Hiroshima & Miyajima in One Day
The Peace Park and museum in the morning, okonomiyaki for lunch, then the ferry to Miyajima for the floating shrine, the torii at low tide and sunset over the I
Last updated 2026-09-03 · 1-day self-guided plan
Hiroshima & Miyajima
A morning of memory, an afternoon on the sacred island
For first-time visitors who want both halves of Hiroshima, the city's history and its island, done properly in a single long day.
- 1
Atomic Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Park
Tram 2 or 6 from Hiroshima station reaches Genbaku Dome-mae in about 15 minutes; be there around 8:30 while the riverbank is quiet. The skeleton of the exhibition hall stands as it was left, and from it the park runs south across the river past the Children's Peace Monument, strung with paper cranes, to the cenotaph and the eternal flame framed against the dome.
1 HourCost: Free - 2
Peace Memorial Museum
The museum opens early in the morning and is busiest from mid-morning, so go straight in. It tells the story through belongings, a watch, a lunchbox, a tricycle, and through the drawings of survivors, without commentary; give it the full ninety minutes and step outside for air when you need it. The audio guide is worth the small extra charge.
1.5 HoursCost: ¥200–500 - 3
Okonomiyaki lunch
Ten minutes' walk east into the city centre, Okonomimura stacks two dozen okonomiyaki counters on three floors, and there are good single shops on almost every block around it. Hiroshima's version is layered, not mixed: a crepe, a mountain of cabbage, pork, a nest of noodles and an egg, built on the hotplate in front of you. Order the standard soba version with oysters if they are in season.
45 MinutesCost: ¥1,000–2,000 
4Itsukushima Shrine
The JR Sanyo Line takes about 30 minutes to Miyajimaguchi and the ferry ten minutes more; deer meet you on the pier. The shrine's vermilion corridors run out over the sand on stilts so that at high tide the whole complex seems to float, with the great torii standing in the water beyond. Check the tide table before you go and time your visit to whichever state you want to see first.
1 HourCost: ¥300–500
5Walk out to the torii, or up to Daisho-in
If low water falls in the afternoon, you can walk across the sand to stand under the torii's legs, camphor trunks bigger than you expected and crusted with barnacles. If the tide is in, take the same hour up through Momijidani Park, quiet under maples, to Daisho-in, the temple whose steps are lined with hundreds of small statues in knitted hats. Either way, be back on the shore before the light goes.
1 HourCost: Free
6The torii at sunset
Most day-trippers leave on the late-afternoon ferries, and the shore in front of the shrine empties just as the sun drops behind the mainland hills. The torii is lit after dark. Have a grilled oyster or a maple-leaf momiji manju on Omotesando before it shuts, then take a ferry back; they run into the late evening and the last train to Hiroshima is later still.
45 MinutesCost: Free
Day 1 Estimated Cost
- Food¥3,000–5,000
- Transport (tram, train, ferry)¥1,500–2,500
- Admissions¥500–1,000
Tips
The JR ferry from Miyajimaguchi is covered by the Japan Rail Pass; a small island visitor tax is added to any ferry ticket.
The sand under the torii is wet and shell-strewn: shoes you do not mind soaking, and watch the tide coming back in.
Miyajima's oyster stalls close by early evening; eat them on the way to the sunset, not after it.
High tide gives the floating shrine, low tide gives the torii up close; a day with the change in the afternoon gives you both.