Nara: station to avoid crowds and luggage

After a 4 day stay in Kyoto, we travel further to Shigisan, and next day Imaicho (thanks to a tip from this forum) and then Wakayama City.
As we do pass NARA, on our way to SHIGISAN, we can get of the train as well. although, I do not like overcrowded places; Prefer to see less but in a quieter environment. at what station, we should get off the train in Nara, to avoid overcrowded places: Nara station of Kintetsu Nara.
another option is to stop at Horyu-ji (it is not far from Shigisan) and skip Nara. or do both.
and another question:: can we store our luggage in the trainstation (we will travel with backpack but ofcourse it is nicer to walk without a heavy travelbag)

Imaicho sounds like it was my suggestion. Good to hear someone is trying it out. Hope youfll like it.

Jr Nara or Nara Kintetsu, I think Kintetsu is a bit more crowded, but essentially to get to the main part of Nara you need to walk from Jr Nara in direction of Kintetsu. In Nara itself in my experience everything around the Todaiji is extremely busy, Nigatsudo much less so.

But if you are not set on central Nara you could try Yakushiji and Toshidaiji area. Both quite close to each other and close to a train station. For sure there are less tourists than around Todaiji.

I am not a big fan of Heijo palace. But itfs a very wide area so people disperse.

Horyuji also will have less tourists than central Nara for sure. I havenft been in about 10 yrs, but itfs not on everyonefs too 10 list.

In Nara itself I would really only avoid Todaiji area. Most other areas are kind of okay and just remeber that even just waking a block away will reduce crowds a lot. Eg there is a big open space behind Todaiji where not many tourists go and from where you can walk up to Nigatsudo. There are often deer there that to me seem goff dutyh from tourists.

I donft know about luggage storage.

About coin lockers, see this page.

https://newt-net.translate.goog/jpn/nara/mag-33567368002?_x_tr_sl=ja&_...

Payment is basically cash (100 yen coins) so you may better prepare 100 yen coins beforehand.

In Nara my preference is JR Nara station - there are luggage lockers. Rather than walk, there is a loop bus (250 yen) that will take you to stop N-08 (the anti-clockwise bus is less busy) and the walk to Kasuga Taisha and across to Mt Wakakusa and to Nigatsudo is usually pretty quiet and uncrowded. From there, briefly dipping into Todaiji and the more crowded area is worthwhile, even if just for a brief visit. There are, of course, many ways to get back to the train station - grab a taxi (they are not much) or enjoy the walk.

thank you for the information

Since you're continuing to Shigisan afterwards, one routing note: JR works
neatly here. JR Nara has the lockers (as mentioned above), and the same JR
Yamatoji line continues to Horyuji station (~10 min) and then to Oji, which
is the bus gateway to Shigisan. So "do both" is realistic without any
backtracking: early morning in the Nara park area (before ~9am even the
Todaiji surroundings are calm, the tour buses arrive later), then Horyuji
around midday - it absorbs visitors easily - then onward to Oji and Shigisan.

If you'd rather keep it to one quiet temple, Horyuji over central Nara is
the right instinct for a crowd-averse traveler.

thank you very much

If you are going to Shigisan directly from Kyoto, you may use the railway as below:

Kyoto-Yamato Saidaiji(Kintetsu Kyoto Line)
Yamato Saidaiji-Ikoma(Kintetsu Nara Line)
Ikoma-Shigisanshita(Kintetsu Ikoma Line)
Shigisanshita-Shigisammon(Nara Kotsu Bus)

It takes about 1.5 hours.

From Shigisan to Imaicho:

Shigisammmon-Shigisanshita(Nara Kotsu Bus)
Shigisanshita-Oji(Kintetsu Ikoma Line)
Oji-Unebi(JR Wakayama Line)
Unebi-Imaicho(walk)

It takes about 1.5 hours for this trip.