Nara is a popular tourist destination for the deer park, but there’s more than just the deer to make the visit worth it! The entrance to the park can feel like a lot because many tourists don’t go into the park much further than where the deer gather but the further into the park you go, the quieter it gets and there’s a lot of great sites to be seen! I’ll go over the things we did for you to consider for your trip!
Tamukeyama Hachimangu
Tamukeyama Hachimangu is one of the many shrines in Nara Park and is nicely situated further within, surrounded by trees. It really is rather peaceful here, making it a great place to spend a bit of time. Being further into the park, we found the crowds a lot smaller, making it easier to walk around and take everything in.
Kasugataisha Shrine
There are actually quite a few shrines here and the bronze & stone lanterns (nearly 3000 I believe!) make this area quite unique. With lots of smaller paths winding around the collection of shrines, this is a great place to add the list. It’s also the quietest area (in terms of shrines) that we found, making it a great place for a stroll without feeling like you’re getting in anyones way.
Mount Wakakusa
Out the back of the park, there are some walking trails you can take (there’s a small fee to get onto the track). We went up to Mount Wakakusa and I think this was the highlight of our Nara day for me! I’m a big sucker for good views and this track definitely provided! The autumn tree colours on this track really were *chef’s kiss*. It’s a reasonably short track, although with a lot of stairs; we spent roughly two hours to walk up and back down again, with plenty of stops to admire the views.
Deer
And of course, the deer are still cool! They’re all over the park, we even met some right up at the highest peak! They’re definitely more pushy close to the entrance because that’s where they expect to be fed. If you want to feed them, people are selling deer biscuits all around so there are plenty of chances to get some. It’s a nicer experience to buy some a bit further into the park so you don’t get as ambushed by crowds of deer looking for food. Remember to be careful around them too! They are wild animals after all and they can get aggressive, especially the males.
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