Hello,

We are planning to rent a car to visit Koya from Nara - it seems faster than the public transportation options. (I know that driving in Japan is an adventure, but we've done mountain roads in foreign countries before with no problems). I am wondering about parking options if we are not staying overnight at a temple. Would there be a place to leave our car for a few hours while we explore? Do they have meters, free parking, parking lots with attendants, something else? Where exactly would we want to drive to that would be central to the main attractions?

Also wondering if it's a bad idea to wait on reserving the car until a couple of days beforehand. I thought we'd wait and see which day has better weather for the drive.

Thanks!

Koyasan is often packed on holidays and weekends.

I didn't see meters (haven't seen them anywhere really) and no obvious parking lots either. It's a tiny place, with lots of visitors. Do you read Japanese? I wouldn't have trouble actually driving here, but I can't figure out the street parking so I think it would be more hassle than it's worth. The train trip wasn't too bad- I would just want to stay overnight because early morning and late evening were the best time to be in town because the tourist buses were not.

I don't know if it would be at all practical, but possibly check the websites of train stations a few stops away. You could park a little way out and ride the train in the rest of the way maybe.