Nara Transportation

There are several types of bus passes for Nara.

(i) One Day Pass (only for 'fixed fare zone' in Nara City)
Adult : JPY500

(ii) This Pass allows you to travel in Nara City('flat fare zone' only), Sahoji, Nishinokyo and Tono areas. Heijokyo Capital and Toshodaiji Temple are covered with this Pass.
Adult : JPY810

(iii) One Day Pass (Nara, Nishinokyo and Ikaruga Areas)
Adult : JPY1,600

(iv) Two-Day Nara Yamatoji Wide Pass
Adult : JPY3,150

For a map of the bus system in Nara, go to the following website. hmm.. seems like there's "Free rides" which I do not know of when I was there.. maybe you can check it out and tell me...

There are two trains that will take you near Nara Park: Kintetsu Nara Station and JR Nara Station. You will need to use Kintetsu Railway to get to other sites in the city.

Kintetsu Railway can take you to the Heijo Palace ruins and Saidaiji Temple at Yamato Saidaiji Station. It will also get you within easy walking distance of Toshodaiji and Yakushiji Temple from Nishinokyo Station.

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"Vanbina " is the Bus following a circular route in Nara City main route.
On foot, the Nara city sightseeing is so hard. If you want to travel in one day , the Kofuku-ji area, the Todaiji-area, the area of Kasuga Taisha, the Takahata circumference, the area of Nara-cho and so on, " Vanbina " intelligible for foreign tourists is recommendation.
A numbering machine and the English notation are given so that intelligibly also for foreign tourists. Moreover, while also giving the English notation to the route figure and the timetable in main bus stops that are installed with the color of Vanbina .
It has a big window which can enjoy a wide scene, and is prepared for the rear the view seat which has arranged the seat outward. It is the interior design of the grain tone which uses the MUKU material of a cherry tree in plenty, and the trip feeling to an ancient city is enlivened.
The charge is 180 yen.

Nara is best reached by train.
Nara has two competing train stations : JR Nara Station , on the west side of the town centre, and the private Kintetsu-Nara Station in the city centre.

From Kyoto
The quickest option is a Limited Express train on the private Kintetsu-Kyoto line (every 30min; 33min; ¥1110); the ordinary express takes a little longer and you have to change at Yamato-Saidaiji (1-2 hourly; 45min; ¥610). JR also has a choice of express trains (8 daily; 45min; ¥740) and regular trains (every 30min; 1hr 20min; ¥740) from Kyoto.

From Osaka
Trains on the private Kintetsu-Nara line (from Osaka's Kintetsu-Namba Station) arrive at the Kintetsu-Nara Station (every 15min; 30-40min; ¥540-1040). Alternatively, take a JR line train from Osaka Station (every 20min; 40min; ¥780), or from JR Namba Station (every 20min; 30-40min; ¥740) to JR Nara Station.

If you're coming here from Kansai International airport , you can go into central Osaka to pick up a train, or hop on a limousine bus (hourly; 1hr 35min; ¥1800), which stops at both Nara's train stations.

From Kyoto Station, go to platform 9 and take the rapid train to Nara. It's a 45 minutes jouney and there's one that leave at 9.19am.

Once you arrived at Nara, go to bus stop no. 1 and take bus no. 2 to Nara Park which is the gateway to all the ancient sights in Nara.

This bus will take you to the World Heritage sites.

You can get a one-day bus pass for around 800yen. The pass is called "Sekai Isan Guruto Pass".

The bus departs every 6o minutes and goes to the following sites:

Toshodaiji Temple ~ Yasushiji Temple ~ Suzahu-Mon Gate (the ruins of Nara Heijokyo Capital) ~ Nara Shiseki Bunka (Culture) Centre ~ Kintetsu Nara Station ~ Kofukuji Temple ~ Himuro Jinja ~ Nara National Museum ~ Daibutsuden Kasugataishamae ~ Nakashimizu-cho ~ Gankoji Temple ~ JR Nara Station

You can get on and off the bus as you please.

The Shinkansen is by far the most convenient way to travel around Japan. Unfortunately it isn't very cheap! Luckily there is a Japan JR Rail Pass available to foreign travellers. See the JR East website for details:

It must be bought abroad and stamped in Japan before you can use it. There are several options including one week (unlimited JR travel except for the super fast Nozomi service), two week, JR East and JR West passes. Check with your local travel agent for the best option or click on the link to see for yourself!

Here is a link to a very cool page that lets you see the routing between cities/stations/ports within Japan. It will tell you the route and includes the cost and time. http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/.

There are many people who run around Nara with Rickshaws transporting tourists from the station to the temples and shrines. Although it is quite easy to walk you may like to experience a ride in a rickshaw (at least then the deer won't attack you or eat your map!!)