A Nara journey with Kiyora Travel reveals the timeless beauty of Japan’s first permanent capital, designed around your interests.
Beyond the famous deer and temples, Nara offers peaceful mountain shrines, ancient pilgrimage routes, traditional townscapes, and the birthplace of Japanese civilization in the Asuka region.
Each journey is personally guided at a relaxed pace, combining iconic landmarks with hidden places where history, spirituality, and local life come together.
Browse the suggested journeys below and experience Nara beyond the guidebooks.
A Capital Older Than Kyoto
Nara was Japan’s very first permanent capital city. Established as Heijo-kyo in 710 and modeled closely on the Tang dynasty capital of Chang’an, the city grew to a population of tens of thousands before the imperial court eventually moved on to Kyoto in 794. Much of that ancient capital survives today as Nara Park and the surrounding temple grounds, making a Nara journey as much a walk through early Japanese history as a sightseeing trip.
At the heart of the city stands Todai-ji, opened in 752 after the completion of its Great Buddha, a bronze statue nearly 15 meters tall and cast in eight stages over three years. The temple’s Great Buddha Hall was the largest wooden building in the world until 1998, and visitors can still see one of its massive wooden pillars, said to share the dimensions of the Great Buddha’s nostril, that people traditionally try to squeeze through for good luck. Together with Nara’s other ancient temples, it forms a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara.
A short walk away, Kasuga Taisha has stood since 768, when it was originally built as the tutelary shrine of the powerful Fujiwara family. More than three thousand stone and bronze lanterns line its approach through Kasugayama Primeval Forest, where hunting and logging have been strictly prohibited since the year 841. Twice a year, every lantern is lit at once, and the wild deer that wander the surrounding park are considered sacred messengers of the shrine’s resident gods.
South of Nara Park, the machiya townhouses of Naramachi trace their history to Gangoji Temple’s former monastic grounds, later settled by merchants from the 15th century onward. Their narrow street-facing shopfronts, a legacy of taxes once calculated by street frontage rather than total floor space, open onto deep interiors that once combined shop and home in a single building. Many, like the preserved Koshi-no-ie residence, are open to visitors today, and red-and-white monkey charms called migawari-zaru still hang in doorways throughout the neighborhood, believed to ward off misfortune.
West of the city, Omiwa Shrine is thought to be one of Japan’s oldest shrines, and it was built without a honden, or main hall, because Mount Miwa itself is worshipped as the shrine’s sacred body. This form of mountain worship is considered close to how Shinto practice looked before shrine buildings existed at all, and Omiwa remains a tutelary shrine for Japan’s sake brewers to this day.
A private Nara journey with Kiyora Travel can connect these layers of history at your own pace, from the grandeur of Todai-ji and Kasuga Taisha to the quiet lanes of Naramachi, the forests around Omiwa Shrine, and the ancient Asuka region just beyond the city. Transportation, timing, and local insight are handled by your guide, so the day can move as slowly or as widely as you like.
More Nara Journeys Coming Soon
We are currently designing new private walking tours in Nara. In the meantime, explore our other Kansai private journeys or reach out and we will craft a custom Nara itinerary tailored to your interests.