The deer at Nara Park get a bit boring after a day or two if you’re adult but if you’re a kid the fun never ends.  It’s not often you can get up close and friendly with deer so make the most of it because I don’t know anywhere else in the world, other than in zoos, where you’ll be able to experience deer like this and this many deer in one place.  You can easily spend a day or more just walking around Nara Park enjoying the deer and taking photos, but there’s other things to do in Nara, both inside the park and out.

Nara Park Deer

Other than the deer, there’s a shitload of shrines and temples you can check out that you’ll find in all the “things to do in Nara” guides but after a few, unless you’re particularly fond of Japanese Shrines, you’ll probably get a bit bored. We took a bike rickshaw around parts of the park and through a little bit of the surrounding village/residential area.  Again, quite good, worth it if you have younger kids and they pack sads about too much walking.  I think they go on set routes, about 30 minutes, the guy who took us was nice, friendly and saw a few places we probably wouldn’t have if we just stuck to foot.  The neighbouring residential area looked interesting enough to go back to check out, although we didn’t.  A few cafes and restaurants so check that out on Toucan’s Nara Map.

Bike Rickshaw Nara Park

Keihanna Memorial Park is about  10-15 minute drive from Nara Park and is a nice change.  This is one of the better things to do in Nara. We went late afternoon and there wasn’t too many people there. It’s got a nice bridge thingy-ma-jingy, a pond/lake and some lovely paths you can spend an hour two just walking around and taking some nice pics in.  There’s koi fish in the pond so you can keep young ones entertained.  Not the most exciting place in the world but definitely worth a visit, especially if you’ve rented a car.  There’s also a bit of a playground nearby with a kids’ flying fox and fort so worth going with the kids.

Keihanna Memorial Park

On the way back to Osaka we stopped at a good park and playground, Nara Kenei Umamikyuryo Park.  Not bad to break up the trip from Nara to Osaka, which is not that long but regardless, a nice break.  So basically all the things to do in Nara are suitable for kids and you can pretty much take them to any of the places you would want to see without fear of them getting bored, unless you want to know the history of each shrine you visit.

Find out more about things to do in Nara with kids in Toucan’s Tips For Kids.