Places to Explore

• Nara Koen

  Nara Koen has the city's popular tourist sites. Even so, it is wide enough to accommodate thousands of giggling school children and other Japanese tourists, yet still feel spacious and quiet. Be warned... (more)

• Nara-machi

  Nara-machi is a maze of lanes and alleys lined with old warehouses and machiya (traditional wooden houses) that have been converted into galleries, shops, and cafés. A lot of locals still live here... (more)

• Western Nara

  Horyu-ji is home to some of the oldest wooden buildings in the world. Just east of Horyu-ji is Chugu-ji, with one of the finest sculptures in Japan, the 7th-century Miroku Bodhisattva. A short bus ride... (more)