Here you will find hundreds of wild, yet friendly deer roaming the fields, lounging in the grass and bowing for cookies. But if watching and feeding deer isn’t up your alley, here are a few other recommended places to visit (in no particular order).

If you like old world charm and nostalgia, then you will love Imai-cho town. At 17.4 hectares, it’s the largest preservation district for groups of traditional buildings in Japan. And since there are in fact people still residing in Imai-cho, it really is a living historical town.

Since these cities aren't what the typical tourist thinks to drop in on, you also won’t have to suffer through the crushing crowds, and can instead enjoy a more relaxed, authentic taste of Japanese beauty and culture.

Soni Highlands is a valuable landscape where we can see kayaba even today. It is because the village of Soni maintains that grassland. For a long time, this has been a task for March season. But this season it is on schedule for February.

Asuka, the origin of the rising sun and arguably the first capital of Japan during the Asuka period, is an ancient village filled with precious treasures and natural wonders that are extremely significant to Japanese history.

Yoshino, located in Southern Nara is home to many ancient histories and primitive vegetation of Japan. The well preserved historical assets and the unspoiled scenery of Yoshino reflect the fundamentals of Japan and it isn’t too exaggerated to state that it portrays the landscape of the heart of Japanese people.

When daily news and the outside world get to be too crazy, try Shodō, Japanese calligraphy, to regain inner equilibrium and calm the mind and heart.

On my recent trip to Nara, I was lucky to visit Kinatei, a cosy vegetarian restaurant. The restaurant serves Japanese and Chinese style vegan dishes, and everything is homemade and organic. I got off at Kintetsu Line’s Nara Station and did a little sightseeing before coming, so the walk was a bit far.

Approximately 11km east from Nara Park, lies an ancient trail called Yagyu Kaido. This track once served as pilgrimage for mountain Buddhists, a form of mountain asceticism during the Nara and Heian period, therefore many historical sites, monuments, and ruins of the time remain here barely touched.

Japanese people are known to have followed Sangakushinko; a type of animism during ancient times which mountains are worshiped as gods, and Mt. Katsuragi was most certainly one of which people of Nara considered it as their sacred icon.

Many tourists travel around Japan hoping to encounter some of its beautiful wildlife. They might want to see macaques relaxing in an onsen, a Tanuki streaking across the road or even a majestic Japanese deer.

If you travel to countries hoping to experience another culture, Japan is still rich with it and Nara is the perfect place surrounded by culture and history. It is many things at once: traditional, natural, delightful, heartfelt, and all around wonderful. Come to Nara and be amazed. I honestly could name 100 things in Nara that would make for an amazing trip, but I have narrowed it down to the top 15 spots that you will not find even in most guidebooks.