Solo Travel in Nara

A characterful guesthouse in a traditional house with tatami rooms and a garden — a peaceful, friendly base.

A long-established restaurant specialising in kakinoha-zushi — Nara's traditional persimmon-leaf-wrapped sushi.

An exquisite strolling garden using borrowed scenery of Tōdai-ji's gate and the hills — serene and uncrowded.

Nara's polished luxury hotel near the park, with spacious rooms, a spa and refined dining.

Nara's most celebrated shrine, approached through forest and famous for thousands of bronze and stone lanterns.

A historic temple with an elegant five-storey pagoda — one of Nara's defining silhouettes.

A cosy café in a converted Naramachi storehouse — good pour-overs and a quiet spot to rest between temples.

A sacred, protected ancient forest behind Kasuga shrine, criss-crossed by peaceful walking trails.

A grassy hillside above the park with a short climb to sweeping sunset views over Nara and its temples.

Watch the famously frenetic high-speed mochi-pounding show, then eat fresh yomogi mochi on the spot.

A lattice-fronted merchant quarter of machiya townhouses, craft shops, cafés and small museums.

A huge park where over a thousand free-roaming, bowing sika deer mingle with visitors among ancient temples.

One of the world's largest wooden buildings, sheltering a colossal 15-metre bronze Great Buddha — Nara's must-see.

Three small, beautiful gardens — pond, moss and tea-ceremony flower — free to foreign visitors and rarely busy.