All Nara Tours & Excursions in 2026

Starting from Nara station this is around a 3 hour walk via Nara Park to the Great Buddha shrine. Our guide Nana was friendly, knowledgeable about the sites and patient with all members of the group especially since we kept getting held up with kids running around. Make sure to wear good walking shoes and keep a hat/umbrella. Overall a great experience.

We booked the private 1/2 day tour Yuuki was an incredible guide! We immediately felt a great rapport with her and her British accent was superb for an American couple. We spent 5 hours with her seeing the sights of Nara. Not only was she able to answer every question we posed( we were both history majors) she translated everything we asked her to Lunch was exceptional and she guided me to the perfect souvenir shop which had exactly what I had been looking for all over Japan for the past week Had the deer food in her bag the entire time so fed the deer throughout the day Would be the perfect guide for any primary English speaking tour esp with teens Caveat— blond hair and piercings, which reminded me of my kids at home. Not the guide for anyone who would be uncomfortable with that appearance. She was brilliant and recommend her enthusiastically I consider this tour to be “easy” in degree, but there are quite a few stairs and some uphill walking. Saw many families with strollers but no wheelchairs

I went on this tour with my 26-year-old son, and it was very well organized. I really appreciated how clearly everything was explained, including where and when to meet at every stop we made. I was not very impressed with the lunch, but we always enjoy trying new foods when we travel. Our guide, Sakura, was very knowledgeable and explained everything very well. We truly enjoyed this tour and would recommend it to others.

This experience was perfect. Noor was our tour guide and he did a fantastic job helping us enjoy the best of Kyoto. He was timely and prompt, picking us up on time and dropping us off when we needed to be back. He was just our driver but also tour guide who provided us many insights into Kyoto’s vast history and Japanese culture. Overall a great experience, I highly recommend.

We spent 6 hours in Nara with Junichi Taguchi and were impressed by how much we were able to see and learn in that time. Traveling as a group of seven adults, we visited Kasuga Taisha, enjoyed lunch at Mizuya Chaya, and explored Tōdai-ji—including the Great Buddha Hall and surrounding grounds. We also spent time at Yoshikien Garden and Irie Taikichi Memorial Museum of Photography, along with encounters with Nara’s famous bowing deer. Junichi shared clear, informative context throughout the day, adding depth to each stop without ever feeling overwhelming. His pacing was thoughtful, and he kept our group moving smoothly while still allowing time to take things in. A well-organized and engaging tour—highly recommend Junichi for anyone visiting Nara.

Yuya was a wonderful guide! He taught us about Japan’s history and added a few places he thought we might be interested in along the time. He didn’t rush us at all, in fact he helped me locate the goshuin at the various temples and shrines we went to. We ended up going past our booked time but he didn’t mind and still didn’t rush us through anything. Absolutely recommend Yuya!

Ikki was a kind, knowledgeable, and oh so helpful tour guide! This was our second tour of Nara and we learned so much more about the history, shrines and temples than our first experience (with another guide). Ikki knew the best picture spots, as well as the best place to feed the deer. 10/10 recommendation!

George is an extraordinary person and guide. The tour was filled not only with historical information but also with interesting things you don’t find in history books. He was patient with the children, who were quite fussy because the temperature outside was around 39 degrees Celsius. I warmly recommend him.