Top religious sites and sacred destinations
Top religious sites and sacred destinations
Sacred routes and historic places of worship
For a lot of people, visiting a famous religious site is one of the most memorable parts of a trip, whether they are believers or just curious about how other people live and pray.
Some travelers go on a real pilgrimage, like walking the Camino de Santiago or joining the crowds in Varanasi at sunrise. Others simply want to stand inside a huge cathedral, a golden temple or an old mosque and take in the quiet for a while. Families might look for places with easy access and a bit of history to explain, while solo travelers are often happy to spend a whole day in one spot, watching rituals and asking a lot of questions.
Timing matters too. A festival or holy day can be crowded and loud, but it shows a place at its most lively, while an early weekday visit is often the best way to enjoy the peace.
Lists by region
City in Japan
Nara
Giant Buddha, tame deer and ancient temples
Todaiji Temple houses a bronze Buddha statue standing over fifteen meters tall. Wild deer wander the surrounding park, considered messengers of the temple's guardian deity. Visitors can feed the deer crackers sold by nearby vendors. A single wooden pillar has a hole said to bring luck if crawled through.
Town in Japan
Nikko
Tokugawa shrines, waterfalls and hot springs
Toshogu Shrine houses the lavishly carved mausoleum of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Gold leaf and detailed wood carvings cover nearly every surface of its gate. Visitors can spot the famous carving of three wise monkeys near the stable. Cedar trees line the approach path leading up to the shrine.
City in Japan
Ise
Japan's most sacred Shinto shrine city
The Ise Grand Shrine is rebuilt from scratch every twenty years in an ancient Shinto ritual. Carpenters use techniques passed down for over a thousand years to reconstruct it exactly. Visitors can walk the gravel paths through cedar forest toward the inner shrine. Photography is not allowed near the sacred buildings.
Island in Japan
Miyajima
Torii in the sea, deer and Mount Misen
Itsukushima Shrine's vermilion torii gate appears to float when the tide rises around it. At low tide, visitors can walk out across the exposed sea floor to touch it. The shrine itself sits on stilts above the water on Miyajima island. Deer roam freely along the paths leading to the shrine gates.
City in Japan
Kyoto
Temples, geisha districts and kaiseki dining
Fushimi Inari Shrine is lined with thousands of vermilion torii gates donated by worshippers. The gates climb a forested hillside behind the main shrine buildings. Visitors can walk the full path in about two hours round trip. Small fox statues along the way represent messengers of the harvest god.
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