3-day itinerary · Japan

3 Days in Nara

A realistic first-timer plan that spends day one in Nara Park, from the pagoda of Kōfuku-ji and the two gardens under the Tōdai-ji gate to the Great Buddha itself, the balcony of Nigatsu-dō and the grass slope of Mount Wakakusa for sunset; walks on day two through the lantern-lined forest of Kasuga Taisha to the Buddhist sculpture of the National Museum and the lanes of Naramachi around Gangō-ji; and takes the train on day three to Hōryū-ji, the oldest wooden buildings in the world, and the temples of the western plain, Yakushi-ji and Tōshōdai-ji, before the reconstructed halls of the first palace. Every stop comes with walking distances, the ticket prices and the seasonal hours that matter in 2026.

3days
15sights
4.8 kmon foot between sights

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

Tōdai-ji and the Great Buddha — Photo: 663highland, CC BY 2.5

The plan at a glance

Nara Park and the Great Buddha, then Kasuga and the old town, then Hōryū-ji and the western temples

Nara is smaller than its reputation: the park, the great temples, the shrine and the old merchant quarter are all within two kilometres of Kintetsu-Nara station, and days one and two are walked. Day three uses the JR line to Hōryūji station and the Kintetsu line to Nishinokyō for the temples of the plain, or the Nara Kōtsū bus with the wide one-day pass that covers them all. Tōdai-ji's Great Buddha Hall opens at 7:30 from April to October and 8:00 in winter; Kasuga Taisha opens at 6:30 in summer; the National Museum closes on Mondays; Mount Wakakusa is open only from the third Saturday of March to the second Sunday of December. Most people come for a day from Kyoto or Osaka, 35 to 45 minutes away by Kintetsu express, which is why the mornings before 9:00 and the evenings after 17:00 belong to those who stay. The Shōsō-in treasures are shown only from October 24 to November 9 in 2026.

Day 1Nara Park: Kōfuku-ji, the gardens, Tōdai-ji, Nigatsu-dō and Mount WakakusaKōfuku-ji · Isuien garden · Yoshiki-en garden · Tōdai-ji and the Great Buddha · Nigatsu-dō · Mount Wakakusa6 sights · 2.6 km on foot Day 2The shrine and the old town: Kasuga Taisha, the National Museum, Gangō-ji and NaramachiKasuga Taisha · Nara National Museum · Gangō-ji · Naramachi4 sights · 2.2 km on foot Day 3Hōryū-ji and the western plain: Chūgū-ji, Yakushi-ji, Tōshōdai-ji and the Heijō PalaceHōryū-ji · Chūgū-ji · Yakushi-ji · Tōshōdai-ji · Heijō Palace site5 sights · Transport between sights

At a glance

Ways to use these days

If it rains: 7 of the stops are indoors — Kōfuku-ji · Tōdai-ji and the Great Buddha · Nara National Museum
For the view: Mount Wakakusa
Outdoors: Isuien garden · Yoshiki-en garden
Lightest day on foot: Day 2 — 2.2 km between stops
Most walking: Day 3 — 10.5 km

Day 1

Nara Park: Kōfuku-ji, the gardens, Tōdai-ji, Nigatsu-dō and Mount Wakakusa

Start at the five-storey pagoda of Kōfuku-ji by Sarusawa pond, walk through the Isuien and Yoshiki-en gardens before the crowds, pass the guardians of the great south gate to the Great Buddha, climb to the balcony of Nigatsu-dō for the view over the roofs, and end on the grass of Mount Wakakusa as the sun goes down over the city.

6 sights
2.6 km on foot
Longest walk 950 m

Stops in order, straight-line distancesRoute in Google Maps ↗

Morning

1Temple

Kōfuku-ji

The family temple of the Fujiwara, who ran the court for four centuries, was moved here with the capital in 710 and was so powerful in the Middle Ages that it governed the province; what survives of its 175 buildings is the 50-metre five-storey pagoda of 1426, the second tallest in Japan and the emblem of the city, mirrored in Sarusawa pond below, the octagonal halls, the central golden hall rebuilt in 2018 to its 8th-century plan, and the treasure museum, where the three-faced Ashura of 734, a slender boy-god in dry lacquer, is the most loved statue in the country. The precinct is open and free; the halls and the museum take tickets, and the pagoda is under a long restoration.

Plan about 1 h 15 min
Grounds free, open all day; central golden hall ¥500 and treasure museum ¥700, 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:45; the eastern golden hall is closed

660 m · about 10 min on foot

2Garden

Isuien garden

Two gardens joined into one, the front made for a 17th-century tanner and the back for a Meiji businessman in 1899, use the great south gate of Tōdai-ji and the slope of Mount Wakakusa as borrowed scenery beyond their ponds, so that from the teahouse the whole of Nara seems to be part of the design; a stroll path circles the pond over stepping stones of old millstones, and the Neiraku museum by the entrance holds the owner's Chinese bronzes and Korean ceramics. Come at opening, when the light is behind you and the tour groups are still at the Buddha.

Plan about 1 h
9:30–16:30, closed Tuesdays (open if a holiday); about ¥900 with the museum

Right next door

3Garden

Yoshiki-en garden

Next door to Isuien and built on the site of a Tōdai-ji priests' residence, the smaller garden of 1919 has three parts, a pond garden, a moss garden under maples with a thatched teahouse, and a tea-flower garden, and it is free to overseas visitors on showing a passport, which makes it the quiet half hour that the bigger garden's ticket queue is not. In November the maples are the reason; in June the moss.

Plan about 30 min
9:00–17:00, closed in winter from mid-December to February; free for overseas visitors with a passport

Midday

LunchLunch is on the streets between Kintetsu-Nara station and the park: the Higashimuki arcade and Sanjō-dōri do kakinoha-zushi, mackerel and salmon pressed in persimmon leaves, which is Nara's own dish, chagayu tea porridge, and udon and tempura sets for a fair price; the restaurants inside the park at Tōdai-ji's gate are dearer. Eat before 12:30, when the day-trippers arrive from Kyoto, and keep the crackers for the deer in your bag, not your pocket.

Afternoon

490 m · about 8 min on foot

4Temple

Tōdai-ji and the Great Buddha

Emperor Shōmu's temple of 752, built to protect the country and bankrupt it, is entered through the Nandaimon gate of 1199 with its two eight-metre guardians, and its Great Buddha Hall, rebuilt in 1709 at two-thirds of the original width and still the largest wooden building of its kind in the world, holds the 15-metre bronze Vairocana that took 500 tonnes of copper to cast, seated with a hand raised in the gesture that means do not fear; around it are the wooden Kannon and the four kings, and behind it the pillar with a hole the size of the Buddha's nostril that children crawl through for luck. The museum by the gate shows the temple's oldest sculpture. Go after 15:00, when the coaches have gone.

Plan about 2 h
Great Buddha Hall Apr–Oct 7:30–17:30, Nov–Mar 8:00–17:00; ¥800, museum ¥800, both ¥1,200; the grounds and the gate are free

420 m · about 7 min on foot

5Temple hall

Nigatsu-dō

Up the stone steps and the lantern-lined lane east of the Great Buddha, the Hall of the Second Month, rebuilt in 1669 on a hillside over the temple, is where the monks have performed the Omizutori water-drawing rite every March since 752 without a single break, running the balcony with flaming torches in the last nights; the rest of the year its wooden veranda is the free balcony of Nara, looking west over the roof of the Great Buddha Hall to the city and the hills, and the best place in the park at sunset if you are not on the mountain. The Hokke-dō beside it, the oldest building at Tōdai-ji, holds the 8th-century Fukūkenjaku Kannon.

Plan about 45 min
Open all day, free; the Hokke-dō and Kaidan-dō 8:30–16:00, ticketed

Evening

950 m · about 15 min on foot

6Hill

Mount Wakakusa

The 342-metre grass hill at the east end of the park, burned bare every January in the Yamayaki festival with fireworks and a chain of torches, is a 30-minute climb up a stepped path to a first terrace of deer and picnickers and a summit with the whole of the Nara basin laid out to the west, the pagoda and the Great Buddha Hall in the foreground and the sunset behind the hills of Ikoma; the ¥150 ticket is sold at the gate at the foot, and the gate closes at 17:00, so start up by 16:00 in autumn to have the summit for the light and come down in the dusk.

Plan about 1 h 30 min
Open from the third Saturday of March to the second Sunday of December (Mar 21–Dec 13 in 2026), 9:00–17:00; ¥150

Day 2

The shrine and the old town: Kasuga Taisha, the National Museum, Gangō-ji and Naramachi

Walk the cedar avenue of stone lanterns through the deer to the vermilion halls of Kasuga Taisha at opening, come back through the park to the Buddhist sculpture of the National Museum, and spend the afternoon and evening in Naramachi, the merchants' quarter of lattice-fronted houses around the temple of Gangō-ji, where the sake breweries and the small restaurants are.

4 sights
2.2 km on foot
Longest walk 1.1 km

Stops in order, straight-line distancesRoute in Google Maps ↗

Morning

1Shinto shrine

Kasuga Taisha

The Fujiwara family shrine of 768, at the foot of the sacred Kasuga hill whose primeval forest has been untouched for a thousand years, is approached by a kilometre of avenue through the deer and 2,000 moss-covered stone lanterns, and its vermilion halls, rebuilt every twenty years until 1863 in the Shinto way, hang with a thousand bronze lanterns lit only at the festivals in February and August, though a dark hall in the inner sanctuary keeps a few burning all year for the effect; the treasure hall holds the armour and the court dances' masks, and the Man'yō botanical garden grows the 300 plants named in Japan's oldest poems. The deer are the messengers of the shrine's god, which is why the city has them.

Plan about 2 h
Mar–Oct 6:30–17:30, Nov–Feb 7:00–17:00, grounds free; inner sanctuary about ¥700 from 9:00; treasure hall ¥500, 9:00–17:00; Man'yō garden ¥500

1.1 km · about 18 min on foot

2Museum

Nara National Museum

The country's museum of Buddhist art, in a French-style hall of 1894 and two modern wings in the park, shows the sculpture that the temples lend it, 7th-to-14th-century Buddhas, bodhisattvas and guardian kings in a permanent gallery that is the best single lesson in Japanese religious art anywhere, and for two and a half weeks each autumn it hangs the Shōsō-in treasures, the 8th-century belongings of Emperor Shōmu kept in Tōdai-ji's log storehouse since 756, an exhibition the whole country queues for. The permanent collection is a calm hour; the Shōsō-in show needs a timed ticket and patience.

Plan about 1 h 30 min
9:30–17:00, closed Mondays and Jan 1; permanent collection about ¥700, free under 18; Shōsō-in exhibition Oct 24–Nov 9, 2026, daily 8:00–18:00 (Fri–Sun and holidays to 20:00), ¥2,000

Midday

LunchNaramachi is the place for lunch: converted machiya houses serve set lunches of tofu, yuba and seasonal vegetables, the Nakatanidō shop on Sanjō-dōri pounds mochi in a show that draws a crowd, and the sake breweries around Gangō-ji pour tastings of Nara's own Harushika. Most of the small places close between lunch and dinner, so eat by 13:30.

Afternoon

790 m · about 12 min on foot

3Temple

Gangō-ji

The oldest temple in Japan by lineage, founded at Asuka in 588 by Soga no Umako and moved here with the capital in 718, once covered the whole of what is now Naramachi, and its surviving main hall and monks' quarters, on the World Heritage list, still carry roof tiles fired in the 6th century, the oldest in use anywhere; inside is a five-storey miniature pagoda of the 8th century that stood in for the real one, and outside a garden of medieval stone stupas and a quiet nobody expects three streets from the main road. It is the reason the old town is where it is.

Plan about 45 min
9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30; about ¥500, more during the autumn special exhibition

Evening

270 m · about 4 min on foot

4Old merchant quarter

Naramachi

South of Sarusawa pond, the grid of narrow streets that grew inside the grounds of Gangō-ji from the 15th century is the city's old merchant quarter, lattice-fronted machiya houses with red cloth monkeys hanging at the doors to take away bad luck, sake breweries with cedar balls over the entrance, mosquito-net makers, a mechanical-toy museum and the Koshi-no-ie, a restored townhouse that is free to walk through to see how the long, narrow plots were lived in; by evening the cafés become small restaurants and bars and the day-trippers are back in Kyoto. Walk it without a plan between Gangō-ji and the pond.

Plan about 2 h
Streets free; the Koshi-no-ie lattice house 9:00–17:00, closed Mondays, free; most shops close by 18:00, restaurants later

Day 3

Hōryū-ji and the western plain: Chūgū-ji, Yakushi-ji, Tōshōdai-ji and the Heijō Palace

Take the JR train south to Hōryū-ji for the oldest wooden buildings in the world and the gentle Bodhisattva of Chūgū-ji next door, come back to Nishinokyō for the twin pagodas of Yakushi-ji and the great hall of Tōshōdai-ji, and finish in the wide grass of the Heijō Palace site, where the first capital's gate and audience hall have been rebuilt against the sunset.

5 sights
Transport between sights

Stops in order, straight-line distancesDriving route in Google Maps ↗

Morning

1Temple

Hōryū-ji

Founded by Prince Shōtoku in 607 and rebuilt after a fire around 700, the temple in the village of Ikaruga has the oldest wooden buildings in the world, the five-storey pagoda and the golden hall of the western precinct, Japan's first World Heritage site, whose entasis columns and cloud-shaped brackets came from China by way of Korea before the capital existed; the golden hall holds the bronze Shaka triad of 623, the gallery of treasures the Kudara Kannon, a two-metre camphor figure of unearthly slenderness, and the eastern precinct's octagonal Yumedono the Guze Kannon, shown only in spring and autumn. A single ticket covers all three, and the walk between them along the earthen walls is the best thing in the plain.

Plan about 2 h 30 min
Feb 22–Nov 3 8:00–17:00, Nov 4–Feb 21 8:00–16:30, no closing days; about ¥2,000 adults, ¥1,000 children, including the treasure gallery

A 5-minute walk east from Hōryū-ji's east precinct, through the Yumedono gate

2Nunnery

Chūgū-ji

Through the gate at the back of Hōryū-ji's eastern precinct, the nunnery founded for Prince Shōtoku's mother keeps, in a modern hall on a pond, the 7th-century wooden Bodhisattva in half-lotus with one hand to its cheek, the Miroku, whose smile is compared to the Sphinx's and the Mona Lisa's on the sign outside and deserves it, and the Tenjukoku embroidery, the oldest in Japan; it is ten minutes and a small extra ticket, and it is the statue people remember.

Plan about 30 min
9:00–16:30 (16:00 in winter); about ¥600

Midday

LunchThe approach road to Hōryū-ji and the village of Ikaruga have a handful of noodle shops and cafés for a bowl of udon or a set lunch of local vegetables, and the temple's own rest house sells tea; at Nishinokyō the choice is smaller, a couple of restaurants by Yakushi-ji's gate, so eat before the train back. Convenience-store onigiri eaten on the Heijō Palace lawn is the honest alternative.

Afternoon

Bus 97 or 98 back toward Nara to the Yakushiji stop, about 25 minutes, or JR to Kōriyama and Kintetsu to Nishinokyō

3Temple

Yakushi-ji

Emperor Tenmu's temple for his wife's recovery, moved to the new capital in 718, was laid out on the Chinese plan with two pagodas flanking the golden hall, and the eastern one, of 730, restored in 2020, is the only building of the original to survive, its three storeys and three skirt roofs so rhythmic that it has been called frozen music; the western pagoda, the golden hall and the lecture hall were rebuilt in bright vermilion from the 1970s, controversially, and the golden hall's bronze Yakushi triad of the late 7th century is one of the great works of East Asian sculpture. The Genjō Sanzō hall's paintings by Hirayama Ikuo are in a separate wing.

Plan about 1 h 15 min
8:30–17:00, last entry 16:30; about ¥1,000, more with the Genjō Sanzō hall when open

A 10-minute walk north from Yakushi-ji along the old road

4Temple

Tōshōdai-ji

The temple founded in 759 by Ganjin, the blind Chinese monk who reached Japan on his sixth attempt to bring the rules of ordination, is the most complete 8th-century monastery in the country, with the golden hall's eight-column colonnade the model of the Nara style, a dry-lacquer Buddha of a thousand carved rays behind it, a lecture hall moved from the Heijō Palace that is the only palace building to survive, the twin log storehouses, and Ganjin's own portrait statue, shown three days a year in June; the grounds are shaded, mossy and quiet even when Tōdai-ji is not. It is a 10-minute walk from Yakushi-ji along the old road.

Plan about 1 h 15 min
8:30–17:00, last entry 16:30; ¥1,000 adults, cash only

Evening

A 15-minute walk north-east, or Kintetsu from Nishinokyō to Yamato-Saidaiji, one stop, and a 10-minute walk east

5Archaeological park

Heijō Palace site

The square kilometre of fields west of the modern city where the palace of the first capital stood from 710 to 784 is a World Heritage park with three buildings rebuilt on their excavated foundations, the Suzaku gate of 1998, the Former Imperial Audience Hall of 2010, 44 metres wide and vermilion, and its east wing under reconstruction, plus the Tōin garden, museums of the finds and a visitor centre with a replica of the Chinese envoys' ship; between them is grass, larks and the Kintetsu line running straight through, and at sunset the audience hall against the western hills is the image of the Nara period that the temples cannot give. The grounds are free and never close.

Plan about 1 h 15 min
Grounds free, open all day; halls, museums and the garden 9:00–16:30, closed Mondays, free; Kintetsu Yamato-Saidaiji station 10 minutes

Before you go

Good to know in Nara

Tickets and opening days

Tōdai-ji's Great Buddha Hall is open 7:30 to 17:30 from April to October and 8:00 to 17:00 from November to March; admission is ¥800 for adults and ¥400 for elementary-school children, the Tōdai-ji Museum is ¥800 and ¥400, and the combined ticket for the hall and the museum is ¥1,200 and ¥600.Source: Tōdai-ji, opening hours and admission fees · checked Sep 2026
Kasuga Taisha is open 6:30 to 17:30 from March to October and 7:00 to 17:00 from November to February; the inner sanctuary costs ¥700, the treasure hall is open 9:00 to 17:00 (last admission 16:30) at ¥500 for adults, and the Man'yō Botanical Garden is ¥500 for adults and ¥200 for children.Source: Nara City Tourism Association, Kasugataisha Shrine · checked Sep 2026
Kōfuku-ji's halls are open 9:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:45; the Central Golden Hall is ¥500 for adults, ¥300 for junior-high and high-school students and ¥100 for children, the Treasure Hall (National Treasure Museum) ¥700, ¥600 and ¥300, and the Eastern Golden Hall (¥300) is currently closed.Source: Nara City Tourism Association, Kohfukuji Temple · checked Sep 2026
Tōshōdai-ji is open 8:30 to 17:00 with last admission at 16:30; admission is ¥1,000 for adults, ¥400 for teenagers and ¥200 for children, cash only.Source: Official Nara Travel Guide (Nara Visitors Bureau), Toshodaiji Temple · checked Sep 2026
The 78th Annual Exhibition of Shōsō-in Treasures at the Nara National Museum runs from Saturday October 24 to Monday November 9, 2026, open every day 8:00 to 18:00 and until 20:00 on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays with last entry 60 minutes before closing; general admission is ¥2,000 and ¥1,500 for university and high-school students.Source: Nara National Museum, 78th Shōsō-in Exhibition · checked Sep 2026
The Nara Kōtsū bus 1-Day Pass costs ¥600 for adults and ¥300 for children and covers central Nara including Nara Park, Tōdai-ji, Kasuga Taisha, Kōfuku-ji and Naramachi; the 1-Day Pass Wide is ¥1,100 and ¥550 and adds the Hōryū-ji area; the 2-Day Pass is ¥1,650 and ¥830; all are sold at the JR Nara and Kintetsu Nara bus information centres and at Kansai International Airport.Source: Nara Kotsu Bus Lines, bus passes · checked Sep 2026

Questions

3 days in Nara: quick answers

Is 3 days enough for Nara?

Three days cover the park, the great temples, the shrine, the old town and the temples of the western plain, which is more than most visitors give a city they usually see in an afternoon from Kyoto. A fourth day is the mountain temples of Hase-dera and Murō-ji to the south-east, the cherry mountain of Yoshino in April, the tombs and temples of Asuka by bicycle, or the sake breweries and the castle ruins of Yamato-Kōriyama. In late October and early November the Shōsō-in exhibition at the National Museum is the reason to time the whole trip.

Which days should I plan around?

Tōdai-ji's Great Buddha Hall is open every day, 7:30 to 17:30 from April to October and 8:00 to 17:00 from November to March; its museum opens at 9:30. Kasuga Taisha is open 6:30 to 17:30 from March to October and 7:00 to 17:00 in winter, with the inner sanctuary and the treasure hall from 9:00. Kōfuku-ji's halls are open 9:00 to 17:00 daily; the eastern golden hall is currently closed. The Nara National Museum is open 9:30 to 17:00 and closed on Mondays, except during the Shōsō-in exhibition from October 24 to November 9, 2026, when it opens every day from 8:00. Mount Wakakusa is open only from March 21 to December 13 in 2026. Hōryū-ji and Tōshōdai-ji open every day of the year.

How much do the tickets cost?

Tōdai-ji's Great Buddha Hall is ¥800, the museum ¥800 and the two together ¥1,200; Nigatsu-dō is free. Kasuga Taisha's outer precincts are free, the inner sanctuary about ¥700, the treasure hall ¥500 and the Man'yō garden ¥500. Kōfuku-ji's central golden hall is ¥500 and the treasure museum ¥700. The National Museum's permanent collection is about ¥700, the Shōsō-in exhibition ¥2,000. Isuien is about ¥900 with its museum; Yoshiki-en is free. Mount Wakakusa is ¥150. Gangō-ji is about ¥500. Hōryū-ji is about ¥2,000 including the treasure gallery, Chūgū-ji about ¥600, Yakushi-ji about ¥1,000 and Tōshōdai-ji ¥1,000. Deer crackers are ¥200 a bundle. The Heijō Palace site is free.

How do I get around?

On foot for days one and two: everything is within 2 km of Kintetsu-Nara station, which is closer to the park than JR Nara. For day three, the JR line to Hōryūji and the Kintetsu line to Nishinokyō, or the Nara Kōtsū bus with the one-day pass, ¥600 for the park and Nishinokyō or ¥1,100 for the wide version that adds Hōryū-ji, sold at the bus information centres at both stations. Kyoto is 35 minutes by Kintetsu limited express and Osaka-Namba 40 minutes; Kansai airport is about 90 minutes by limousine bus. Bicycles rent by the station and suit the flat western plain.

How do I deal with the deer?

The 1,300 sika deer of the park are wild, protected as a natural monument and sacred to the shrine, and they have learned to bow for the shika-senbei crackers sold at stalls and vending machines for ¥200 a bundle; feed them the crackers only, hold nothing else in sight, and expect to be nudged, bitten on the sleeve or butted if you tease them. Injuries rise every autumn in the rutting season, when the males are nervous, and the Deer Preservation Foundation's Rokuen centre by Kasuga Taisha cuts the antlers in October for that reason. Keep paper and plastic out of their reach; they eat it and die of it.

How much walking is this itinerary?

About 7 km on day one, on gravel paths and temple stairs with the 340-metre climb of Mount Wakakusa at the end; about 6 km on day two through the forest and the lanes; and about 5 km on day three across the temple precincts, with the trains and buses doing the distances between. Summer is hot and humid, winter cold and clear, and autumn, from late October, is the season the whole of Japan comes for.

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3 Days in Nara

Nara Park and the Great Buddha, then Kasuga and the old town, then Hōryū-ji and the western temples

Ways to use these days