free, deer, parks, gardens, a funny looking mascot, … It’s just the perfect place for people who love nature and want to escape the busy city life.
Just pass by Nara, stay the night and stroll around. You’ll be guaranteed to find many interesting places, the streets also feel like you are going back in time which makes it so much more enjoyable to be walking there.