the route
Hiroshima and Miyajima in two days: the Peace Park, okonomiyaki, and the ropeway up Misen
Sora Nakamura is a pen name. Routes are drafted with AI assistance from the sources named on each stop, and read before they go out. How we work →
Two days built from the places' own pages, Jalan's okonomiyaki and Miyajima guides and a BRUTUS piece on the city's wine bars; we have not been. The first day stays on foot between the Peace Memorial Park and the castle, the second crosses to Miyajima. Since February 2025 every Hiroden streetcar ride costs ¥240, the long Miyajima line included.
Day one works best on a Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday: the okonomiyaki house shuts on Tuesdays, the daytime wine bar on Fridays and the dinner on Sundays and Mondays. The castle's keep has closed, so the visit is the Ninomaru by the moat. Next to Shukkeien, the Prefectural Art Museum shows a retrospective of the painter Sugai Kumi from 2 October to 6 December.
On Miyajima, buy the eel bento at Miyajimaguchi before the ferry and eat it on the island. The ropeway runs up until four; after that the only way up Misen is on foot. The ride home is not in the total below: ¥200 for the ferry back and ¥240 for the streetcar.
- Where
- Hiroshima
- How long
- 2 days
- Stops
- 11
- Distance
- 24 km · 5.3 km on foot
- On the clock
- about 9 h a day
- Pace
- steady
- Season
- all
- Mood
- first-time · sea · eating
Times are the editor’s plan, not a timetable. ≈ marks our own rough estimate; check the train times before you go.
what it costs
Per person, one adult. Each place’s figure is what its source printed, and the stop names the source and the date; the fares are the operators’ own published figures. Meals and rides with no printed figure are not in the total, and a figure printed more than a year ago says so. Converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 2026-09-25, not a bank rate.
the day
- Day 1
- Train≈25 min · Hiroden streetcar from Hiroshima Station to Genbaku-Dome-mae, then on foot · ¥240
- 観Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum 広島平和記念資料館
The museum in the Peace Memorial Park. The ticket counter keeps shorter hours than the museum: before 8:30 and after 17:30, tickets are sold online only.
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum · 120 min¥200per personas printed by Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum September 28checked 2026-09-28Hours7:30–19:00 September to November (last entry 30 minutes before closing); closed 30–31 December and for some days in mid-February · hpmmuseum.jp, checked 28 Sep 2026
Source ↗Open in maps ↗ - Walk≈8 min · 0.4 km
- 観Atomic Bomb Dome 原爆ドーム
The ruin at the north end of the park, beside the streetcar stop named after it; lunch is three minutes from here.
Jalan · 15 minSource ↗Open in maps ↗ - Walk≈3 min · 0.2 km
- 焼Okonomiyaki Nagataya お好み焼 長田屋
Hiroshima okonomiyaki a few steps from the Peace Memorial Park, in a room with a Showa-era feel. The noodles come from Isono Seimen, which has made okonomiyaki noodles in Hiroshima for over half a century, fried in a pork-bone stock; the house special with squid tempura, spring onion and a raw egg is ¥1,550.
Jalan · 60 min¥1,550per personas printed by Jalan February 25Hours11:00–21:00 (last order 20:00); closed Tuesdays and on irregular days · Jalan, as of 25 Feb 2026
Source ↗Open in maps ↗Plan BClosed on Tuesdays: Jalan's guide lists nine more okonomiyaki houses across the city.
- Walk≈22 min · 1.3 km
- 観Shukkeien 縮景園
The old domain garden, a landscape in miniature around a pond. The Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum stands beside it; a set ticket for both is ¥660.
Shukkeien · 75 min¥350per personas printed by Shukkeien September 28checked 2026-09-28Hours9:00–17:00 from 16 September to 15 March, 9:00–18:00 from 16 March to 15 September, last entry 30 minutes before closing; closed 29–31 December · shukkeien.jp, checked 28 Sep 2026
Source ↗Open in maps ↗ - Walk≈15 min · 0.7 km
- 観Hiroshima Castle, Ninomaru 広島城 二の丸
The castle's keep has closed; the rebuilt Ninomaru buildings by the moat stay open, and they are free.
Hiroshima Castle · 40 minFreeper Hiroshima Castle September 28checked 2026-09-28HoursNinomaru buildings 9:00–16:30 October to March, 9:00–17:30 April to September, last entry 30 minutes before closing · rijo-castle.jp, checked 28 Sep 2026
Source ↗Open in maps ↗ - Walk≈18 min · 1.2 km
- Walk≈15 min · 0.9 km
- Day 2
- Train≈70 min · Hiroden streetcar, Miyajima line, to Hiroden-Miyajimaguchi; JR's Sanyo line to Miyajimaguchi is quicker · ¥240
- 食Anagomeshi Ueno あなごめし うえの
The oldest name in anagomeshi, more than 120 years: conger eel grilled in its own fat with a sauce kept going for generations, over rice cooked in the eel's stock. It stands just before the ferry. Take the regular bento (¥2,700) to the island and eat it by the sea or in Momijidani Park; at lunchtime the queue to sit is long.
Jalan · 20 min¥2,700per personas printed by Jalan September 30, 2024 · may have changedHoursBento 9:00–19:00, meals 10:00–19:00; both close at 18:00 on Wednesdays, and earlier if sold out · Jalan, as of 30 Sep 2024 · may have changed
Source ↗Open in maps ↗ - Boat≈10 min · JR Miyajima Ferry, Miyajimaguchi to Miyajima; ¥200 each way, plus the island's ¥100 visitor tax on the way in · ¥300
- 観Itsukushima Shrine 嚴島神社
The shrine on the water, with the great torii out in the bay. The corridors are built with gaps against high tides, so heels catch in them.
Itsukushima Shrine · 60 min¥300per personas printed by Itsukushima Shrine September 28checked 2026-09-28Hours6:30–18:00 from 1 March to 14 October, 6:30–17:30 from 15 October to 30 November, 6:30–17:00 in December; open every day · itsukushimajinja.jp, checked 28 Sep 2026
Source ↗Open in maps ↗ - Walk≈8 min · 0.2 km
- 甘Momijido main shop 紅葉堂 本店
A momiji manju maker since 1912, and the home of age-momiji: the maple-leaf cake battered and fried to order, in five fillings. There are twenty seats and free tea.
Jalan · 20 min¥250per personas printed by Jalan March 18Hours9:00 to about 17:30, varying with the season; closes on irregular days · Jalan, as of 18 Mar 2026
Source ↗Open in maps ↗ - Walk≈10 min · 0.4 km
- 観Miyajima Ropeway to Mount Misen 宮島ロープウエー
From Momijidani Park, two ropeways in a row up Mount Misen. The ride and a look around at the top take about an hour there and back, and the summit itself adds about an hour on foot. On days the operator marks, a reservation is required; check its site the day before.
Miyajima Ropeway · 180 min¥2,000per personas printed by Miyajima Ropeway September 28Book aheadchecked 2026-09-28HoursUp 9:00–16:00, last car down 16:30; stops in bad weather · miyajima-ropeway.info, checked 28 Sep 2026
Source ↗Open in maps ↗
if it is shut
- 3. Okonomiyaki Nagataya お好み焼 長田屋
Closed on Tuesdays: Jalan's guide lists nine more okonomiyaki houses across the city.
- 6. wine Uluru
Closed on Fridays: COFFEE & WINE coin in Fukuromachi, from the same BRUTUS piece, opens at 13:00.
- 7. 6ème
Closed on Sundays and Mondays: coin in Fukuromachi stays open until midnight (closed Wednesdays).
music for the way
on the wire
On the wire this week
- 「没後30年 菅井汲」展が広島県立美術館で開催。菅井が目指した「未来の美術」とは何か Bijutsu Techo
the editor
Sora Nakamura is the pen name the routes on Day by Day Japan are written under, drafted with AI assistance and read before they go out. Every fare, fee and opening time on a route comes from whoever printed it, the operator, the place itself or a Japanese magazine or guide, and the page says which, with the date. Sora writes routes, not rankings, and would rather send you to a place that has kept its regulars for fifty years than to anything called a hidden gem.