Things to do in Osaka & Nara🦌

Spend three to four days in Osaka, which also includes a full day at Universal Studios and a day trip to Nara if you decide to not spend a night there. We got the Shinkansen from Himeji Castle, straight to Osaka, which takes around forty five minutes. The city itself is quite overwhelming, even more so when we went, as it was Golden Week, which is a five day public holiday in Japan.

Glico Running Man Sign & Abeno Harukas
One of the main sights in Osaka, is to see the Glico Running Man sign. It is a famous landmark in Osaka, representing both the Glico candy company, whose motto was promising energy for a 300 metre run as well as representing the vibrant and colourful, energetic atmosphere of Osaka. Loads of tourists go to this photo spot and mimic the position of the running man. Another sight to see is Abeno Harukas, which is the tallest building in Japan.

Cycle around Osaka
Get on a Luup and cycle around Osaka stopping off at different sights. We did this and spent the morning exploring the city. We stopped off at Osaka Castle, Namba Yasaka Shrine, Osaka Shinsekai, Tsutenkaku Tower and Shitennoji Temple.

Umeda Sky Building
The Umeda Sky Building is famous for its unique architecture and observatory deck, which is on the 39th and 40th floor. The towers and rooftop, is connected by a bridge and escalators and offers a gorgeous panoramic view of Osaka. You can take the escalators up and down to the top and they pass through a glass tunnel allowing you to see the views over Osaka as you go.

Dotonburi Street
This is Osaka’s famous food street. Loads of delicious food spots line the streets you are honestly spoilt for choice. You can find all kinds of dishes of your choices, and get small plates from different stalls to share. Ned and I of course got a few different plates and they were all delicious. We had to try the eel and rice, Unadon ball, and the Takoyaki, which are octopus balls with different fillings!

Kuromon Ichiba Market
Another street market, full of delicious food stalls and restaurants to choose from. We got a few dishes to share, with our Unatama-Don (eel, rice and egg dish) and Okonomiyaki (Japanese cabbage pancake) being our favourite dishes.

Universal Studios

We spent the whole day at Universal Studios, going on different rides, and visiting Harry Potter World and Super Nintendo World. A blog outlining the whole day will be here.

Other things to do in Osaka:

• Round 1, Osaka
• America Miura
• Shinsekai New World Osaka
• Harukas 300 Observatory
• Team Lab Botanical Garden Osaka
• Kyo Train Garaku
• Nara Amusement Park Ikoma Mountain - Night View of Osaka
• Mt Koya Temple
• Spa World
• Ohatsu Tenji
• Sumiyoshi Taisha
• Minoh Park
• Botanical Gardens
• Shitennoji Temple

Nara

Spend one night in Nara exploring the different temples, feeding the bowing deers and eating good food. We decided to spend a night in Nara, to avoid having to rush everything. We got the first train from Osaka to Nara and checked into Mini Inn Nara.

Nara Deer Park
One of the main things to do in Nara is to go to the deer park and feed the bowing deers. You can buy a pack of biscuits/treats from stalls all over Nara, they are pretty cheap and once you have them you can choose which deers to feed, most of them are in the park or paths leading up to temples. Once you choose a deer, slowly go up to them with a treat, bow first, they will then bow their heads and then you can feed them. However, a lot of deers have become accustomed to this and know that you will have treats, so a few of them can be quite aggressive and give you little nips until you feed them. Best thing is to hide the treats or only have one in your hand before approaching the deers.

Todai-Ji Temple and Great Buddha Hall
One of the most popular temples to visit is the Todai-Ji temple and the Great Buddha Hall (Daibutsuden), which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is famous for housing the Daibutsu, which is the Great Buddha (pictured below), which is one of the world’s largest bronze Buddha statues. Only a short walk from Nara station, the temple grounds are fascinating to walk around and learn the history of the temple.

Kōfuku-ji Temple
Another popular temple to visit is the Kōfuku-ji Temple, also in the middle of Nara Town. The area features the five story Pagoda and two buildings, the Eastern Gold Hall and the reconstructed Central Golden Hall. You can walk around the whole grounds and learn more about the history of Nara.

Kasuga Taisha Shrine
From the deer park, you can walk to different temples and shrines of your choice. Another one we visited was Kasuga Taisha Shrine. It’s not as popular as the other two temples, but still pretty cool to see.

Other things to do in Nara:

• Himuro Shrine
• Yakushi-ji
• Toshodai-ji
• Heijō Palace Site Historical Park
• Yoshikien
• Isuien Garden and Neiraku Museum
• Kasugataisha Shrine

Food

Chami Coffee Roasters
Had to get a cheeky coffee and sweet treat before exploring Nara and going to the Deer Park. Chami was recommended to me and it was right up our street. A bit on the pricier side but it was totally worth it. We got two coffees, two cakes to share and Ned added in a sausage bap, Japanese style! Perfect place to start the morning.

Ramen and Mochiidonocho
We got a little overwhelmed with food options in Nara, but found this restaurant only serving white ramen, which is a creamy chicken broth base that we both wanted to try. A lot thicker than normal miso or soy ramen, but was delicious nonetheless! 

We then also found this self-serve bites, which had such a variety of options to choose from, it was so hard for us, which is why we completely went overboard. Not the healthiest food as most of it is cooked in oil, but it was delicious! We got a variety of egg rolls, corn bread, sushi rolls, cooked mochi, fish sticks etc. Honestly, everything was so delicious and we actually came back for seconds, before we caught our train to Kyoto! For other food spots in Japan, check out my other food blog here.