Kyoto & Nara Highlights: Private Alphard Tour with Guide & Driver

Fushimi Inari Taisha, founded in the year 711 to worship the Shinto god of rice, Inari. Consistently listed as one of the most popular places in Japan. It is the most visited shrine in all of Japan. Over 2.5 million Japanese will visit the shrine during the first three days of the new year to pray for good luck, particularly in work and business. Join them and other tourists and locals climbing through the 1,000= torii gates that line the hillside and bask in over 1300 years of history.

Walk around the Gion area and take in the traditional townscape of Kyoto. You will also have your lunch and free time in this area. Enjoy a bite and you can also shop for souvenirs in some of the traditional old stores in the area. If you are lucky, you might see a Geiko or Maiko (Geisha) walking around the area.

Arrive in Nara Park and disembark with your tour conductor here at Yumekaze Plaza for a quick bathroom stop before continuing with the tour.

Walk toward The Great South Gate, or Nandaimon, the main gates of Todai-ji temple, and bask in its size of this great structure. The Nandaimon gate, which stands at the entrance of the approach to Todaiji Temple, is a massive structure with a height of about 25.5m, and the Ni-o guardian statues located in Nandaimon are also a site to behold. Walk through this great gate, and see the magnificent large wooden Ni-o statues. housed in the great Nandaimon Gates.

Todaiji Temple was built to pray for the peace of the country. The Great Buddha Hall, where the Great Buddha sits, is one of the largest wooden structure in the world, with a width of about 57m, a depth of about 50m, and a height of about 48m. Originally completed in 751, the structure was destroyed in 1181 and 1567. The current building we see today was rebuilt in 1709, and was registered as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.

Here our tour conductor will talk about the history of Nara and the nearby temples while assisting you in feeding and playing with the famous bowing deer of Nara Park. Vendors sell crackers to feed the deer for 200 yen per pack.