Nara Early Morning Tour (Kyoto or Osaka Departure Available)

This tour exceeded my expectations! Haruka was warm, enthusiastic, and clearly passionate about sharing Nara with visitors. She made every stop interesting and always took the time to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves. The pace was perfect, and I never felt rushed. It was one of the highlights of my trip to Japan. Highly recommended!

We had a wonderful time on our tour of Nara with Genki! Genki’s knowledge of the history of Nara was impressive, and we very much enjoyed the tour! Highly recommend!

The tour was excellent! The highlight was the guide Shin. Very attentive, friendly and with a vast knowledge about the history of the places visited. Enriched our journey! Despite the rainy day we enjoy a lot!

We were fortunate enough to have Haruka as our guide for the early morning Nara trip. She set up an amazing experience for my daughter and I, as we navigated through Nara Park and several sights. We were able to avoid crowds, find a cool place to beat the heat for a while, and learned more than we ever expected to. Also as a local to the area, we were given amazing lunch recommendations and were not disappointed. I would absolutely recommend booking this tour and asking for Haruka.

Haruka provided an incredible experience for us as our Nara guide for half of the day. She is a delightful person and knowledgeable guide, and it always felt like she was taking us to a special place or on an uncharted path no one else had the opportunity to do unless they were with her, which made us feel like VIPs. She also had visited our home state, so that was fun to have in common as well! Enjoyed the tour of Kofuku-ji Temple, but wish we could have seen the pagoda (it's undergoing restoration and covered in scaffolding/hidden from view and won't be open until 2031), but even at this first stop, we could see the early morning tour was worth it. There was only one other tour group around at that time (e.g., 4-5 people), so we basically had the temple, grounds and deer all to ourselves. It was great. We then made our way to the Kasuga Grand Shrine, but got to have a fun detour when we heard someone playing a French horn and realized the deer around us were running toward the sound. Haruka suggested we follow the deer, who were making their way toward the man with the horn because he feeds them acorns from his bag. What a unique sight and experience to have! We then made our way back to the shrine and viewed the many lanterns that adorn its walkways, as well as view how the shrine completely honors nature by building its buildings around trees, etc. (one building was built around an 800-year-old tree's offshoot/branch, as the branch simply went through one of the building's windows). After we left the shrine, we took a small break in a building that houses Nara's indoor Noh Theater. Haruka spoke to one of the personnel there, and the theater was open that day with no events planned, so we actually got to view it with no one else inside. Again, a completely unexpected and cool experience to have. We lastly made our way to Todai-ji Temple, and again, Haruka took us through a beautiful garden where we were the only ones around on the way there. Amazing. As we approached the temple, the number of people exponentially grew, but this was the first time in the few hours we had already been on the tour. The temple, its Nandaimon Gate and its enormous bronze Buddha statue are spectacular, and we are so glad we got to see all of these sights, but they were made just that more special with Haruka. As we made our way back to the train station via bus and walking, the hordes of people walking the opposite way made us even more glad we had opted for the early morning tour. Haruka also helped us get on the right train(s) and told us what station to disembark. Highly, highly recommend.

We had a great time! Josh our guide was very knowledgeable, didn’t rush us and always made sure everyone was together. Would definitely recommend!

We highly recommend this walking tour! Even in the rain, Nara is gorgeous and the deer are amazing. Our guide was very sweet and knowledgeable. Our hardest hurdle was getting from Kyoto to Nara station. The train station trapped us and we missed our first train option to Nara. I wish I would have met our guide at the Kyoto station and avoided the chaos. Allow extra time for navigating the Kyoto station. Our Nara guide was very thoughtful and waited for us and still did as much of the tour as possible! Very happy and loved the experience!!!!

Haruka was very knowledgeable and very patient with all of us. We got to appreciate the tour knowing the history than most walking by ourselves. She was patient and answered all our questions about Nara and Japan in general. She messaged ahead to provide information about how to get there and where to meet, which was a nice touch. She stayed with us to get us back to the station and shared options for food and other stuff in Nara. Highly recommend this!

My family and I had a wonderful time on our Nara tour. Our tour guide, Itsuki, was very helpful and answered all our questions. Although it was very hot outside, she made sure to stop when we needed a break and generously let us borrow her fan. Overall, our experience was very educational and fun. I’d like to add one more thing — we were lucky to spot an excellent cafe called Kojoato near the Todaiji temple taxi drop off area. It was clean, quiet, affordable, and the food was delicious. Highly recommend for lunch following the tour.

My guide momoka did a good job. We were at Nara park My guide showed me around and made the tour interesting. Even shared pictures and videos of me so I had some of me which was nice