Nara in 4 days

A 15-metre bronze Buddha completed in 752, in a hall rebuilt in 1709 at two-thirds of its original width, still among the largest wooden buildings.

A hillside hall of Todai-ji, reached by a stone lane between earthen walls, whose overhanging balcony gives the best free view over Nara's roofs.

Lawns and woods linking the main shrines, roamed by about a thousand sika deer, sacred messengers of the Kasuga gods, which bow for rice crackers.

Two joined gardens, 17th and 19th century, the second borrowing scenery: Todai-ji's Nandaimon gate and the Wakakusa and Kasuga hills become part of it.

The Fujiwara clan temple, founded here in 710, whose treasure house holds the 8th-century dry-lacquer Ashura, three-faced and six-armed, with a strikingly youthful expression.

The old merchant quarter south of the park, where narrow machiya townhouses hold cafés and craft shops; the restored Koshi no Ie is free.

The Fujiwara shrine, founded in 768, reached by a forest path lined with moss-covered stone lanterns and hung inside with bronze ones.

A monastery founded in 607 by Prince Shotoku, about 12 km from central Nara, holding the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world.