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Two days is the right amount of time for Hiroshima: one for the Peace Memorial Park and the city, one for Miyajima. This is a workable plan for each day, with the timings and the practical details that the guidebooks tend to leave out.
The short answer
Day one: the Peace Memorial Park and Museum in the morning, the A-Bomb Dome and Hondori in the afternoon, okonomiyaki in the evening. Day two: an early tram and ferry to Miyajima, the full day on the island, back to the city for dinner. On the trams we simply paid each ride with an IC card. A one-day tram pass only pays off if you plan several rides in a day, and each pass is valid only for the calendar day you scratch off, so you would need a new one (or the tram-and-ferry pass) for day two.
Day 1: the Peace Park and the city
Morning: Peace Memorial Park and Museum
Start at the Peace Memorial Museum when it opens, before the tour groups. The same rule works for most well-known sites in Japan: get there early, because crowds tend to start building after about 10 am. We spent between one and two hours inside in the morning, and it was busy but not packed. Tickets are sold at a kiosk in the lobby, so there is nothing to book ahead. The kiosk had several languages, took cash and printed a QR code that we scanned at the turnstile. Admission is ¥200 for adults. We skipped the audio guide (around ¥400) and read the signs, using Google Translate on our phones for a few images. The displays are set up well for visitors who do not read Japanese. The museum is direct and difficult, and most people need to sit quietly afterwards.
Then walk north through the park: the Cenotaph framing the eternal Flame of Peace and, beyond it, the A-Bomb Dome; the Children’s Peace Monument with its cases of folded paper cranes, tied to the story of Sadako Sasaki; and the National Peace Memorial Hall for the atomic bomb victims, which is underground, free, and quieter than the main museum. The whole circuit is about two hours at a reflective pace. The park and the Dome are free to walk through, and we spent a long time just wandering the grounds around the museum, which was peaceful and well kept.
Afternoon: the A-Bomb Dome, Hondori and the castle
The A-Bomb Dome stands just across the river from the park, the ruin of the former Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, left as it was after the blast and now a UNESCO World Heritage site. You view it from outside; it is not enterable.
From there it is a short walk to the Hondori covered shopping arcade for lunch and a break from the weight of the morning. With time left, add one of:
- Hiroshima Castle (“Carp Castle”), a 1958 reconstruction of the five-storey keep. The keep closed to visitors on 22 March 2026 with no reopening date set, so for now you can walk the grounds and the moat and see it from outside.
- Shukkei-en, a compact classical garden laid out in 1620 and modelled on West Lake in Hangzhou, with a tea house (Seifukan) where you can stop for matcha. A ten-minute walk from the castle.
Deciding where to stay? Where to Stay in Hiroshima →
Evening: okonomiyaki
Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is layered rather than mixed: a thin crepe, a heap of cabbage, noodles, pork and egg, assembled on a griddle in front of you. Okonomimura, a building of small stalls near Hondori, is the easy option, though locals will point you to quieter places nearby. Sit at the counter.
Day 2: Miyajima
Take an early tram or the JR Sanyo Line to Miyajimaguchi, then the ferry across (10 to 15 minutes). We took the tram out and the faster JR train back, and we both preferred the tram for the slower, closer look at the city. The train is much quicker, though. Going early gets you ahead of the day-trip crowds who arrive mid-morning.
On the island:
- Itsukushima Shrine and the floating torii gate. Check the tide times before you go: at high tide the gate stands in the water, at low tide you can walk out to it. Both are worth seeing, and the light is best in the late afternoon once the crowds thin. When we arrived around 11 am in May, the gate stood on dry mud flats and the shrine queue was long and slow, so we skipped going in. Arriving earlier would have been worth it.
- Mount Misen (535 m). Take the ropeway most of the way up (it ends at a platform partway up the mountain, not at the summit, and the trail from there goes down a little before climbing a good distance), then walk the last stretch to the summit for the view over the Seto Inland Sea. Allow two to three hours round trip, or half a day if you hike up.
- The town and Omotesando arcade for momiji manju, the maple-leaf-shaped cakes made fresh here, and grilled oysters in season.
- Daisho-in temple on the lower slopes of Misen, often missed and one of the best things on the island.
The deer roam freely and will investigate any loose paper or food, so keep your map and ticket in a bag. Return to Hiroshima in the evening for dinner, or stay overnight in a Miyajima ryokan if the budget allows, which gives you the shrine and the torii almost to yourself after the last ferry.
Getting around
Hiroshima runs on streetcars (the Hiroden). The standard one-day pass covers the city lines but not the Miyajima line out to the ferry, which needs a separate tram-and-ferry pass. Pass types and prices change, so check Hiroden before you buy. From the Shinkansen station, tram line 2 goes straight to the Peace Park in about 15 minutes. A preloaded IC card also works on the trams and buses. We used an ICOCA card that we bought from a kiosk at the airport after landing, loading money on it when we bought it. The kiosk worked in several languages, and the card worked without problems everywhere we went in Japan. The trams make many stops, like a bus, and are easy to get on and off. Just make sure the card has a balance before you ride, so you do not get stuck needing to top it up. and buying single JR tickets at the station is straightforward: the machines have an English option and take cash or card.
Frequently asked questions
Can you see Hiroshima and Miyajima in one day?
It is possible but rushed. You would get a couple of hours in the Peace Park and a hurried afternoon on Miyajima. Two days lets you give each the time it needs. Our guide on one day versus two works through the trade-off.
How much time do you need at the Peace Memorial Park?
Around half a day. Ninety minutes to two hours for the museum, then another hour or two for the park itself, the A-Bomb Dome and the underground Memorial Hall.
Do you need to book anything in advance for Hiroshima?
Not for the Peace Park, the museum or Miyajima, which you can all just turn up to. Book accommodation ahead in cherry-blossom and autumn seasons, and reserve Shinkansen seats if you are travelling on a busy date.
When is the best time to visit Hiroshima?
Spring (late March to April) and autumn (November) for the weather and the colour. Winter, roughly November to March, is oyster season. The Hiroshima Flower Festival fills the city over Golden Week in early May.
Where to go next
Still weighing up how long to stay? See Hiroshima in 1 or 2 days. For the memorials in more depth, read Hiroshima history sites to visit, and for a bed, where to stay in Hiroshima. Everything we have written sits on the Hiroshima hub.
This article is for informational and educational purposes only. Always verify current travel requirements with official government sources before making travel decisions.
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