November 21, 2025 - Nara to Koyasan Today would be an exciting day. We had booked one night with vegetarian dinner and breakfast at Koyasan Shukubo Saizenin , a Shingon Buddhist monastery that hosts pilgrims and tourists who visit the remote mountain town. Koyasan is only 72 km (45 miles) south of Nara; you could drive there in about an hour. Getting there by train, though, was another matter. Strangely, t he fastest way to get from Nara to Koyasan by train is via Osaka . If you look at a map, this seems crazy. But because there is no direct train route between Nara and Koyasan, you have to go northwest through Osaka and then due south, which takes about four hours, two trains, a cable car, and a bus. We decamped from Nara Top Sights 5 to 20 min Walk and caught the 10:02 a.m. train from Kintetsu Station to Namba Station in Osaka. Our fellow passenger on the way to Osaka (below) was decked out in fake Chanel from head...
