🏨 Private Nara Tour with Government Licensed Guide & Vehicle (Kyoto Departure) Activity

Private Nara Tour with Government Licensed Guide & Vehicle (Kyoto Departure)

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From $401.48

Price varies by group size

Lowest Price Guarantee

Pricing Info: Per Person

Duration: 8 hours

Departs: Kyoto, Kyoto

Ticket Type: Mobile or paper ticket accepted

Free cancellation

Up to 24 hours in advance.

Learn more

Overview

Do you really like temples and gardens? If so, Nara is the place for you! Close to Osaka and Kyoto, this quiet area is full of beauty...and deer! Why so many deer in Nara? Deer are messengers from the heavens, so they have free reign over the city of Nara that is filled with religious importance. Come and learn about Japan’s temples and religious history in Nara!

Once your reservation is made, a guide will contact you to plan your personalized tour. Choose 3 to 4 spots from ‘Tour Details’ to visit. Don't know where to go? Ask the guide to send you their recommendations. We hope to guide you soon!

Maximum 7 participants per tour.

What's Included

Air-conditioned vehicle

Customizable Private Tour of 3 - 4 sights of your choice

Fuel, Highway, & Parking Fees

Government Licensed Guide

What's Not Included

All other personal expenses

Entrance Fees to attractions where applicable (for yourself)

Food and drink (for yourself)

Traveler Information

INFANT: Age: 0 - 5
CHILD: Age: 6 - 11
ADULT: Age: 12 - 99

Additional Info

Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons
Gear/equipment sanitised between use
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
Regular temperature checks for staff
Service animals allowed
Specialized infant seats are available
Temperature checks for travellers upon arrival
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised

Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons
Gear/equipment sanitised between use
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
Regular temperature checks for staff
Service animals allowed
Specialized infant seats are available
Temperature checks for travellers upon arrival
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

What To Expect

Todai-ji Temple

Todaiji (東大寺, Tōdaiji, "Great Eastern Temple") is one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples and a landmark of Nara. The temple was constructed in 752 as the head temple of all provincial Buddhist temples of Japan and grew so powerful that the capital was moved from Nara to Nagaoka in 784 in order to lower the temple's influence on government affairs.

Until recently, Todaiji's main hall, the Daibutsuden (Big Buddha Hall), held the record as the world's largest wooden building, despite the fact that the present reconstruction of 1692 is only two thirds of the original temple hall's size. The massive building houses one of Japan's largest bronze statues of Buddha (Daibutsu). The 15 meters tall, seated Buddha represents Vairocana and is flanked by two Bodhisattvas.

60 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Nara Park

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.

60 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Kasuga Grand Shrine

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.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Mt. Wakakusa

Mount Wakakusayama (若草山) is the grass covered mountain behind Nara Park, located between Todaiji Temple and Kasuga Shrine. The mountain is about 350 meters tall and affords unobstructed views over Nara City. Tourists are allowed to climb Mount Wakakusayama all year round except during winter. A small entrance fee is charged.

The grassy slope of the mountain is lined by cherry trees that are usually in full bloom around early April. A steep trail leads along the leftmost edge of the slope to a plateau halfway up the mountain with great views over the city. It takes about 15-20 minutes to reach the plateau and many people do not hike farther. An additional 20-30 minutes would get you to the mountain's peak.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Naramachi

Naramachi (奈良町, literally "Nara Town") is the former merchant district of Nara, where several traditional residential buildings and warehouses are preserved and open to the public. Boutiques, shops, cafes, restaurants and a few museums now line the district's narrow lanes.

Many of Naramachi's buildings in the Edo Period and earlier were machiya, long, narrow "townhouses" that served both as shops and as the living quarters of the local merchants. The store fronts of machiya were often kept narrow in order to save on taxes, which used to be calculated on a property's street access rather than its total area. Today, a handful of machiya have been preserved and made open to the public as museums.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Yakushi-ji Temple

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.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Shinyakushiji Temple

Shin-Yakushiji Temple (新薬師寺) was founded during the Nara Period (710-794) by an empress for the sake of the ailing emperor. It is devoted to Yakushi Buddha, the patron of medicine in Japanese Buddhism. Shin-Yakushiji means "New Yakushi Temple", because there already existed a Yakushiji Temple. During its heyday, Shin-Yakushiji consisted of a large complex of buildings, but all except for the main hall (Hondo) have since been lost.

Inside the main hall there are life size statues of 12 guardian deities surrounding a two meter tall statue of a seated Yakushi Buddha, which are the temple's main objects of worship. The Yakushi statue is made of wood while the guardians are made of clay. Each guardian has a different character and possesses a different weapon, and visitors can spend quite a while admiring them. There are also a few small paths around the temple grounds.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Heijo Palace Museum

During most of the Nara Period (710-794), Nara served as the capital of Japan and was known as Heijo-kyo. The Heijo Palace extended about one kilometer wide and one kilometer long and served as the site of the emperor's residence and government offices. For its great historical and cultural importance, the palace site is included as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Nara.

60 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Toshodai-ji Temple

Toshodaiji (唐招提寺, Tōshōdaiji) was founded in the year 759 by Ganjin, a Chinese priest who was invited to Japan by the emperor in order to train priests and improve Japanese Buddhism. Ganjin's influence in the introduction of Buddhism to Japan was monumental, and his arrival and teaching at Toshodaiji (which roughly translates to "temple of the one invited from Tang China") were important stages in that process.

Toshodaiji's main hall (kondo) was re-opened in late 2009 after being renovated over a period of almost ten years, during which the building was dismantled and reconstructed. The temple's lecture hall (kodo) was originally an administrative building located in the Nara Imperial Palace and was later moved to Toshodaiji. Today, it is the only surviving building of the former palace.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

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Private Nara Tour with Government Licensed Guide & Vehicle (Kyoto Departure) Activity - Kyoto Travel Guide

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