Nara Prefecture · Japan
Where to stay in Nara
Nara is a city in Nara Prefecture, Japan, home to about 352,000 people. This guide covers 2 hotels in Nara.
- Places to stay in this guide
- 2
- Nearest airport
- ITM35 km · Osaka Itami International Airport
- Currency
- JPYyen
- Time zone
- Asia/Tokyo
- Language
- Japanese
About
About Nara
Nara is the capital city of Nara Prefecture, Japan. As of 2022, Nara has an estimated population of 367,353 according to World Population Review, making it the largest city in Nara Prefecture and sixth-largest in the Kansai region of Honshu.
Along with the development of Heijōkyō (平城京), the capital of Japan between 710-784 AD, Nara flourished under the influence of Buddhism, leading to the creation of an enormous number of cultural assets, buildings and books, many of which are preserved today. Nara has the most buildings designated National Treasures in Japan. While the Heijō Palace (平城宮) site turned into plain fields after the capital was moved to Kyoto, the shrines and temples were left on the east side of the palace (called Gekyo (外京)), and Buddhism remained influential throughout the following centuries.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Nara
See
If you only have one day to spend in Nara, focus on Nara Park. With more time, though, there's more to see. Most of Nara's sights, including temples, shrines and famously mercenary deer, are concentrated in Nara Park (奈良公園 Nara-kōen), a wide, pleasant space of greenery. According to legend, the god of the Kasuga Taisha came riding a white deer in the old days, so the deer enjoy protected status as envoys of the god; however, based on their current behavior, either the deer have lost the job, or the god has taken an extremely passionate interest in biscuits from tourists (¥200), empty food wrappers and harassing shopkeepers.
- Tōdai-ji
- Kōfuku-ji
- Sarusawa Pond
- Nara National Museum
- Himuro Shrine
- Ukimidō
- Kasuga Taisha
- Kasuga-yama Primeval Forest
- Isui-en Garden
- Yoshikien Garden
- Shin-Yakushi-ji
- Nara City Museum of Photography
Do
- Mount Wakakusa Fire Festival
- Nara Visitor Center & Inn
- Shuni-e (Omizu-tori)
- Nara Tōka-e
- Deer-horn Cutting Ceremony
- Naramachi
- Saturday Walking Tour
- Nara Walk
- Nara YMCA Goodwill Guides
- Nara Student Guide
- Nara S.G.G. Club
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Places to stay in Nara
2 places to stay from the chains this guide covers, each linked to its own website.
| Place to stay |
|---|
| Toyoko Inn Kintetsu Nara Ekimae hotel |
| Toyoko Inn Nara Shin-Omiya Ekimae hotel |
Where to stay
Which part of Nara to stay in
As usual throughout Japan, make your reservation as early as possible for August (the time of yearly vacations and Bon festivals, when it is customary for the Japanese to travel to their and their ancestors' birthplaces) and around Christmas and New Year, and also in early November, when Shosoin treasures are on display at the National Museum. Cheaper accommodation may sell out or raise prices.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
When to go
The best time to visit Nara
Nara has no month that is both mild and dry by the measure used here. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 33 °C; July is the wettest, with about 217 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Nara: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Osaka Itami International Airport (ITM), about 35 km from the city centre in a straight line; Kobe Airport (UKB, 53 km) and Kansai International Airport (KIX, 59 km) are also within reach.
Getting in
Nara does not have its own airport; most visitors arrive via either Kansai International Airport (KIX) or Osaka's Itami Airport (ITM), for domestic flights. From Kansai Airport, Airport Limousine buses run to the two Nara train stations every hour (90 min, ¥2100). More frequent service is available by rail: if you have a Japan Rail Pass, you can take the Haruka limited express to Tennoji station and then transfer to the Yamatoji line for the run to Nara (about 80 min, ¥2400 without a rail pass).
Getting around
Once within Nara Park, you can walk to almost all the other major sites. The conventional round course (from Kintetsu Nara Station to Kōfuku-ji, Nara National Museum, Tōdai-ji, Kasuga Taisha and back to Kintetsu Nara Station) is about 6 km long, a pleasant walk for the typical tourist. You can get a Nara Bus Pass for unlimited travel on Nara Kotsu and Nara Gurutto buses plus discounts on museum admissions. 1-day bus pass covering most attractions in Nara area costs ¥500 for adults and ¥250 for child.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
ITM · Osaka Itami International Airport
UKB · Kobe Airport
KIX · Kansai International Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Nara
Eat
A local specialty is kaki-no-ha zushi (柿の葉ずし), which is sushi (usually mackerel or salmon) wrapped in persimmon leaves, and originates from nearby Yoshino. Kudzu, also from Yoshino, is a very renowned product of Nara, which is used for making various food ranging from kudzu noodles (葛切り kuzu-kiri) to Japanese sweets (和菓子 wagashi). Somen (thin wheat noodles) from Miwa region (三輪そうめん Miwa sōmen) have a history as old as Nara. The noodles are served either hot or cold. Another well-known culinary product is shika-senbei, a rice cracker sold around Nara Park. Don't try eating it yourself though — it's meant for the deer!
Drink
Yamato-cha (大和茶) is the locally produced Japanese green tea which is healthy and tasty. There are also numerous sake brands, among which is Harushika brand, produced by one of the oldest existing sake breweries in Japan.
Stay safe
The deer in Nara Park tend to be friendly and perhaps overly eager to eat shika-senbei biscuits from the hands of tourists - simply possessing some will inevitably attract a small crowd of five or six deer, whose extreme and single-minded interest in these biscuits and accompanying lack of respect for your personal space may well be a bit startling when experienced en masse. Don't be fooled by the publicity shots of the deer being happily petted: they can sometimes be aggressive in pursuit of those who have food while thoroughly uninterested in anyone who doesn't have any.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Questions
Nara: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Nara?
Nara has no month that is both mild and dry by the measure used here. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 33 °C; July is the wettest, with about 217 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Nara?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Osaka Itami International Airport (ITM), about 35 km from the city centre in a straight line; Kobe Airport (UKB, 53 km) and Kansai International Airport (KIX, 59 km) are also within reach.
What currency is used in Nara?
yen (JPY).
Nearby
Destinations near Nara
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.