City itineraries · Japan

Nara, day by day

Nara was Japan's first permanent capital, from 710 to 784, and it kept what the later capitals lost: the largest bronze Buddha in the country under one of the largest wooden roofs in the world, a Shinto shrine of 3,000 lanterns in a primeval forest, the oldest wooden buildings on earth at Hōryū-ji, and 1,300 tame deer that bow for crackers in a park the size of a small town. Start with three days that give the park its due, walk the old merchant quarter, and go out to the temples of the western plain, with the prices and hours the temples and the transport companies publish for 2026.

Updated 12 September 2026 · 6 official sources checked · report an error