Nara

Its Great Buddha Hall, sheltering a bronze Buddha nearly 15m tall, is among the largest timber structures on earth. A pillar hole said to match the Buddha's nostril has a queue to squeeze through, and Unkei and Kaikei carved the gate guardians in 1203.

The park's deer were long held to be messengers of the gods and are now a national Natural Monument. Raise a deer cracker from the stalls and they bow, but when you run out you must show empty palms before they give up, and autumn stags in rut can butt.

A shrine said to date from 768, with about 3,000 stone and hanging lanterns along its approach and corridors. All are lit at once only for the Mantoro festivals at Setsubun in February and on 14 and 15 August, and otherwise you walk among them dark.

The Fujiwara clan temple, whose five-storey pagoda went under major repair in 2023 and will be screened off for years. Meanwhile the six-armed Ashura in the National Treasure Hall is the main event, and with no outer wall the grounds merge into the park.

The old merchant quarter south of Kofuku-ji, its lanes still lined with narrow, deep wooden houses behind lattice fronts. Red cloth monkeys hung from the eaves are charms that take misfortune in your place, and one old townhouse opens free to show its layout.

Two gardens in one, an Edo-period front and a Meiji-period rear, borrowing the roof of Todai-ji's Great South Gate and Mount Wakakusa as backdrop. It pairs well with Yoshikien next door, and the teahouse inside serves matcha facing the garden.

Home to the oldest surviving wooden buildings on earth, among Japan's first World Heritage listings in 1993. It sits south-west of central Nara, a 20-minute walk from JR Horyuji Station, and the Golden Hall, pagoda and treasure gallery fill half a day.

Its East Pagoda, standing since the Nara period, is the temple's only building left from its founding, and it reappeared in 2020 after a dismantling repair begun in 2009. Beside it the rebuilt red West Pagoda lets you compare old and new in one view.

A rounded, grassy hill east of Nara Park, with the Great Buddha Hall roof and the city laid out below the top. On the fourth Saturday of January the hillside's dry grass is set alight after dark in the Yamayaki, and the trail closes for part of the winter.

A hall on the hillside of the Todai-ji grounds, its stage-like veranda looking out over Nara. Each March during Omizutori great torches are swung along that veranda, and on any other day you can climb up to it even at night.

Founded in 759 by Ganjin, a Tang monk who reached Japan blind after five failed crossings. Its Golden Hall is the only main hall of the Nara period still standing, and his National Treasure portrait statue is shown only three days each June.

The plain where the palace of the 710 capital stood, with the Suzaku Gate and Daigokuden throne hall rebuilt in period style. Walking it costs nothing, and the Kintetsu line runs right across the middle, so the palace grounds slide past the train windows.

A museum in Nara Park whose Meiji-era Western hall holds Buddhist sculpture laid out by period. From late October to mid-November the yearly Shosoin exhibition shows treasures from the imperial storehouse, and the wait often passes an hour.

A ridge south of Nara with about 30,000 cherry trees, Japan's most famous blossom slope; bloom climbs through April from Shimo Senbon to Oku Senbon. Kinpusen-ji's huge wooden Zao-do stands midway. Blossom weekends ban cars, so take the train and ropeway.

A seventh-century tomb in Asuka, its earth gone to leave a chamber of some thirty huge boulders bare, widely thought to be the grave of the statesman Soga no Umako. You can step inside, and most tour the village on bikes hired by the station.

An ancient shrine with no main sanctuary: Mount Miwa behind it is the deity, worshipped through a triple-linked torii. Climbing means registering at Sai Shrine and wearing a white sash, and on the slopes photos and anything but water are banned.

A World Heritage temple in Naramachi's lanes, successor to Asuka-dera, Japan's first full-scale temple. Part of the Gokurakubo roof still carries tiles fired in the late sixth century, darker than the rest, and it stays far quieter than the big temples.

Called the women's Koya because it welcomed women when Mount Koya barred them. A small five-storey pagoda of about 16m tops mossy steps, and rhododendrons bloom in late April. Reaching it takes a bus from Kintetsu Muroguchi-Ono, so set aside a half-day.

A temple hidden in the housing south of Kasuga Taisha, where twelve clay guardian generals of the Nara period ring the seated Healing Buddha. The hall is dim, so let your eyes adjust before their glaring faces emerge; the park crowds rarely make it this far.