How long is neede to visit Mount Koya?

I'm travelling from Kyoto to Mount Koya and want to visit Nara as well. Is it better to do it on the way back from Mount Koya?
Thanks !

While you can see most of the major sights in a daytrip, Mount Koya is best done on an overnight, which would allow you to also stay at a temple lodging and visit Okunoin in the evening. you'll just only be getting half the experience.

It is a little bit of a pain to travel between Nara and Mount Koya, and you may be better off going via Osaka instead. More info here:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4904.html

Agree with yllsmrf here.

Having been to Koyasan on both an overnight and day trip, I would highly suggest an overnight stay. This way you get to experience the temple lodging, Okunoin at night (which is amazing) and the morning prayer ceremony at whichever temple you stay in.

I personally feel that a day trip to Koyasan and Mara would really be stretching it a bit.

Hope this helps!

Sorry, that should be yllwsmrf and Nara..

Travelling to Mt. Koya usually involves going through Osaka's major Nankai stations, Namba or Shin-Imamiya. Nankai has a good pass available for transport to Koyasan and bus travel at the top (only public transport at Koyasan).

The trip to/from Koyasan is long, which wouldn't give you much time for Nara even if you left first thing in the morning from Koyasan. In my opinion, Nara needs at least a full day, but if you just wanted a quick stopover you could go for an afternoon and just see the major sights in the park (e.g. Todai-ji).

I've done the trip from Koyasan to Nara, and it involves going back to Shin-Imamiya station in Osaka, switching from the Nankai to the JR part of the station, and then travelling to Nara from there. It may be easier to do while you're still in Kyoto (only about 40 minutes apart by local train).

Yea, definitely don't try to squeeze Koyasan and Nara sightseeing into one day. You might consider going to Nara to sleep, but that's way too much train in one day for more than a halfday's worth of sightseeing.

Hi all, thank you for your advices. I'm planning to stay overnight at Koyasan and my doubt is I could stop at Nara first, for almost 3 / 4 hours and then go to Koyasan, perhaps arriving there around 4 pm, and morning after continue with Koyasan and back to Kyoto.
Another option is Kyoto to Koyasan arriving at noon time, visiting everything staying overnight and day after in the morning going straight to Nara.
Which one makes more sense to you?
Thanks.

Both are possible provided you get an early start in the mornings. Either option sounds about the same to me.