Visit Nara

The Great Buddha sitting in the open air, Zen temples and a surf beach, an hour from Tokyo.

The gilded Toshogu shrine of the Tokugawa shoguns in a cedar forest, with the Kegon waterfall above.

The "museum without walls": grassy royal burial mounds, the Cheomseongdae observatory and Silla-dynasty treasures across the town.

Visit the iconic Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, known for its top two floors completely covered in gold leaf and surrounded by beautiful gardens

Buddhist temple where three million people come at New Year to ward off bad luck — and where the incense-smoke ritual is part of the visit.

Ruined former Siamese capital, UNESCO-listed.

Eighth-century Buddhist temple of stone pagodas and painted halls, paired with the Seokguram grotto Buddha above it.

Rock-cut cave temples in Maharashtra, crowned by the monolithic Kailasa temple.