HIROSHIMA · JAPAN
The Dome, the floating torii, and the days between.
Peace Memorial Park, Miyajima Island, okonomiyaki griddles and sake breweries along the Seto Inland Sea. The city that rebuilt itself, and the islands a short ferry away.
Only in Hiroshima
Three things you can only do here.
Tours, day trips and food walks happen in every Japanese city. These three are specific to Hiroshima — the only A-Bomb Dome on earth, the only torii that floats at high tide, and a layered okonomiyaki the city invented and the rest of Japan still argues about. Plan the rest of the trip around them.
At the heart of the city
Walk through Peace Memorial Park
The Atomic Bomb Dome was kept exactly as the blast left it on 6 August 1945, framed against the trees of a 30-acre park built in its memory. The Peace Museum, the Children's Peace Monument and the Cenotaph cross the park in a single hour. UNESCO World Heritage, ten minutes from Hiroshima Station, and the reason most travellers come.
- 1 Hiroshima Peace (Heiwa) Walking Tour at World Heritage Sites
- 2 Hiroshima: Miyajima Peace Memorial Icons of Peace and Beauty
- 3 Hiroshima 2hr Peace Cycling Tour with Local Guide
Across the Inland Sea
Float under the Itsukushima torii
A 15-minute ferry across the Seto Sea drops you at Miyajima, where a vermillion torii has stood in the water since 1168. At high tide the gate floats; at low tide you walk out to it. Wild deer wander the promenade, the cable car climbs Mt Misen, and the second UNESCO site of the day sits at the foot of the mountain.
- 1 Peaceful Hiroshima & Miyajima UNESCO 1 Day Bus Tour
- 2 Hiroshima: Hiroshima and Miyajima UNESCO Sites 1-Day Tour
- 3 Hiroshima / Miyajima Full-day Private Tour with Government Licensed Guide
On the iron griddle
Eat okonomiyaki the layered way
Hiroshima built its version of okonomiyaki differently from Osaka. Cabbage, batter, noodles, egg and pork belly are stacked layer by layer on a hot iron, not mixed in a bowl. The city has 800 specialist okonomiyaki shops; the locals will tell you which ones still cook it on the original Showa-era griddles.
- 1 Hiroshima Izakaya Food and Drink Night Tour
- 2 Hiroshima: Food and Culture Guided Walking Tour with Dinner
- 3 Best of Hiroshima Food Tour
Two perfect days
The classic Hiroshima sequence.
Most travellers spend 1–2 days here. Day one in the city, day two across the water to Miyajima — this is the order that gets the timing, the ferries and the meals right.
Peace Park, okonomiyaki, the Castle.
- Morning Atomic Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Museum — allow two hours and a quiet afternoon to think about it.
- Lunch Okonomimura: a three-storey building stacked with okonomiyaki griddles — pick any counter.
- Afternoon Hiroshima Castle and Shukkei-en Garden, twenty minutes apart on foot, both inside the moat.
- Evening Hondori arcade for shopping, then grilled oysters and Hiroshima sake at a small izakaya.
Ferry to Miyajima, then up Mt Misen.
- Morning JR Sanyo line to Miyajimaguchi, then the 15-minute ferry — aim for high tide so the torii floats.
- Midday Itsukushima Shrine, the five-storey pagoda and the deer on the promenade.
- Afternoon Cable car up Mt Misen for the Setouchi-wide view, or grilled oysters and momiji manju below.
- Sunset Last ferry back as the light goes — the torii lit up gold against a darkening sea.
Start here
The day everyone books first.
If Hiroshima is a stop on a wider Japan trip, this is usually the tour that lands first. Peace Park in the morning, ferry to Miyajima after lunch, back before sunset.
The classics
Hiroshima's Most Popular Tours
Peace Memorial Park, Itsukushima Shrine, the Miyajima ferry and the okonomiyaki griddles. The tours that anchor most first Hiroshima trips.
By place
Pick a piece of Hiroshima.
Miyajima for the floating torii and the deer. Peace Park for the memorial walk. Itsukushima for the shrine that stands in the sea. Saijo for the sake breweries within walking distance. Hiroshima Castle for the moat, the keep and the carp it's named for.
By tour type
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Walking tours through Peace Park, cycling along the rivers, ferries across the Inland Sea. Tea ceremony, calligraphy, kimono, an iron-griddle okonomiyaki class. The fast version of Hiroshima or the slow one — both are here.
UNESCO together
Two world heritage sites in one day.
Peace Memorial Park before lunch, ferry to Miyajima for Itsukushima Shrine after. Three combo tours that get the timing right, the train connections sorted and the ferry sequence working. If we had to pick three first-day plans, these are the ones we’d send a friend to.
On the island
Float, climb, eat oysters.
The floating torii at high tide, the cable car up Mt Misen, grilled oysters along the promenade, and deer that will follow you home if you let them. Our three favourites for a full Miyajima day.
By sea and by wheel
Take the slow way along the Inland Sea.
The Shimanami Kaido bridges across six islands by bike, river paddles through central Hiroshima, ferries that loop the Seto coast. Three runs and rides we’d save a half-day for — the part of Hiroshima you don’t see from a tour bus.
A quieter half-day
The hand-craft side of the city.
Matcha whisked at a 400-year-old tea ceremony, kimono fitted in a townhouse, kanji brushed onto rice paper, kyudo arrows let fly at a dojo. Three slow rooms we’d book between Peace Park and the ferry.
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