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USD $69.00
Nara Afternoon Tour of Todaiji Temple, Deer Park and Kasuga Shrine from Kyoto
Kyoto, Japan
Venture to Nara from Kyoto for the afternoon. Due to its past as the first permanent capital of Japan, Nara remains full of historic treasures, including some of Japan's oldest Buddhist temples. Accompanied by your local guide, you'll visit the Todaiji Temple to see Japan's largest Buddha, Deer Park - home to hundreds of freely roaming deer, and Kasuga Shrine - Nara's most celebrated shrine.
Japan's first permanent capital was established in the year 710 at Heijo, the city now known as Nara. As the influence and political ambitions of the city's powerful Buddhist monasteries grew to become a serious threat to the government, the capital was moved to Nagaoka in 784.
Nara is located in the Kinai plain, less than one hour from Kyoto. Due to its past as the first permanent capital, it remains full of historic treasures, including some of Japan's oldest Buddhist temples.
Visit the Todaiji Temple, constructed in the 8th century, is one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples. In it's huge precincts are various national treasures of Japan. The Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall) is one of the world's largest wooden buildings. One of Japan's best-known temples, it enshrines a gigantic bronze statue of Buddha. A wonder of religious architecture.
See over 1,000 tame deer roam freely in the verdant 1,250 acres peaceful park. If you wish to feed the deer, they will gladly eat from your hand. Special deer food is available for sale in the park grounds.
Tour concludes with a visit to Kasuga Shrine, the most famous and beautiful Shinto shrine in Nara, it features some 3,000 antique stone and bronze lanterns.
WHEELCHAIR USERS BE AWARE THAT THIS TOUR IS NOT FULLY ACCESSIBLE
Review by: Federico R, April 2018
If you go to Kyoto and do NOT do this, you are missing out. This afternoon is well worth it.
Review by: Michael S, April 2018
The Nara Afternoon tour was good, but too crowded. The guide seemed annoyed with us at times and her explanations when we were at the temple area were too difficult to hear. So, a lot of the group just wondered off. The Temple, Shrine and souvenir shop made for a good day out of Kyoto. Perhaps the tour guide could explain a little more on the bus before we get to the places.
Review by: Cliff S, April 2018
This tour was just ok as it could have been so much better. First of all it's a huge bus tour so be prepared. The good news is that they do start on time and stick to a schedule, the bad news is that it takes 1 hour to get there and back so after they walk you through Nara to see the Temple, they give you literally 20 minutes of free time, which is crazy as that also includes the time it takes to walk back to the bus. So basically you traveled around the world, drove 1 hour all the way to Nara and back and only get 20 minutes with the Deer? This is unacceptable as they should give people a full 1 hour. They are in such a rush to get to drive to the next Shrine and turn around and get back home that there is no free time. If anything they really need to start 1 hour earlier to give people some free time to roam and interact with the Deer. I spoke to many people who were upset and 1 couple who took off on their own as they wanted more free time. My recommendation is to take the train and go there on your own.
Review by: Sumudu A, April 2018
The tour guide (Tammy) was very knowledgeable and entertaining but the tour itself was very rushed. There was little time to see any of the sights properly - didn't even get time to feed the deer at Nara. Having been to Nara before, I know there was so much more to explore.
Review by: virtue728, March 2018
This tour was very enjoyable._br/_ Saw a lot of deer. Temple looked very nice._br/_ Enjoyable.
Review by: Jean L, February 2018
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Monique A, January 2018
It was wonderful being able to get to all of these sites in one afternoon and not have to worry about finding my own transportation. Deer Park is absolutely a must! Our tour guide was knowledgeable and made the experience very worth it.
Review by: Xandie J, January 2018
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Mahen M, December 2017
It wasn't bad considering you get to see some amazing places on the tour.
Review by: Rolando G, November 2017
The tour group was too large. It was difficult to keep track of the tour guide and to learn anything as one could not hear much with so many in the group. I felt the tour was rushed and not much time spent at each site.
Review by: Michael F, November 2017
Good tour and probably difficult to do on your own. However, like the other bus tours, you will spent a lot of time on the bus. Tour buses where everywhere and caused traffic to back up. Once the bus parked, there was a bit of a long walk. The amount of time spent at the sites was limited, although there was enough time to stop for 20 minutes at an unscheduled stores. This should be revealed in the description since most of us had no desire to spend time at a store, especially when it took time from other tour sites.
Review by: Daniel V, November 2017
The tour was excellent and I highly recommend it.
Review by: Thomas L, October 2017
Fun day.
Review by: Arthur L, October 2017
Very good guide, lots of explanation and commentary
Review by: Reto G, October 2017
Informative tour with a very friendly guide
Review by: Maria Andrea A, September 2017
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Joanne P, July 2017
Must do tour for a visit and background to a Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine
Review by: Joyce C, July 2017
Had a very nice afternoon visiting these places. Nara is a little far to get to on your own, so the group bus was ideal.
Review by: jjapetr, July 2017
Great tour! Tour guide and employees speaks very good english and very friendly.
Review by: Rosemary V, June 2017
Well worth doing to get your orientation. Lots of Dear everywhere.
Review by: Ashish M, June 2017
Nice time. Although the guide seemed to be in rush
Review by: Dennis Y, June 2017
Great tour. You have hundreds of deer next to you. A must tour if you are on a family trip in Kyoto.
Review by: Dennis Y, June 2017
Great tour. You have hundreds of deer next to you. A must tour if you are on a family trip in Kyoto.
Review by: Lisa W, June 2017
The best thing about this tour is that we were had very convenient transportation from Kyoto. The tour itself was brief and high level. There wasn't much detail re: historical context or any insider information. However, the transportation was the number one priority for my mother and I as we didn't want to figure out how to get around ourselves.
Review by: Belkis Carolina P, May 2017
The Deer Park was amazing!!! Lovely tour
Review by: Kimberly O, May 2017
Just fabulous! Nara is a must see, if you have the honor of visiting Japan. We learned so much on this tour.
Review by: Seong Hwa T, May 2017
Ms. Yuki, our tour guide was excellent. Good command of the English language and gave informative narratives about the highlights of Nara and Kasuga Shrine.
Review by: okhentsins, April 2017
Overall a really great tour. My favorite aspect of the tour was the Kasuga Shrine which was unique in that it had so many stone lanterns on the way to the shrine. The Todaiji temple was also incredibly majestic and is so large that it dwarfs anything and everything around it. We were incredibly impressed. Our tour guide was incredibly humorous, knowledgeable, and a good story teller. We were impressed. The deer park was interesting, if you have not seen deer before. We found it to be gimmicky and touristy. We are of the school of thought that animals should be in the wild rather than in a park with their horns cut off being hand fed by tourist. That being said, I think the tour had so many positives that the deer park did not really take much away from the experience. We are glad that we went and recommend it to others.
Review by: Tim, December 2016
If you don't want the hassle of figuring out how to get to Nara from Osaka or Kyoto where we stayed, this tour gets you there with no hassles. Not a lot of time to walk around and explore the two sites on the tour - the Giant Buddah Temple/Deer Park and Kasuga-Taisha Temple but you also don't have to figure out parking and driving either - a trade-off. Overall, the tour guide was OK.
Review by: Regina L, December 2016
Best tour! Knowledgeable guide, beautiful sites - superb experience
Review by: Vega R, November 2016
We took the tour bus from Kyoto south to Nara, a trip of about an hour. The bus parked in the lot for the Todaji Temple and the Great Buddha Hall. Along the path to the temple are lots of people and lots of deer looking for treats. There are a couple of stands selling deer food, so the deer were not going anywhere. They ignore you unless you have food, then they come running. Some have their antlers removed so they can't hurt you, but a few still have small antlers. They don't go up the steps into the temple, however. The guide was very knowledgeable about the temple. In addition to the huge Great Buddha inside the hall, there are smaller gilded Buddhas on either side and models of the hall before and after the hall was reconstructed after fire. Going back to the bus, you go through the deer again, but they don't bother you unless you have food - they just ignore you.
Review by: jfcjb002, November 2016
In context I did this at the end of my stay in Kyoto. So it was relaxing to sit back in the bus and not think about timetables or anything. The Todaiji temple is extraordinary, to be a villager in the past this temple must have been God like, well worth it. The Shinto shrine was I think to be fair to both religions was nice as well but less spectacular. There is so much to see in Kyoto, if you are a bit pooped and need a relaxing afternoon/evening, choose this. Plus the meeting location is easy to find and accessible to Kyoto station across the road from 'back' entrance, downstairs they didn't mention at the front of the Avanti Building.
Review by: Karineh G, October 2016
Charming afternoon spent in the company of the deer as well as seeing some historic temples!
Review by: FabianoKM, September 2016
Unfortunately I forgot the name of the tour guide, but he was very funny and gave us great information of the places and the landscape until we got there. The temples were beautiful and deserve a visit, specially Todaiji with the massive statues._br/_ The deer park is at the same place of Todaiji temple, and there is plenty of time to visit the temple and to play with the deers. They sell special cookies to give them, so if you buy the cookies, be ready to have a lot of deers gathering around you and maybe even biting lightly your clothes. It can be scary, but it's a fun experience! For those not willing to take such risk, there are deers laying around and taking naps, so you can gently approach and cherish them._br/_ Unlike other bus tours, this one didn't feel rushed. We felt we had enough time to visit the places and take great pictures.
Review by: felixfvm1980, September 2016
Tour was great. Pick-up-point is easily reachable. Just be aware of the circumstance, that the Kyoto station is big. It might take some time to find your way through it.
Review by: Vladimir K, August 2016
Very good
Review by: Alan F, August 2016
The tour was very good, allowing plenty of time for siteseeing. The guide spoke excellent English and was most helpful. At the end of the tour, we were returned to our hotel on the tour bus.
Review by: Ana P, July 2016
It was just too boring, there were too much people everywhere and we could not even listen to our guide.
Review by: Leroy D, July 2016
Really great experience and met some nice people.
Review by: Erez R, June 2016
Very impressing place. Nice and prffesional guide.
Review by: Jacqui C, June 2016
A really good trip for half a day _br/_ Very informative knowledgeable guide _br/_ Good informative stories on the drive there _br/_ Very enjoyable
Review by: Maria Delia R, June 2016
This tour was amazing! I was in awe when we visited the Todaiji temple. Walking around at the deer park was a nice experience. Kasiuga shrine was beautiful.
Review by: Iris D, June 2016
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Marilyn G, June 2016
Tour guide provided general info, but not enough real history and cultural information.
Review by: Michalene R, June 2016
I suggest you couple this one with the Kyoto city tour and do it in one day. As a stand alone tour it was too much riding in the bus and not enough time in Nara. Just too much riding to Nara and not enough time to do the tour was the general concern.
Review by: Irwin H, June 2016
Overall everything was done on schedule and sites were visited as promised. Appreciated email updates.
Review by: William S, May 2016
Excellent tour - this is a great way to see Nara if you are short on time.
Review by: Paul F, April 2016
Excellent trip, great guide and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Review by: ernp1663, April 2016
This was a great afternoon tour, if you only have a short period of time in Kyoto. Our tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. The Todaiji Temple with the largest Buddha and other guardians were incredible. The massive amounts of deer in the area was equally enjoyable. We must have feed them 5-6 packs of biscuits which you can buy on the premises, as they provided a lot of great photo ops and were friendly to pet. Kasuga shrine was a great experience and were amazed by the sheer volume of the lanterns in the area, as well as more deer roaming freely around. Great Tour.
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