Is Nara really busy these days?

Nara has been one of our favorite places for years - we have stayed there 3 or 4 times for probably 10 days all up, but we havent been there for about 4 years.

Having had our last few trips touring around and staying at a number of different places, I was thinking this year to have a real relax and go back in maybe October and stay at Nara Hotel for a week and do some day trips from there.

Has it become much more crowded over the past few years, like Kyoto?

In my opinion, Maccha Cream Puff is the icon of the crowds of tourists. When I google �gKiyomizudera Maccha Cream Puff�h I can see many photos of Maccha Cream Puff.

Then I googled �gNara Park Maccha Cream Puff�h, and did not find Maccha Cream Puff photos. So I guess Nara Park is less crowded even in these days.

Has it become much more crowded over the past few years, like Kyoto?

I visited Japan every year in the past 15 years. I noticed that the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan seemed to "soar" each year. Last year I visited Rebun as well as Reshiri Islands, and thought that I would be away from crowds. How wrong could I be, the hotels in Wakkanai were full; the day we visited the islands we saw a few buses of foreign tourists, not to mention the many "locals" in their tour groups.
I have not revisited Nara for many years. Nara may not be as popular as Kyoto, however, it is much smaller than Kyoto, it needs only 10% of those visitors visiting Kyoto, it will already be crowded.
Enjoy your visit, and enjoy the crowd!

I went last year on one of the Golden Week holidays to see an exhibit at the National Museum. There were long lines to see the beautiful scrolls, a special exhibition, but otherwise it didn't seem terribly crowded there.....

Cheers!

I've been doing Nara on average once a month the last couple of years, (and some of my early visits too), and yes it is getting more crowded, especially on the main routes from the station, Todaiji and Kasuga. Away from those sights the crowds are thinner, and while I don't get the time to explore the rest of the city, it is "enjoying" the tourism boom.

(last visit today - still lots of people but I thought fewer people on the Kyoto/Nara train than usual - even from my visit two weeks ago - maybe because of the rain)