Nara: 6hours Private Tour with Government-Licensed Guide

Overview

Explore Nara with a government-licensed and experienced multilingual guide! Your guide will help you efficiently enjoy a half-day walking tour of Nara and introduce both modern and traditional sides of this dynamic and ancient Japanese city. Nara's proximity to Kyoto and Osaka, and its rich collection of traditional sites, make it an ideal destination for a day trip from either of its larger neighbors. Your private guide can help you efficiently enjoy a half-day walking tour of this ancient Japanese city.

Highlights

Key Information

Description

Please pick between 3 – 4 place to visit. **【What to expect】** **・Todai-ji Temple (At your own expense) : Estimated time required 30min. ・Nara Park (Free entry) : Estimated time required 30min. ・Kasuga Taisha (Free entry) : Estimated time required 30min. ・Wakakusayama Hill (At your own expense) : Estimated time required 30min. ・Horyu-ji Temple (At your own expense) : Estimated time required 30min. ・Naramachi Shiryo-kan Museum (Free entry) : Estimated time required 30min. ・Kofuku-ji Temple (At your own expense) : Estimated time required 30min. ・Yakushiji Temple (At your own expense) : Estimated time required 30min. ・Shin-Yakushiji Temple (At your own expense) : Estimated time required 30min. ・Nara National Museum (At your own expense) : Estimated time required 30min. ・Heijō Palace Site Historical Park (At your own expense) : Estimated time required 15min. ・Toshodai-ji Temple Koro (At your own expense) : Estimated time required 15min. ・Isui-en Garden and Neiraku Museum of Art (At your own expense) : Estimated time required 15min. ・Yoshikien Garden (At your own expense) : Estimated time required 15min.** **Details of some attractions** **Nara Park (Free entry)** Nara Park (奈良公園, Nara Kōen) is a large park in central Nara. Established in 1880, it is the location of many of Nara's main attractions including Todaiji, Kasuga Taisha, Kofukuji and the Nara National Museum. It is also home to hundreds of freely roaming deer. **Horyu-ji Temple (At your own expense)** Horyuji Temple (法隆寺, Hōryūji) was founded in 607 by Prince Shotoku, who is credited with the early promotion of Buddhism in Japan. Horyuji is one of the country's oldest temples and contains the world's oldest surviving wooden structures. It was designated a world heritage site in 1993. Horyuji's temple grounds are spacious and separated into two main precincts, the Western Precinct (Saiin Garan) and the Eastern Precinct (Toin Garan). **Kasuga Taisha (Free entry)** Kasuga Taisha (春日大社) is Nara's most celebrated shrine. It was established at the same time as the capital and is dedicated to the deity responsible for the protection of the city. Kasuga Taisha was also the tutelary shrine of the Fujiwara, Japan's most powerful family clan during most of the Nara and Heian Periods. Like the Ise Shrines, Kasuga Taisha had been periodically rebuilt every 20 years for many centuries. In the case of Kasuga Taisha, however, the custom was discontinued at the end of the Edo Period. Beyond the shrine's offering hall, which can be visited free of charge, there is a paid inner area which provides a closer view of the shrine's inner buildings. Furthest in is the main sanctuary, containing multiple shrine buildings that display the distinctive Kasuga style of shrine architecture, characterized by a sloping roof extending over the front of the building. **Yakushiji Temple (At your own expense)** Yakushiji (薬師寺) was constructed by Emperor Tenmu in the late 7th century for the recovery of the emperor's sick wife. One of Japan's oldest temples, Yakushiji has a strictly symmetric layout, with the main hall and lecture hall standing on a central axis, flanked by two pagodas. The main hall was rebuilt in the 1970s after being destroyed by fire and houses a Yakushi trinity, a masterpiece of Japanese Buddhist art. The East Pagoda is the temple's only structure to have survived the many fires that have beset the temple over the years, and dates from 730. It appears to have six stories, but is in fact only truly three-storied, like the West Pagoda. **Yoshikien Garden (At your own expense)** Yoshikien (吉城園) is a pleasant Japanese garden located in central Nara. It is named after the Yoshikigawa River, a small river that runs beside the garden, and was built on the site of Kofukuji Temple's former priest residences. The entry fee to the garden is waived for foreign tourists.