|
Arrival and information
|
|
|
Nara has two competing
train stations
: JR Nara Station, on the west side of the town centre, and the private Kintetsu-Nara Station right in the thick of things. Arriving
from Kyoto
, the quickest option is a Limited Express train on the private Kintetsu-Kyoto line (every 30min; 33min; A?1110); the ordinary express takes a little longer and you have to change at Yamato-Saidaiji (1-2 hourly; 45min; A?610). JR also has a choice of express trains (8 daily; 45min; A?740) and regular trains (every 30min; 1hr 20min; A?740) from Kyoto. Travelling
from Osaka
, trains on the private Kintetsu-Nara line (from Osaka's Kintetsu-Namba Station) arrive at the Kintetsu-Nara Station (every 15min; 30-40min; A?540-1040). Alternatively, take a JR line train from Osaka Station (every 20min; 40min; A?780), or from JR Namba Station (every 20min; 30-40min; A?740) to JR Nara Station. If you're coming here
from Kansai International airport
, you can go into central Osaka to pick up a train, or hop on a limousine bus (hourly; 1hr 35min; A?1800), which stops at both Nara's train stations.
Nara is also well provided with
information offices
. The most useful of these is the Nara City Tourist Information Centre (daily 9am-9pm; tel 0742/22-3900, fax 22-5595), located on Sanjo-dori. They have English-speaking staff, plentiful
maps
and information, and can also help arrange volunteer "Goodwill Guides"
. There's also an office in the JR Station (daily 9am-5pm; tel & fax 0742/22-9821), again with English-speaking staff who can, in this case, make hotel bookings, and another in the Kintetsu Station (daily 9am-5pm; tel & fax 0742/24-4858). Finally, you'll find a small booth on the hill above the Sarusawa pond (daily 9am-5pm; tel & fax 0742/26-1991), on the eastern edge of central Nara. The Nara City office carries some information about
what's on
, as does the region-wide magazine,
Kansai Time Out
. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
|
Japan,
|