Hiroshima in one day

28 comments

1. Most of that is fine, but I think you’ll be a little rushed with the inclusion of Miyajima. If you’re considering turning it into an overnight thing I’d suggest staying the night in Miyajima. I did a night there and it was one of the highlights of my trip. When the last ferry leaves in the evening, it gets very quiet and the town’s charm really shines through. I stayed in a bnb owned by a very nice lady who made one of the best meals I had for breakfast the following morning.

   So you could go to Hiroshima in the morning, do all the sights then head to miyajima in the afternoon and stay there, then if you missed anything in Hiroshima, you can do it the next morning.

2. I would highly recommend visiting Himeji castle on the way to Hiroshima or on the way back to Osaka. Spending a night in Hiroshima would be advisable based on your current itinerary.

3. I second what u/stirry says. In 2019 my wife and I took the train from Osaka to Hiroshima with a small overnight bag that we could carry for the next 36 hours or so. We visited Hiroshima and saw all the highlights there. We went early enough so we didn’t feel rushed and this way we could be flexible on just hopping on a ferry to Miyajima. We booked a night at a really nice onsen and had a lovely bath and dinner experience on the island. The next morning we got up and checked out and went on a hike to the top of the island. Once we got back down we grabbed lunch at a local brewery that had really good beers and oysters and then hopped on a ferry back to Hiroshima and then train back to Osaka.

   We didn’t check out of our Osaka hotel we just let them know we were going to be staying somewhere else for a night as a courtesy. So when we got back from miyajima we just continued our stay in Osaka.

4. I did Hiroshima in a day, spent the night and then went to Kyoto. I didn’t do temples but it was probably more than doable. I didn’t do it because I was tired from walking for 3 weeks so I just went to the hotel and rested.

5. Miyajima is easily a one day trip. Absolutely beautiful place with a ton of nooks and crannies to explore – just keep in mind that a lot of shops and restaurants close quite early, as is the custom in Japan. Some shops that sell oysters also only run until they have stock and might close before the closing time.

   We went there first thing in the morning, took the zipline and then made our way to the very top of the mountain. What I’d do differently is perhaps go down and start exploring the shops and restaurants straight away, and then go exploring the temples like Daishoin until the time of your ferry departure. This way you get a chance to try their specialty – oysters, fried (cheaper) or grilled.

   Don’t forget that if you have the JR pass the ferry is free. Otherwise you can use other ferry services, of course.

6. I think you will feel rushed. We spent a full day on Miyajima, spent the night in Hiroshima, and then allocated half of the next day for the museum and peace park. Even that did not feel like enough time, and we could have easily spent another day or two in Hiroshima.

7. No way unless your’e just putting your foot in each of these places and than instantly leaving. I spent 4 nights in Hiroshima, Miyajima alone is a 5-6 hr affair (transit, hike, eat, wait for low tide, transit back).

8. We ended up spending 2 days in Hiroshima and a full 3rd dedicated day to Miyajima, well worth taking more time if you can. Miyajima was such a highlight of our entire trip (and we love fitting lots into our itinerary).

9. I did Hiroshima in one day/night. It is doable but I have to say the journey does tire you out so try not to pack too much in one day. It was boiling hot as well so that didn’t help the fatigue

10. I have done Miyajima and Hiroshima in one day from Osaka. It is a busy day, but if you start early and keep an eye on time, it is doable. It will be rushed and will be a long day

11. Hey. So with the exception of the temple, we did all that in a day.

    We got a very early Shinkansen out of Osaka to Hiroshima and went straight to the Peace Memorial Museum, arrived just before opening.

    We did the peace memorial, walked through the park to the dome then walked 12mins to Okonimi village (several floors of tiny Okonomiyaki restaurants, probably like 20+ little restaurants).

    We then took the train to the JR Miyajima ferry, saw the deer, had a slow walk up to the cable car and got the cable car up the mountain. We then came down, saw the floating Tori Gate and the temple at the edge of the beach overlooking this.

    Walked back through the village around the JR Ferry looking in shops etc. After finishing here, we headed back to Hiroshima and got a Shinkansen back at around 19:30 departure. Obviously could extend this out later to give you more time.

    It will be rushed and full on but doable if you aren’t planning a huge amount of time at each place.

    General tips if you’re focused on maximising time:

    Peace museum gets busy quickly with 30mins+ of queues and as it gets busier it takes longer to go round as it gets quite crowded. Get there early and beat the queue.

    Don’t queue ages for a specific Okonomiyaki restaurant – Okonomi village was great due to the sheer choice in one place, we got seated straight away.

    JR ferry to Miyajima is around every 20 mins.

    Last cable car up Miyajima is 16:30 with last return a little later (I think from memory?). If you want to go up the mountain make sure you do this before spending too much time lower down getting lost in the Beauty of the place.

    We could have saved an extra half an hour by getting a taxi/uber to the JR ferry – we took the metro which is about an hour from restaurant to ferry port.

    If you’re taking Shinkansen on the JR Pass, book seats well in advance, they go quick. Without this you’re limited to first-come, first-served in the non-reserved cars which are busy. You can book from the green terminals at the main stations but will need your JR Pass and Passport.

    For Shinkansen, also might be worth paying the premium to use a Nozomi train as I seem to recall they are quicker so would cut down travel and give you more time there. We didn’t so don’t know what the premium is but worth checking.

    Any other questions, just ask. Good luck!

12. We just did it, missed our early train, the line was long af to the museum, weren’t finished at the museum until mid afternoon. Way to late to go to Miyajima for any decent time, so we wondered Hiroshima and found a game store that I got a GBA SP at. It was disappointing to feel like we had so little time, I’ve been before and we did Miyajima and Hiroshima in the same day.

13. These are not places you want to rush. Miyajima is so beautiful and chill. It would be a shame to get in and out. The peace park is such a contemplative place. Plus its a big city outside of the areas you mentioned.

14. Everything is fine but Miyajima will be a stretch. You’ll have to take the earliest Shinkansen that you can get, and go at a time of year when the sun is up late. This day trip is not possible in the fall or winter.

15. I just came back for a cruise where we had less than 11 hours in Hiroshima (not including travel time to Hiroshima proper). I (33F) had my partner (34M) and parents (69F, 77M) with me, and we were able to do basically everything you listed, even with my mom’s titanium knees.

    I tend to be the tour guide/planner for our trips, and what we did in order was:

    1. Transit to Hondori Shopping Street and walk towards Okonomimura (I introduced my parents to Taiko at an arcade, which was a highlight for my mom)
    2. Went to Ron (a highly rated, English-friendly place) for okonomiyaki in Okonomimura (again, very fun experience)
    3. Walked toward the Peace Memorial Park and Atomic Bomb Dome. We went to the dome but only looked at the Peace Memorial Park from across the water. My dad spent a lot of time pointing out fish in the river during our walk.
    4. Walked to Hiroshima Castle via Hiroshima Gate Park. It was quite hot and we got ice cream and beverages near Hiroshima Gokoku shine in near the castle.
    5. Walked to Shukkeien Garden and spend quite a long time walking around there. It was very beautiful, but the little hills put my mom’s knees over the edge.

    Overall, we arrived in Hondori at about 12:30pm and left the area at 5pm, so we were only there for 4.5 hours in total, but still enjoyed the sites we wanted to see at the pace we wanted to. My family tends to not spend a ton of time in historical places (we more walk-through them than stop much), but I’m sure you can get just as much done or more with a longer day.

16. Me and my wife did your list, with exception of Daishoin temple, in one day. We departed from Shin-Osaka by early morning and returned by the end of the day. It’s doable, but a little bit rushy.
    We felt that Miyajima deserved one day just for it.

17. We did all of the above minus the museum and we did not rush around.

18. Not sure what the train between Osaka and Hiroshima is like, but my girlfriend and I did practically that same itinerary starting from Okayama, and we didn’t really feel all that rushed. We stayed quite late in Miyajima and got Hiroshima okonomiyaki at night before catching our train back. There’s an entire floor of okonomiyaki restaurants about three minutes walking from the station, which was 1) convenient, and 2) extremely delicious. One of our favourite meals.

19. I don’t know if it was because it was during cherry blossom season or not, but during my March visit, the Peace Museum was PACKED. I’d been there 15 years ago and there was plenty of room to examine the exhibits and contemplate, but this time was horrible.

    I agree that overnighting in Miyajima is very special, definitely a highlight.

20. miyajima is its own day

21. We did 2 nights and it was 1 night too long. 1 night 2 days is optimal imo.

22. Peace park and the dome, see them both during the day and at night, gives you a completely different feel seeing them lit up.

23. I’m planning a trip to Japan in the next year or so and was curious to know how heavy a visit to the Peace museum is. For example when we went to Cambodia we visited the school and killing fields on the last day because it was very overwhelming emotionally and you really didn’t feel like doing anything after something so serious. I can only envision this being along the same.

24. Miyajima deserves one day by itself. It takes a while to get there from Hiroshima station, at least 1h15 (1h train ride and 15 min ferry, if you get there when it’s already docked). You need to go back after this so you’re looking at a 3h commute in your day just for Miyajima.

25. I think it would be hard to fit it all in one day when you include travel times. I’ve recently planned for a visit to Hiroshima in a few weeks and want to see most of the same sights as you. I ended up organising to fly from Tokyo to arrive at 10:30am. Then visit the peace park, bomb dome, memorial and museum that day. Okinomimura for dinner and a walk around Hiroshima castle after dark. The next morning, head to Miyajima at 9am, spend 4-5 hours exploring the island, before heading back to Hiroshima and catching the Shinkansen to Osaka to arrive by 6:30pm.

26. I’ve done the peace memorial/museum and Miyajima from Osaka in the day. Didn’t have okonomiyaka, but wasn’t too rushed. I’ve actually done it twice, one time with my 80~ year old grandparents.

    I’ve also done the peace memorial/museum, Kinkaku-ji, and Kiyomizu Dera in one day!

27. We did the museum, peace park and Hiroshima castle in a single day and thought it was fine. Not sure about miyajima though, that might warrant an extra day.

28. I literally did all of that stuff in one day trip a few days ago. It’s a long day and you’ll be tired as hell but it’s doable, and it was a lot of fun. We left Osaka around 9:30am and got back around 11 pm.

    My recommendation is to go straight to Miyajima and work your way back. There’s a boat (costs $20/person) that will take you from Miyajima straight to Peace Memorial Park.