Beautiful Tourist Places to Visit in Nara, Japan

Beautiful Tourist Places to Visit in Nara, Japan

Nara is a city situated in Kansai region in Japan covering a total area of 276.84 sq kms is very well famous for temples, shrines and ruins. Some of the temples and shrines situated in Nara are recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Besides world heritage sites, Nara is also well known for schools, colleges, universities and hospitals. Nara coordinates with 34.41’ degree North Latitude and 135.48’ degree East Longitude.

Nara Meaning & History:

The name Nara is supposed to be derived from Japanese word “Narasu” meaning to level or to flatten as the city is situated in Nara basin. Nara was ruled by Nara Empires during 710 A.D. to 784 A.D. as it was the capital city of Japan. Officially Nara city was founded in the year 1898.

Climate, cuisine and festivals in Nara:

Nara experiences subtropical weather conditions all round the year with hot and humid summers and cold winters with occasional snow falls. Maximum temperature during summers hovers around 35 degrees while during winters it drops to low of 5 degrees. Tourists visiting Nara can taste some of the exotic cuisines and recipes which mostly include sea foods like tofu, sushi, squids, eels, prawns, lobsters, octopus, starfish, oysters and shark meat. Apart from this, they can also get a hand of rice menus, noodles and soups prepared using various ingredients. Nara is rich in culture, heritage and tradition as many important events and festivals are jointly celebrated in a grand scale.

Tourist places in Nara:

Nara is known for few ancient sites which are under World Heritage Sites like;

Todaiji Temple:

This is one of the largest Buddhist temple located in Nara known as the fine example of Buddhist style of architecture and structure. The temple is visited by many tourists all round the year.

Nara Park:

Nara Park is well known for its lush greenery bound by natural scenic beauty which has a lake and a deer park.

Kofukuji Temple:

These are one of the religious temples known for 5 storey pagodas built as per Japanese style of architecture attracts many locals as well as foreigners.

Isuien Garden:

The gardens offer a calm, serene and peacefull atmosphere bound by rich flora and fauna. There is also a lake present in the vicinity of Isuien Garden which has boating facilities.

Shinyakushiji Temple:

This is one of the ancient temples located in Nara built as per Buddhist style of architecture. The interiors of the temple portray fine paintings, sculptures and carvings of Japanese architecture.

Other places to see include:

Kasuga Grand Shrine
Nara National Museum
Yakushiji Temple
Wakakusa Hill
Todaiji Temple Cultural Center
Hokkeji Temple
Heijokyu Ruins
Gangoji Temple
Nara Womens University

Connectivity to Nara in Japan:

Nara is nicely connected by road, rail and air modes of transport as many highways, expressways crisscross Nara that makes the place quite easily accessible by road. Regular intercity bus services are available from Nara to nearest city Osaka at regular point of time. Nara is also well linked by rail network as many trains connect Nara to Osaka and Kyoto. Other modes of local public transport are bicycles and trains which connect Nara to nearby places. Nara is about 31 kms from Osaka and approx 42 kms from Kyoto. The nearest major airport is the Osaka International Airport located 31 kms away from Nara which has direct flights to Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Hotels in Nara:

Nara has some good ultra luxury hotels providing excellent accommodation facilities to the tourists visiting the place from time to time. Hotels range from 1 star club to 7 star club offering some of the high end deluxe amenities like spa, sauna, free internet, airport pickup and drop, doctors on call, attractive lounges, special cuisines on request, 24/7 help center, entertainment staffs, escalators, elevators etc. List of some of the hotels located in Nara are: