Explore the peaceful Nara Park, where hundreds of friendly deer roam freely among wide lawns, ponds and ancient shrine grounds. Feeding crackers are sold on site if you would like to greet them up close.

Walk the stone-paved slopes of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka, lined with wooden machiya townhouses, tea rooms and craft shops that preserve the atmosphere of old Kyoto. Free to enter and one of the city's most photogenic streets.

Finish at Fushimi Inari Shrine, where thousands of vermilion torii gates form tunnels winding up the forested hillside. Open around the clock and free to enter, with as much or as little of the trail as your pace allows.