Full-day tour: Peaceful Hiroshima & Sacred Miyajima Island
Last updated: August 26, 2026
Two World Heritage Sites and one unforgettable arc: the morning walks Hiroshima's story of destruction and recovery — past Hiroshima Castle, to the Atomic Bomb Dome standing as it stood in 1945, and through the Peace Memorial Park and Museum whose artifacts say what statistics cannot. A hearty Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki lunch resets the day before the ferry crossing to sacred Miyajima, where the vermilion Otorii rises from the tide, Itsukushima Shrine floats on its piers, and the mountainside halls of Daisho-in Temple watch over it all — with free time to roam the island's lanes and its resident deer.
Itinerary
Departure
- Start point: Hiroshima Station
- Stop at: Hiroshima Castle
- Stop at: Atomic Bomb Dome (Genbaku Dome)
- Stop at: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
- Stop at: JR Miyajima Ferry
- Stop at: Miyajima Otorii Gate
- Stop at: Itsukushima Shrine (Miyajima)
- Stop at: Daisho-in Temple
Frequently Asked Questions
It is sobering by design — the personal artifacts and testimonies land hard — but visitors overwhelmingly describe it as essential rather than unbearable, and the park around it frames the story as one of recovery and peace. The guide leaves space to take it at your own pace.
At high tide, when the sea slides under the Otorii and Itsukushima Shrine and both appear to rest on the water — the postcard image. At low tide you can walk across the flats to the gate's massive legs instead; each state has its devotees, and the day's tide chart decides which you get.
Miyajima's oldest temple, climbing the slope below sacred Mount Misen in a cascade of halls, Buddhist statuary and prayer-wheel staircases — quieter than the shrine below and beloved by those who make the extra climb. Its 500 expressive rakan statues, each with a different face, steal most photographs.
Hiroshima's own okonomiyaki — the layered version that grills noodles, cabbage and batter into a hearty stack, fiercely distinguished from Osaka's mixed style by every local. It's included in the day and counts as cultural education.