Day 2 Osaka Trip, we took the train to Nara City – it’s an easy day trip!
(ภาษาไทย)
Nara Park is the main attraction here, and there is definitely a lot of deer here, but there is also a famous temple (Todaiji Temple) and Shrines.
Our cost to visit Nara city from Osaka was only 1120Yen for a round trip train ride (~$11) but if you buy a “Day Pass”, you may pay a little less.
Nara Park has free admission, but if you have to pay to enter the Todaiji Temple (Must Go!). The train to line to Nara from Namba Station is called the Kintetsu Line. It takes about 35-40 mins from Namba to Nara station. 
At Nara Station, look for the exit for “Nara Park” which is exit number 2.
Once you got off the station, you will see Higashimuki Shopping street right in front of you. We stopped here for lunch before we coming back to Namba.
From the station to Nara Park, you just keep walking forward for just a few minutes. Suddenly, you will see deer walking around on the street sidewalk and in the park.
Don’t get too excited, you will see more!
Nara Park is a huge public park. The locals like to visit the park during Cherry Blossom season (~the last week of March to the beginning of April). There are so many cherry blossom trees around the park.
We’re here in the 2nd week of April, it’s still beautiful!
During our visit, it’s really perfect weather – not too cold & not too hot.
I would not like to come here during the summer, but it may be too hot to walk around the park!
The more you get closer to the park, the more deer you will see!
The deer at Nara park roam around freely and seek food from visitors. You can feed them by buying crackers from the many vendors that sell them at 150Yen (~$1.50) per pack.
In fact, the deer within Nara Park are wild animals and are perfectly capable of finding their own food.
So what’s in a “deer cracker”? The answer is wheat flour and rice bran. These treats are made without any sugar for the health of the deer, making them completely safe for visitors to offer the animals. Deer crackers are a registered trademark of the Foundation for the Protection of Deer in Nara, and a portion of their profits goes to efforts to protect the deer.
Ref: https://narashikanko.or.jp/en/feature/deer/
But prepare to be surrounded by a lot of them once you start feeding them!!! I’ve heard that they can bow their head every time they ask for food 🙂 just like Japanese people bow for respect.
But…
I don’t think they like to bow much, once I had its crackers in my hands, a couple of them bit and pulled on the back of my jacket to ask for crackers. It’s a little scary at first when they tried to get more attention!
We found out the trick to hide the crackers in our pockets if deer didn’t see in on our hands, they will ignore us!
I saw some deer were a little aggressive to the other tourist but all you need to do is to try to walk away and don’t show them the crackers!
I didn’t see any deer police to help you, but they do have a big warning sign to beware… the deer can BITE, KICK, BUTT and KNOCK YOU DOWN!
But it doesn’t mean they are crazy, remember they are wild animals – it depends on how you act to them too.
They are pretty cute and calm when you don’t have the crackers!
I didn’t see any deer with a longhorn, most of them are cut short. I think it’s very safe for tourists too.
The official size of the park is about 502 hectares (1,240 acres, not included Temple), it is huge.
The park is inhabited by 236 bucks (male), 715 does (female) and 229 fawns (baby deer), for a total of 1,180 deer!!!(Source: July 2016 survey)
cr: http://nara-park.com/en/outline/deer/
Inside the Park, there are small shop like icecream truck…but not many.
On the opposite side of the park, there are many resturants but we didn’t try any of them, we planned to stop at the shopping street in front of Nara Station.
Our trip for today included visiting the Todaiji temple, it’s about a mile walk from Nara Station thru Nara Park to the temple.
You will still see deer all the way to the temple.
-> The park is inhabited by 236 bucks (male), 715 does (female) and 229 fawns (baby deer), for a total of 1,180 deer. (Source: July 2016 survey) cr: http://nara-park.com/en/outline/deer/
To visit Nara Park and Todaiji temple was one of my most favorite day trips from Osaka. We totally recommend you to visit Nara City, unless you don’t like deer!
Read more about Todaiji Temple (click here)
By the way…After visited Todaiji Temple, we walked back to Nara station to Higashimuki Shopping street.
It’s a nice shopping street pretty much like another shopping street in Osaka. But there is the famous mochi shop that is a TV CHAMPION for its especially “Yomogi” mochi.
The mochi is very fresh and chewy yummy with sweet bean jam inside. They also show you how to make it (it’s MUST SEE!). It’s super nice that they sell it at 130Yen if you want to try one!
We stopped for shrimp tempura with rice for lunch before we headed back to Namba.
It’s a nice day out of OSAKA – don’t forget to put Nara in your list!
