Where to Stay in Nara

Around Nara Park – Close Distance to Attractions

Advantages:

1. Staying around Nara Park, you can save much time for going to scenic areas as many major attractions in Nara are just around Nara Park, including Todai-ji Temple, Nara National Museum, and Kasuga Taisha Shrine. In tourist peak season, you can get to those attractions early in the morning before crowds arrive. In addition, after a day’s traveling, you can quickly return to the hotel to rest.

2. You can also enjoy a quiet environment. The Park is not very close to the railway station. In addition, at night, there are not many tourists, so don’t worry about noise.

Kintetsu Nara Station – Convenient Traffic

Advantages:

1. Convenient Traffic: Kintetsu Nara Station is Nara's traffic hub. Around the station, there are buses on different lines, by which you can get to your planned attractions. In addition, staying here, you can also quickly take a train to Osaka or Tokyo the next morning without a rush.

Buses around Kintetsu Nara Station

2. Walking distance to Nara Park: Kintetsu Nara Station is only 6 minutes’ walk to Nara Park. If you come to Nara at night, staying around the Station, you don’t need to get up very early the next day to begin your Nara trip.

3. Easy Access to Dining and Shopping: Kintetsu Nara Station is only a 2-minute’ walk to Higashimuki Shopping Street where there are restaurants, convenience stores, and shops, and their opening hours last to late night. There you can have meals, buy some souvenirs, or take a walk at night.

Restaurants around Kintetsu Nara Station

4. Many Cheap Hotels: The prices of the hotels around the Kintetsu Railway Station are generally cheaper than in other places.

Despite all the above advantages, there are also disadvantages of staying around Kintetsu Railway Station. First, it is a little noisy around the bustling station. Second, some hotels are cheap but the environment may not so good as you expect.

JR Nara Station – Convenient Traffic

Staying around Nara Station has the same advantages and disadvantages as staying around Kintetsu Nara Station, including advanced traffic, lower cost of staying in hotels, the convenience of dining and shopping, noise, and the average hotel environment.

So should you stay around JR Nara Station or Kintetsu Nara Station? The latter is better as it is closer to Nara Park.

JR Nara Station

Naramachi – Experience Historical Atmosphere

Staying around Naramachi, you can feel the strong historical atmosphere because Naramachi is the most ancient district in Nara. Here, you can see many old wooden buildings with about 100 years of history. In addition, Naramachi owns many ancient Japanese homestays for you to try.

You don’t need to worry about dining as there are restaurants and dessert shops here, some of which have operated for more than 100 years.

Traditional Homestays in Naramachi

Staying in Kyoto and Osaka can be Considered

You can also consider staying in Kyoto or Osaka after a day’s traveling in Nara. It is only 40km (25mi) and 35km (22mi) far from Kyoto and Osaka respectively. By train, either Osaka or Kyoto can be reached in 45min-1 hour from Nara. The advantage of staying in the two cities are the abundant and colorful nightlife, especially in Osaka; while the disadvantage is the higher price on average.