---
title: "Is Nara walkable? Walkability score 64/100 · How Walkable"
description: "Nara scores 64/100 for walkability (Somewhat Walkable) across its central 5 km. How far walkability reaches, what's near the centre, and its rank in Japan."
url: https://howwalkable.com/cities/japan/nara
updated: 2026-10-22
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

1.  [Cities](https://howwalkable.com/cities)
2.  [Japan](https://howwalkable.com/cities/japan)
3.  Nara

# How walkable is Nara?

By [Oscar Higson-Spence](https://howwalkable.com/about#author). Updated 22 October 2026 

Nara (Nara-shi) has a walkability score of 64 out of 100 across the 5 km around its centre, which makes it somewhat walkable: some errands can be done on foot. It is the joint 58th most walkable of the 70 cities ranked in Japan, with 1 other.

64 out of 100: Somewhat Walkable

Some errands can be accomplished on foot.

*   #58 of 70 tied, in Japan
*   #388 of 690 tied, worldwide
*   98 at the centre

[Open on the map](https://howwalkable.com/?lat=34.68116&lon=135.82397&q=Nara%2C%20Japan) 

## What's within walking distance of the centre

1,896 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central Nara. The nearest grocery is about 2 minutes away on foot. It earns full or nearly full points for groceries, restaurants & bars, shopping, coffee, banks, schools, books & libraries and culture & entertainment.

### Groceries

3.0 of 3 points

*   山口豆腐店, 2 min
*   山の辺ファーム, 2 min
*   森井商店, 3 min

### Restaurants & bars

3.0 of 3 points

*   かえる庵, 1 min
*   Authentic Table Tavern, 1 min
*   メロンドゥメロン 三条店, 1 min

### Shopping

2.0 of 2 points

*   鹿鳴堂薬舗, 1 min
*   木のうた薬局三条通り店, 1 min
*   REGAL SHOES 奈良店, 1 min

### Coffee

2.0 of 2 points

*   謝謝珍珠奈良駅店, 1 min
*   珈琲館奈良三条店, 2 min
*   Cafe Cojica, 2 min

### Banks

1.0 of 1 point

*   京都中央信用金庫 奈良支店, 2 min
*   みずほ銀行奈良支店, 3 min
*   南都銀行, 5 min

### Parks

0.8 of 1 point

*   奈良公園, 8 min
*   菩提川公園, 8 min
*   芝辻町四丁目街区公園, 22 min

### Schools

0.9 of 1 point

*   奈良市立椿井小学校, 6 min
*   親愛幼稚園, 8 min
*   奈良市立済美小学校, 10 min

### Books & libraries

1.0 of 1 point

*   アニメイト奈良, 5 min
*   BO/OK artbook, 7 min
*   フジケイ堂もちいどの店, 7 min

### Culture & entertainment

1.0 of 1 point

*   Evans Castle Hall, 2 min
*   Billy -THE LIVE-, 2 min
*   サロン涼健, 2 min

Measured from the centre at 34.6812, 135.8240, the point near Nara's middle with the most places in walking range. Walking times assume 80 m per minute along an estimated street route.

## Street layout

Within 800 m of the centre there are about 142 street intersections per km², and blocks average 81 m long. That is a well-connected street grid, so the score is not reduced.

## How far walkability reaches

Nara's score of 64 is the average across the 5 km around its centre, the point with the most everyday places within a walk. Walkability averages 94 within 1 km of the centre, 68 from 1 to 3 km out and 57 from 3 to 5 km out. 19 of the 91 points within 5 km fall on water or on land without streets, such as hillsides, forest or farmland, and are left out, so the score describes only the built-up part. 54% of the sampled area scores 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot. Walkability falls off steeply away from the centre, so check a specific address on the map.

![Walkability scores across the 5 km around central Nara, one hexagon per square kilometre. 54% of points score 70 or more; the lowest, 3, is 5 km to the north-east.](https://howwalkable.com/maps/japan/nara.svg?v=a4037dc0b662)

Each hexagon is the score at a point, 1 km from its neighbours, across the 5 km around central Nara. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the centre. Gaps are water or land without streets.

| Area          | Score | Scoring 70+ | Points sampled |
| ------------- | ----- | ----------- | -------------- |
| Centre        | 98    | 100%        | 1              |
| Within 1 km   | 94    | 100%        | 7              |
| 1 to 3 km out | 68    | 54%         | 28             |
| 3 to 5 km out | 57    | 46%         | 37             |

## Nearby cities

| City                                              | Distance | Score |
| ------------------------------------------------- | -------- | ----- |
| [Hirakata](https://howwalkable.com/cities/japan/hirakata), Japan         | 20 km    | 76    |
| [Higashiōsaka](https://howwalkable.com/cities/japan/higashiosaka), Japan | 20 km    | 93    |
| [Takatsuki](https://howwalkable.com/cities/japan/takatsuki), Japan       | 25 km    | 75    |
| [Osaka](https://howwalkable.com/cities/japan/osaka), Japan               | 28 km    | 94    |
| [Toyonaka](https://howwalkable.com/cities/japan/toyonaka), Japan         | 33 km    | 85    |

## Questions about walking in Nara

### Is Nara a walkable city?

Partly. Nara has a walkability score of 64 out of 100 across the 5 km around its centre, which makes it somewhat walkable: some errands can be done on foot. Its centre scores 98. The score covers about 80 km² around the busiest point rather than the whole city, and suburbs further out are usually less walkable, so check a specific address on the map. It ranks joint 58th of 70 cities in Japan and joint 388th of 690 worldwide on How Walkable.

### What is the most walkable city in Japan?

Tokyo is the most walkable of the 70 cities ranked in Japan, with a score of 98. Nara ranks joint 58th with 64.

### How does Nara compare with nearby cities?

Nara is less walkable than its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 64, against Hirakata (76, 20 km away), Higashiōsaka (93, 20 km away) and Takatsuki (75, 25 km away).

### Which part of Nara is most walkable?

Nara's most walkable area is its centre, the point near the middle of the city with the most places in walking range, which scores 98. Walkability averages 94 within 1 km of it. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the west (averaging 81) and falls most to the north-east (20).

### How is Nara's walkability score calculated?

For Nara it is the average of 72 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 39 of them score 70 or more. Each point counts groceries, restaurants, shops, cafés, banks, parks, schools, libraries and cultural venues within a 30 minute walk, gives nearer places more weight, and loses up to 20% where streets are sparse or blocks are long, using open map data from Overture Maps (release 2026-09-23.1) and OpenStreetMap. It measures what is within a walk, not what the walk is like: pavements, traffic, safety, hills and heat are not part of the score.

This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the [methodology](https://howwalkable.com/methodology). Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. City position and population from GeoNames.

Ask about walking anywhere in ChatGPT with the [How Walkable app](https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6accc634bcf8819189c1bcaf0e227f0f), for example "How walkable is Nara?"

Scores, rankings and text by How Walkable (https://howwalkable.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); credit How Walkable and link to this page when reusing them.