All must-sees in 3 hours - Nara Park Classic Tour! From JR Nara!
Description
This is a guided walking tour covering all must-sees of Nara Park area. Instead of looking down at your smartphones or guidebooks for information, look up and around to enjoy the city. Our guide is sure to tell you history, picture spots, about deer and so on. The tour usually ends around 1 pm; you have enough time to explore the city on your own afterwards. *This tour is not a private tour. This is a group tour with other guests. *The tour starts punctually. As this is a group tour, we do not wait for those who cannot or does not appear on time at the meeting spot. If you arrive late, unfortunately you cannot join the tour.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Our meeting spot is JR Nara Station. You will find our guide in front of the ticket gates. There is only one location for ticket gates at JR Nara Station. So just come out, and find our guide with a white NaraWalk flag. *Note: If you find ticket gates at underground level, you are at Kintetsu Nara Station which is a station about 15 min. away on foot from JR Nara Station.
Walk the precinct with the guide and most likely you can spot deer here and there. Find out why deer are freely roaming in Nara, the difference between Shinto and Buddhism and so on.
We visit the Great Buddha Hall to meet the Big Buddha. The guide will tell you stories behind the Big Buddha statue and the temple. It's a picture spot.
Our destinations, Todaiji Temple, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, and Kofukuji Temple - it's not wrong to say all of them are in the Nara Park. Depending on the season and speed of the group, we may add more spots from the Nara Park.
We usually end the tour at this temple. The five-storied pagoda is photogenic. After informing you with history, we are happy to give you direction for train stations, afternoon plans, and a lunch. (*During June to September, when heatstroke is a concern, we may only visit Kasuga Grand Shrine, Nara Park and Todaiji Temple. If the temperature permits we may go to Kofukuji Temple. *Kofukuji Temple’s iconic five-storied pagoda is undergoing a major repair. It is scheduled to end in March 2031. You may not be able to see the tower till the project completes.)
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The tour route includes steps and a gravel path where you would need to carry or need a harder push for your baby stroller.
- If you are arriving at Kintetsu Nara Station, please come to JR Nara Station. We cannot meet or pick you up at Kintetsu Nara Station, since this is not a private tour. We take a bus from JR Nara Station, and we do not stop at Kintetsu Nara Station.
- The tour starts punctually. As this is a group tour, we do not wait for those who cannot or does not appear on time at the meeting spot. If you arrive late, unfortunately you cannot join the tour.
Reviews(120)
We had an amazing day in Nara. Whitney my family. Our guide made the experience truly wonderful. Highly recommended!
Excellent day in Nara. Loved all the explanation. Loved seeing the beautiful temple and shrine while being surrounded by the deer.
Thank you for your review. Following is a response from your guide, Mamiko. *************** Thank you for your review. I’m glad you enjoyed our tour. Hoping to see you again in the future! Mamiko
Setsuko was wonderful! Very kind, friendly, and enthusiastic. She was full of info about the deer and temples at Nara Park. And she showed us helpful photos to explain things. She gave us deer crackers so we could feed the deer. And as a bonus, she showed us the Noh theater, beautiful Japanese garden, and mochi shop where they make the mochi fresh by hand. Thank you for a wonderful tour!
Thank you for your review. Following is a response from your guide, Setsuko. *************** Thank you very much for your warm message. I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed our tour. I was very glad meeting you all and spending a wonderful time together in Nara Park with lovely deer. Thank you so much again for coming to Nara and joining our tour! I wish you all the best and happiness. Setsuko
We really enjoyed our walking tour with Setsuko and another family. She met us right in Nara JR Station as promised after we took a 45 min train ride from Osaka. We all took a bus to Nara Park and then walked to the various site. While flowers and trees are not blooming in June, it was still very beautiful with trees and nature and of course the bowing deer! Our guide Setsuko brought some rice crackers for us to feed the deer. They did not disappoint. We appreciate the insight provided by our very thoughtful guide. We found 3 hours was perfect for us and highly recommend this tour.
Thank you for your review. Following is a response from your guide, Setsuko. *************** Thank you very much for your warm message. I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed our tour. I was very glad meeting you all and spending a wonderful time together in Nara Park with lovely deer. Thank you so much again for coming to Nara and joining our tour! I wish you all the best and happiness. Setsuko
Tour guide did well and knows her subject! Tour was interesting but a bit long due to the very warm weather. I would not want to do this tour in the summer!
Thank you for your review. Following is a response from your guide, Sachiko. *************** Thank you so much for the lovely review! I'm thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the tour and found my guiding insights helpful. It was a really hot day, so thank you for sticking with me through the long walk. I hope you've had a chance to rest up! Thank you also for your feedback regarding the summer tour. We will definitely keep that in mind for our future planning. We would love to welcome you back during the beautiful and comfortable spring or autumn seasons next time! Sachiko M
Amazing day at Nara park! We spent about 3 hours and our Guide Seiko was great! She was super prepared with pictures and explanations of all the sites. It was a very hot day so 3 hours there was perfect. Seiko even helped us with directions on our return train. Very appreciative of her knowledge and attentiveness! I don’t think our day would have been as easy without this tour - which I highly recommend!
Thank you for your review. Following is a response from your guide, Seiko. *************** Thank you very much for your kind comments. I’m really glad to hear you enjoyed the tour. It was wonderful to walk the Nara Park with you. Please come back to Japan again. With many thanks, Seiko
Mrs. Yachiyo was valuable in revealing the secrets and history of Nara and her temples. Very helpful, made us do a beautiful tour answering all our questions and curiosities, very recommended!
Thank you for your review. Following is a response from your guide, Yachiyo. *************** Thank you for posting warm review immediately after the tour! I was very happy to guide your wonderful family around Nara Park. As the seasons change, the atmosphere of Nara Park has a different charm. I hope you will come again. Grazie tante! Yachiyo
Naozumi was a perfect guide. Their explanations were key to understanding temples, shrines and their differences. It also resolved doubts about Japan in general. Your Spanish is perfect. It was a pleasure to have you as our guide in Nara and we highly recommend it.
Thank you for your review. Following is a response from your guide, Naozumi. *************** Muchas gracias por sus palabras! Me alegro mucho de que ustedes disfrutaron el recorrido por el parque de Nara. Para mí también fue un gran placer compartir buen tiempo con ustedes. Sinceramente deseo que toda su familia sea feliz para siempre. Naozumi
I had a Narawalk tour with Mamiko , She is excellent, explained us so well , Very polite and the knows the park the history so well , I highly highly recommend her . Whenever you are visiting Nara, Please book your tour with NaraWalk.com with Mamiko , I thank her for making our tor very pleasant , Regards Nikita u
Thank you for your review. Following is a response from your guide, Mamiko. *************** Thank you for your wonderful words. I am glad you enjoyed our tour. Hoping you come to Nara again! Mamiko
First of all if you book this tour and you're fortunate enough to get Seiko as your tour guide you should consider yourself LUCKY! She was amazing and made this tour so special with her knowledge, insight, mastery of english, sense of humor and preparation. From guiding us, to having various visual aids that helped expand insight into what we were looking at to even being as thoughtful as to have little baggies for us to put our 'Deer Crackers' in, she made this tour perfect. Her communication was excellent before the tour and she made sure she was easy to find. This is a tour is a MUST BOOK if you are visiting Nara.
Thank you for your review. Following is a response from your guide, Seiko. *************** Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m very glad to hear you enjoyed the time in Nara. It was a great pleasure for me to walk and talk with you in Nara Park. I wish you all the best and please come back to Japan again. With many thanks, Seiko.
