The reason for this conclusion is also very simple, that is, the overlap between Kyoto and Nara is slightly higher, and the travel experience to Kobe will be more yuan in a limited time.
However, I didn't expect that it might be because Nara left such a deep impression that people who love Nara are not happy. They think Nara is particularly good. How can they give up Nara? This also makes us realize that as far as the difference between Kyoto and Nara is concerned, we should add a customized version according to our experience. This seems to be a long-term puzzle for domestic tourists visiting Kansai.
It must be clarified first that there is a premise to give up Nara. This does not mean that we deny Nara. On the contrary, Abu's travel notes also like the sunset on the Wakayama and the vastness of the Peace Palace. He is also happy to feed deer in Nara, but Nara is really close to Beijing.
Farewell between Beijing and Nai
Let's start with the background. Judging from our customized users, it is often the first time travelers to Japan ask whether to choose Kyoto or Nara. It is completely understandable that such a problem will occur. In China's impression, Kyoto and Nara are both ancient Japanese capitals. In China's mind, these two places also inherited a lot of China culture.
So, is it better to go to Kyoto or Nai?
From a cultural point of view, Kyoto and Nara do have similarities, but the historical status of the two cities is actually very different. Although Nara used to be the capital of Heisei, imitating Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty, only the remains of Heisei Palace were left in that former capital.
Abu's travels have also been there, which gives people the most direct impression that it is just like a wasteland, with only one urban basic framework and some modern reconstructed hall buildings, and that's all. As for wanting to see the former capital, it doesn't exist.
Moreover, places that used to be the capital of Japan are not limited to Nara or Kyoto, including Nanpu Palace in Osaka, and even places near Kobe and Lake Biwa. They were once short-lived capitals of Japan, and there were also ancient capital sites.
Compared with those short-lived ancient capitals in Japanese history, Kyoto has truly maintained its status as a thousand-year-old ancient capital.
Today, we can see Kyoto and Nara in the real world, but in terms of city size, we can make a simple analogy. If Kyoto is equivalent to a provincial capital city in China, Nara feels more like a county town in China.
This determines that the richness of activities that the two cities can experience will be very different.
For example, a customized user asks about Abu's travel notes and wants to experience some contents of Japanese traditional culture, including pinching sushi, making fruit, watching tea ceremony and experiencing geisha activities, and one stop is the best, so where is the best place to go between Kyoto and Nara?
The answer, of course, is Kyoto, because the city is large in scale and population, and the tourism services it can provide are more diversified and rich.
The experience of Kyoto tea ceremony can even be divided into fried tea ceremony and matcha road, and the tea party can be held in tea rooms, temples or art galleries. There will be more possibilities for the same activities in Kyoto, and there will even be some special night tea room activities, candlelight cafes and so on.
More importantly, the difference between Kyoto and Nara is basically the difference of urban functions.
To put it simply, when you arrive in Kyoto and stand out from Kyoto, your first impression of this city is actually not a Millennium ancient capital, but a comprehensive big city. Kyoto Station is very large and modern. Isetan Department Store, modern Kyoto Tower, modern sightseeing and commercial facilities under the tower and even the traffic on the main road at the entrance of the station can make you feel that Kyoto is a modern big city.
Nara was completely different when she stood up. In addition to the business districts such as Yamato and Kintetsu Department Store around Xiwei Temple, the whole Nara urban area is particularly quiet.
Nara Station, which tourists are familiar with, is close to Nara Park, almost on the edge of Nara Park. Walk from Nara Station to Nara Museum in the central area of Nara Park, about 850 meters.
Near the station, most of them are small shops along the street, and there are almost no impressive modern public buildings. Nara is more like Qianmen Town developed from temple culture. But it is inevitable to have such an impression. After all, Nara was the capital of Japan only 75 years ago, or 1300 years ago.
More precisely, Nara today is more like a city developed from an ancient university town, and its actual experience is closer to the atmosphere of a cultural town.
Although Kyoto is located to the north of the station because of the protection of urban landscape, the height of new buildings is limited. However, even with such protection, compared with Nara Park, Wakayama, Chunri Dashe and Dongda Temple to the east of Nara Station, the unified atmosphere presented by this whole area seems to be like Nara, which has maintained its original style for thousands of years. Kyoto has changed a lot
After all, as a landmark metropolis, Kyoto, the political center for thousands of years, was a metropolis with a population of one million before World War II, but now it has a population of nearly 6.5438+0.5 million. Compared with Nara, which has a population of over 300,000 today, Kyoto should accommodate more residents' lives and change for their needs.
This is why many customized users come to Nara, but they will tell Abu that "the influence of China's traditional culture can be felt better in Nara", because its historical area, around Nara Park, is smaller and more concentrated, and its style is closer to Jian Zhen's Journey to the East in the Tang Dynasty.
Having said that, let's go back to the original question. From the perspective of tourism, which should I choose, Kyoto or Nara?
Considering the differences between cities, I have to ask you a key question. How many days are you going to stay?
Kyoto, as a comprehensive metropolis, does not have such a large and complete historical area as Nara Park, but its playability and arrangeable choices are much higher. As we mentioned before, when Abu Travels arranges Kyoto for customized users, only the sightseeing activities in Kyoto can be repeated for 7 days to 10 days, and can be repeated all year round, but Nara Town itself can't.
Of course, if you broaden the tourist radius, not only around Nara Station, but also in Nara Prefecture is another matter, because there are yoshinoyama, Tianjin, Jinchuan and many tourist spots in Nara Prefecture. Here we only talk about Kyoto and Nara.
Time and travel
More specifically, if you only have two days, will you go to Kyoto or Nara?
At this time, another key question is raised. Do you have any obsession with Nara Deer?
In terms of accommodation experience, you regard Kyoto and Nara as a trip to visit the ancient Chinese capital. You want to stay in a Japanese hotel, eat Japanese food and visit ancient temples. Both cities can be arranged, but there is a particularly significant difference, that is, Nara has Nara deer running all over the street, while Kyoto does not.
But on the other hand, what does Kyoto have that Nara doesn't have? Then we have to ask, do you have any obsession with Japanese geisha culture?
If you want to wear kimono, you can meet each other in Huajian Lane, Nantong of Shirakawa and Muwu Town, where geisha haunt in Kyoto, and even ask a teahouse to arrange geisha performances, then these flower street cultures are obviously easier to arrange in Kyoto.
As mentioned above, the Nara family is a cultural and educational center, which is equivalent to the concept of ancient university town. Compared with geisha, it is actually Nara pen and Nara ink that can represent Nara's identity.
Judging from the customization experience of Abu's travel notes, Nara will be preferred in both cases.
The first one, as I said just now, is the obsession with Nara deer. If there are girls in their twenties, you must ask if you really want to go to Nara to see the deer running all over the street.
Nara deer in the shrine temple, Nara deer in Yamato primeval forest in spring, Nara deer in sunset in Wakayama, Nara deer chewing cherry blossoms under cherry trees in Nara Park, these pictures are really not found in other Japanese cities.
On the other hand, there are elders in the same trade, or they have a special understanding of the connection between China's ancient culture and Japanese traditional culture, and they are traveling companions with high cultural level. Therefore, it is also necessary to ask them if they must go to Nara.
In particular, there is an important exhibition of ancient culture in Nara Museum. When the exhibits of the Japanese royal family's own treasure house "Masakura Yard" are opened to the public, it is the most luxurious glimpse of life in Japan in the Tang Dynasty.
In addition, when I talked about the atmosphere of the city just now, I didn't mention one thing, that is, staying in Nara, especially in the morning and evening, can better appreciate the simplicity of the ancient capital in Nara than in Kyoto.
When you walk through the narrow streets of Kyoto, you can feel that it is a city with high population density, but when you walk to the ruins of Hirai Palace in Nara, plus the surrounding area, there are several ancient tombs of Japanese emperors, which occupy a lot of open space. As a result, Nara itself seemed empty.
When I saw the scene in front of the site of Pingcheng Palace in Abu Travels, a word came to mind-boundless.
Although Kyoto is also surrounded by mountains on three sides, Dongshan Mountain and Lanshan Mountain, and there are five fires to send mountains every year, we always think that the atmosphere at the top of Wakayama Mountain in Nara is still irreplaceable, because there are no buildings in Nara.
At the foot of Caoshan Mountain, the ancient ruins surrounded by the vast spring society, the spring virgin forest and the Dongda Temple are really an ancient cultural area that other cities in Japan cannot replicate.
Needless to say, after Jian Zhen's eastward crossing, the Tang and Zhao Temple, which set up an altar to give lectures in Japan, and Horyuji, the oldest wooden structure in Japan, were surrounded by Dongda Temple, which is famous for its giant Buddha statues and temple pillars. The existence of these big temples alone makes Nara particularly important.
The majestic gestures of the temples mentioned above that are still on display today can also make people feel with the passage of time. When they were just built, the monks, presidents and ancient Japanese elites who mastered the culture of foreign powers really had incomparable influence on the Japanese power center at that time.
It is precisely because of Nara's small population and the existence of an ancient cultural and educational center that it is easier for tourists to get a special experience, especially when they experience temple accommodation (click: Japan Accommodation Workshop).
For example, a family can only find a temple to live in and enjoy a mountain-like berth, which can only be found in a historic town like Nara. Comparatively speaking, Kyoto has a large population and a higher land utilization rate. Even if you live in a temple in the city, you won't have this condition anyway.
This reminds us of the cost-effectiveness of tourism. In any city with a large population, the rent is definitely higher than that in the sparsely populated countryside. This law is reflected in tourism, which is the difference in expenditure.
Abu Travels arranged more than one group of customized users, who ate at Michelin Shi Huai Restaurant in Kyoto and Nara respectively. A typical feedback is that all customized users who have eaten in Nara and Shancun almost invariably think that Nara is more cost-effective.
This may also have psychological factors.
Although Heshan Village took Michelin Samsung, in fact, his shop is closer to the family restaurant and is run by husband and wife. The chef was a retired chef from a famous Japanese restaurant in Kyoto. Nara is more like a place where he is isolated from the world and continues to cook his favorite meals. For a while, he will have the mind to prepare a menu written by him with a brush for every guest who comes to dinner. Later, customized users were surprised by the chef's handwriting, and even took photos and sent them to us.
Back in Kyoto, even the most famous travel notes of Ju Naijing and Abu, most customized customers will only express them after eating them. They feel quite exquisite, but they can't appreciate the enthusiasm for food. And if you want to take Shihuai in Kyoto first, you can have a meal in Yi Ming in Lanshan, and the budget is at least 3,000 yuan per person, but in Nara, 1 0,000 yuan is enough.
Of course, our customized customers also say good or auspicious. Even so, no one will deny that Nara and Yamamura are really the conscience of the industry.