Nara Day Trip from Kyoto

Before Kyoto, there was Nara. In 710 the imperial court established its capital here, and in the decades that followed Nara became the cradle of Japanese Buddhism, art and statecraft; its temples and shrines, preserved in a compact park at the edge of the modern city, are listed by UNESCO as the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara. The centerpiece is Todai-ji, the "Great Eastern Temple", whose Daibutsuden hall shelters a colossal bronze Buddha some fifteen meters tall, cast in the eighth century; the hall around it, though rebuilt smaller than the original, is still one of the largest wooden buildings in the world. You approach through the towering Nandaimon gate, guarded by two ferocious wooden Nio figures carved in the thirteenth century, and inside the hall a pillar with a hole the size of the Buddha's nostril challenges children (and slim adults) to crawl through for enlightenment. Around the temples, Nara Park is home to more than a thousand free-roaming sika deer, regarded as sacred messengers of the gods and now a protected natural monument; they wander the lawns and temple approaches, bow for the shika senbei crackers sold by vendors, and are the reason children beg to come. East of the park, in a primeval forest, Kasuga Taisha is a vermilion shrine lined with some three thousand stone and bronze lanterns. Kofuku-ji's temples and the old merchant quarter of Naramachi complete a superb day.

Getting there is easy, and the link here is to the rail pass that makes it simple. The Kintetsu line runs from Kintetsu Kyoto, inside Kyoto Station, to Kintetsu-Nara Station, which sits right at the edge of Nara Park, a few minutes' walk from Kofuku-ji and the deer; limited express trains take around forty minutes. JR trains from Kyoto run to JR Nara Station, a little farther from the park. The Kintetsu Rail Pass sold through Tiqets covers travel between Kyoto, Nara and Osaka on the Kintetsu network for one or two days, and includes a Nara Kotsu bus ticket for getting around Nara; the five-day versions extend to Ise-Shima and Nagoya. It is a digital pass shown on your phone, so read the redemption instructions carefully — screenshots are not accepted. If you are also visiting Osaka, a two-day pass can make the triangle Kyoto, Nara, Osaka excellent value.

A good day runs like this. Arrive at Kintetsu-Nara mid-morning, walk past Kofuku-ji — its famous five-story pagoda is under a long restoration and covered until 2034, but the temple's other halls and its National Treasure Museum of Buddhist sculpture are open — and into Nara Park, buying deer crackers along the way. Visit Todai-ji, then walk uphill to Nigatsu-do hall for a sweeping view over the temple roofs and the city. Continue through the forest to Kasuga Taisha and its lanterns, then loop back for lunch and an afternoon in Naramachi's lanes of old merchant houses, sake shops and cafes. A full day is ideal; half a day covers Todai-ji, the deer and Kasuga Taisha.

About the deer: they are wild animals, and they can be pushy. Buy crackers only when you are ready to hand them out, show your empty hands when you have finished, keep food and paper maps out of reach, and watch small children, since bucks can butt and nip, especially in the autumn rutting season when their antlers are trimmed. Bowing to a deer often prompts a bow in return, which is delightful. Feed them only the official crackers. Nara is far quieter than Kyoto in the evening, and staying overnight lets you see the temples at dawn, but for most travelers it is the perfect day away from Kyoto's crowds.