Osaka + Nara from Kyoto

Can someone here please help me with my Nara and Osaka itinerary? In regards to order of things to do (especially for Osaka because things seem kind of far apart).
We have 12 people in our group - 1 being a toddler

We will be doing a day trip from Kyoto and will combine Nara and Osaka together - we plan to make an early start...hoping for 8am start

• Take train to Nara - 35 minutes one way
• FROM/TO KYOTO – head to Kyoto Station and look for the Kintetsu-Nara line. (Alternatively, you can take the Nara JR Line from Kyoto to Nara if you have a JR Pass, but that leaves you at the Nara station, which is less conveniently located.)  - question about this, can I not take the Kintetsu-Nara line with JR pass?

Once we get to Nara we plan to visit the following:
• NARA
• Todaji temple/Buddha statue
• Deer Garden
• Lunch here somewhere
• Kasuga taisha shrine
• Watch mochi making in person - where can we do this

We hope to leave Nara for 1pm, is that realistic or possible?

• Take train to Osaka - From Nara, Kintetsu trains (not JR) go straight to Namba, where the Dotonbori neighborhood i.s. OR??? Take the Kintetsu-Osaka line. The trip is approximately 40 min.

• OSAKA
• Cup Noodles Museum (https://www.cupnoodles-museum.jp/en/osaka_ikeda/)
�› 9:30 – 4:30 (Last admission is at 3:30)
• Osaka Aquarium - open from 10:00 to 8:00 but last admission at 7pm - Perhaps only half the group will do this, so is there something the other part of the group can do in the mean time?
• Dotonbori river cruise (https://wondercruise.osaka/en/)
Have dinner in Osaka

Take train back to Kyoto

Hi!

The JR Pass does not work on Kintetsu (or Keihan or Hankyu or Nankai) because Kintetsu is its own private train line. Kintetsu is the name of the company not the specific line. Kintetsu has a Nara line and an Ise line and a Yoshino line just to name a few of their private train lines. If you were doing a lot of Kintetsu travel they offer their own passes, you can read about them here: https://www.kintetsu.co.jp/foreign/english/ticket/index.html All the passes have a surcharge for limited express trains.

Kintetsu Nara is considerably closer to the deer park and the other tourist sights in Nara than JR Nara, but I've walked from JR Nara. Kintetsu Kyoto Station is really easy to find, as it is right next to JR Kyoto Station.

It's really hard to miss the deer. They're everywhere. How long it takes you to visit the deer, Todaiji and Kasuga Taisha depends on your pace and how long you want to spend doing these activities.

Osaka Aquarium is pretty off by itself and not super close to anything outside of Intex and Tempozan Harbor Village. Perhaps the other half of your group would find something interesting there or they can take the ferry back and forth for free to Universal Port?

Good luck!

Take a bus from one of the train station to Kasuga Taisha. Walk from there to Todaiji and back to station. 3 hours should be enough. If you plan to have lunch then add another hour.

Rkold that's a great suggestion for the rest of the group thank you while we take my daughter to the aquarium

jmisugi perfect thnk you - and it looks like per google maps that the deer park is right between the two so that works out

Any suggesitons on where to go to see mochi making?
Finally, any thoughts on how to do what in which order for Osaka?

Hi!

I've not been, but when I did a search in Google for "nara mochi demonstration" this shop came up under several different articles:
https://matcha-jp.com/en/1622

So presumably, while touristy, they are a place to watch and try the mochi after.

For Osaka, I would do things based on what is the most important activities and where you want to eat dinner.

Just remember, most of your transport within Osaka is not going to be by JR. The only time JR comes in handy is when you go from JR Osaka Station to JR Kyoto. However, depending on where you are staying in Kyoto, you might want to use Hankyu or even Keihan. I use to pay out of pocket 420 yen to go from Yodoyabashi Station to Gion-Shijo Station because it was one direct train vs going from JR Osaka to JR Kyoto to JR Tofokuji and change there for Keihan Tofokuji to Gion-Shijo. Using JR would have been free, and could have even been faster, but when I was tired I preferred taking a direct train.

Good luck!

Here's website of Nakatanido Mochi pounding Shop as below:
http://www.nakatanidou.jp/english/

It's located at the corner of Sanjo Street and Mochidono Street as is shown on the map.
You may see them pounding mochi if you are lucky since they pound mochi when it is sold out.