Which one to choose in Nara
Horyuji Temple vs Todai-ji
Two temples in Nara. Horyuji Temple has 3 tickets and tours to book; Todai-ji has 9 tickets and tours to book. The table and the two notes below put them side by side; the full pages have what to see, the ticket and the timing for each.
Nara, Japan
Horyuji sells a single admission ticket at the gate that covers the western precinct with the pagoda and the Golden Hall, the Great Treasure Gallery and the eastern precinct around the Hall of Dreams. There is no need to buy it in advance; queues are short except on spring and autumn weekends. The neighbouring nunnery of Chuguji charges its own small fee.
What is sold online are guided outings. One kind is a guided walk around the temple with an English-speaking guide, sometimes rounded off with a short calligraphy lesson in which you learn to write your name in Japanese characters.
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Nara, Japan
The precincts of Todai-ji are free to walk around, but the Great Buddha Hall, the museum and some of the other halls charge an entrance fee, paid at the ticket windows in front of each building, and there is a combined ticket for the hall and the museum. Tickets do not need to be booked in advance and the queues move quickly, so what is sold online is guidance rather than entry.
The tours fall into a few kinds. Guided walks of two or three hours in Nara Park cover Todai-ji, the deer and usually Kasuga Taisha or Kofuku-ji, with some in Spanish or other languages. Others extend into the old merchant quarter of Naramachi, or start further afield and approach the temple along forest paths.
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