Once you're suitably overwhelmed with the scale of this place, and it is gargantuan, the rest of a Nara sightseeing visit feels quite intimate. The main park with the aggressive deer is a huge open field, but the rest of the site is forested and hilly, and there are various temples hidden in the woods that aren't nearly as crowded and lots of fun to explore. The first logical stop, Nigatsu-do, is a bit hard to find. It's connected to the giant Buddha via a small path that winds uphill, which eventually connects to a wide staircase lined with stone lanterns, which then leads to a monastic compound that feels really sleepy. It's about a dozen buildings, mostly monk's quarters and one main temple from which you get a good view of Nara below.