Nara is significantly closer to Kyoto than it is to Tokyo. Geographically, Nara is located in the Kansai region, just about 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Kyoto. You can reach Nara from Kyoto in only 35 to 45 minutes via the JR Nara Line or the private Kintetsu Railway. In contrast, Tokyo is located in the Kanto region, approximately 450 kilometers (280 miles) to the east. Traveling from Tokyo to Nara requires taking a Shinkansen (bullet train) for about 2 hours and 15 minutes to Kyoto or Osaka first, then transferring to a local train for the final leg. This is why Nara is almost universally visited as a day trip from Kyoto or Osaka, rather than from Tokyo. While you can technically do a "day trip" to Nara from Tokyo, you would spend over 6 hours of your day sitting on trains. Because of its proximity to Kyoto, many travelers choose to spend their mornings in Nara visiting the famous bowing deer and the Great Buddha at Todai-ji Temple, then return to Kyoto by late afternoon for dinner in the Gion district, as the two cities are essentially neighbors in the same historical heartland of Japan.