Nara Golden Route (Todaiji, Kofukuji, Kasuga Shrine)

Day Trip
Kyoto
Japanese (Native), English
8 hours
Private tour (only you and your group)
Up to 30 people

Nara was the Imperial capital of Japan between 710 and 784 A.D. The city has many places of historical interest including Nara Park, Todaiji temple, Kasuga shrine, and Kofukuji Temple.

The Great Buddha Hall, the main hall of the Todaiji Temple, is one of the largest wooden structures in the world and the seated figure inside is the world's largest bronze image of Buddha.

Hideo Y.
4.47 / 5
(129 reviews)

Meeting Point

at your hotel

10:30 AM

Kofukuji Temple

It has the second tallest 5-stroried pagoda in Japan.

11:30 AM

Nara Park

You enjoy feeding deer crackers

12:00 PM

Todaiji Temple

The great image of Buddha in the Buddha Hall

02:00 PM

Nigatsudo

We command a panoramic view of Mara city from the second floor.

02:40 PM

Kasuga Great Shrine

You see a lot of bronze lanterns and golden lanterns.

03:30 PM

Nara Machi (lunch)

Old town

Ending Point

at your hotel

What to Expect

Nara was the Imperial capital of Japan between 710 and 784 A.D. The city has many places of historical interest including Nara Park, Todaiji temple, Kasuga shrine, and Kofukuji Temple.

The Great Buddha Hall, the main hall of the Todaiji Temple, is one of the largest wooden structures in the world and the seated figure inside is the world's largest bronze image of Buddha.

Guess how high the right hand of the gread image of Buddha is ?

Guess how many snail-shaped hairs Buddha has ?

Kasuga Taisha Shrine is the largest Shinto shrine in Nara. This shrine is famous for its 2,000 stone lanterns and its 1,000 bronze lanterns which stand on both sides of the approach to the shrine. The lanterns are lit twice a year on the night of the Setsubun Festival and August 15.

Naramachi is an area which flourished as a prosperous town with many businesses and shops including ink production, linen textile, sake brewing and the like. The area still retains the nostalgic scenery of people's lives in the 19th century, especially in the narrow lanes winding around the area. Nara Craft Museum has a wide range of traditional Nara crafts such as itto-bori (wood carving), Akahada-yaki (ceramics), calligraphy brushes and inks.

You can enjoy Japanese foods such as kaiten-zushi (converyor belt sushi restaurant), eel and Japanese sweets for lunch.

In Nara Park, there are about 1,200 tame deer. Visitors can feed the deer with crackers sold at stalls in the park. They are believed to be divine messengers of Kasuga Shrine. The deer love the crackers so don't be surprised if you get surrounded by them!

Kofukuji Temple, which in 2010 celebrated the 1,300th anniversary of its founding, is famous for the Five Story Pagoda, the Nan-endo (Southern Octagonal Hall)and the statue of Ashura. The beautiful five-story pagoda is about 50 meters in height, the second highest pagoda in Japan.

By the way, have you ever heard of the statue of Ashura in the Kofkuji National Treasure Museum ?

Ashura is one of the most famous statues in Japan, especially very popular among women. Visitors will be able to see Ashura on open display, not behind a glass case.

Why don't you come see the Great image of Buddha, the tame deer and the statue of Ashura ?

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Inclusions & Exclusions

What‘s included

guide fee

What‘s not included

transportation fee (you and guide), lunch, entrance fee

Important Information

I guide you Sapporo, Furano, Otaru, Hakodate in Hokkaido / Aomori in Hokuriku / Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Kagoshima in Kyushu / Kochi, Matsuyama in Shikoku / Tottori, Shimane, Kanazawa, Sakaiminato in Japan Sea side. Please get in touch with me!!

Thank you.

Cancellation Policy

  • Free cancellation - 8 days prior to meeting time
  • 50% Refund - 3 to 7 days prior to meeting time
  • No Refund - Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time

Reviews

C

Cory B.

4 / 5
Sep 1, 2023

Nice day with Hideo

Hideo was very knowledgeable, and provided us with a nice tour of Kanazawa. He was very prompt and arranged a car for us. His English was a little bit difficult to understand, but overall he was a good guide.

Hideo Y.

Thank you for joining my Kanazawa tour. I enjoyed guiding you Kanazawa tour, and we had a wonderful time in Kenrokuen Garden, Higashichaya, Oyama shrine, and Samurai house. Luckily not so hot day it was nice walking. Best wishes for continuing good health and success.

E

Elif C.

5 / 5
Jul 4, 2023

An amazing experience….

He guided 16 people and helped us every steps of tour. He guided very well. He made my dream came true. He is very special for my life…..

Hideo Y.

I'm very glad to have your excellent review. We visited Kumano Sanzan, one of the World Cultural Heritage sites in Japan. The main scenic spot was Nachi Waterfall with a height of 133 meters, the longest dropping waterfall in Japan. We could see the water flowing down swiftly to the basin. Furthermore we visited three main shrines such as Kumano Nachi Taisha, Kumano Hongu Taisha, and Kumano Hayatama Taisha using micro bus. I wish you and all your family good health and happiness. I hope to see you again.

A

Alexander R.

5 / 5
Jun 11, 2023

Excellent Koyasan day trip by Hideo.

I had an excellent Koyasan day trip with Hideo. I always had an interest in exploring Japanese Buddhism so I was happy that he was able to accommodate my request and we were able to visit their important sites there. He was very kind, knowledgable and flexible in arranging alternative transport despite the train line suspension due to the recent flooding. I will be sure to use his service again when visit Osaka and Koyasan area.

Hideo Y.

I'm very happy to receive your message. We visited Kongobuji Temple, Danjogaran, and Okunoin, We could see Mandara stereographically in Konpon Daito and a lot of popular samurai graves in the Okunoin. You are the first foreigner who have known Japanese popular samurais and history very well. I wish you all the best in the future. I look forward to seeing you again.

R

Rainer H.

5 / 5
May 12, 2023

Wonderful and interesting day at Matsue and Izumo

We have used in various cities worldwide private tour guides but Hideo Y. ranks definitly under the top 3! In preparation of our trip I had a few conversations with him about the schedule and he always replied swift and gave precise answers pr proposals. So before arriving in Matsue we had an itinerary which was designed to fit our time schedule (pick-up at hotel and send us to Izumo airport at the end) for approx. 8hrs. He was on time and gave us first a timetable for the day (including bus costs - very important as you need to have exact amount available when getting on a bus!), maps with our tour and further info to remember our tour! Very well prepared. During our tour he new all details of the various spots and linked information from one spot to the other, so we got a very good understanding about the local history. We only can highly recommend him for English spoken groups!

Hideo Y.

I'm very glad to receive your excellent review. I'm very honored that I'm one of the top 3 guides accrding to your judge. My dream is to guide all the prefectures. For now I guided 24 prefectures, about the half of them. In the future I would like to continue to get the local information and prepare the tour. Thank you.

$228/ per group

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