Top tip: don't walk up this hill cough mountain from the city (not only is it incredibly steep and quite busy, you'll also have your back to the breathtaking views the entire time). Instead, walk up through the shaded and beautiful Mt. Kasuga Primeval Forest and you'll be greeted with incredible views after a steady gradual incline (and hardly any humans).

There are a few benches up here to enjoy the view of forested mountains and the entire city of Nara. We paused to sit and have our picnic lunch here, surrounded by a few deer.

Another top tip: don't feed the deer and they won't bother you. We had one stand beside us for a while perfectly calm, whereas a tourist who was feeding them biscuits had a herd of about 30 deer hounding him for more and they even followed him back down the hill after he tried and failed to make them loose interest in him.

Also, please remember to bring a small amount of cash for the ticket booth if walking back down the hill towards the city (it costs a small fee to access the summit where we picknicked, but you could technically avoid this if you walked up and then back down through Mt. Kasuga Primeval Forest). Please also note that we had quite an early lunch as we were very hungry after our hike through the forest, and the viewing area where we picknicked did start getting busier the later it got whereas when we first arrived there was only 2 other people there. Just something to keep in mind :)