Hiroshima Japan 7 Day Itinerary
Hiroshima rebuilt so completely after 1945 that the atomic bomb dome, the only structure left standing near the hypocentre, is now surrounded by a thriving city of 1.2 million people. Most visitors treat Hiroshima as a day trip from Kyoto or Osaka and miss nearly everything. Seven days is the right amount of time to do the place justice: two days in the city itself, a full day on Miyajima Island, and the remaining days on day trips through the Seto Inland Sea and the quiet temple towns of the Hiroshima Prefecture coast.
Day 1: Arrival and First Orientation
Hiroshima Airport is served by direct flights from Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, and a handful of international routes. The Hiroshima Airport Bus to Hiroshima Station takes about 45 minutes and costs 1,340 yen. A taxi runs roughly 10,000 yen and makes sense only if you are travelling in a group with heavy luggage.
Check into your accommodation, then walk to Okonomimura, the four-storey building near Parco department store where 24 individual okonomiyaki stalls share a floor each. Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is not a mixed batter pancake like the Osaka version: it is built in layers, starting with a thin crepe, then cabbage, pork belly, noodles (soba or udon), and egg, all pressed together on the griddle. Mitchan Sohonten, established in 1950, is the original, but the stalls in Okonomimura are less tourist-polished and more interesting for it. Sit at the counter, watch the chef work, and eat it from the iron plate with a small spatula.
In the afternoon, walk to the Peace Memorial Park. The Atomic Bomb Dome sits across the Motoyasu River and is best seen first from the park bank: the shell of the Industrial Promotion Hall, which was directly below the bomb’s detonation point, has been preserved without repair. Entry to the park is free.
Day 2: Peace Memorial Museum and Shukkei-en Garden
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum opens at 8:30am and closes at 6pm (later in summer). Adult admission is 200 yen. The museum is split into two buildings; the east building covers the historical and political context of the Second World War, and the main building documents the immediate and long-term effects of the bomb on the people of Hiroshima. Plan two to three hours. The exhibits are direct and difficult: personal effects, photographs, and survivor testimony that make the experience more affecting than any other war museum in the country. Go early to avoid the queue that builds by 10am, particularly in August when the August 6 commemoration draws large crowds.
After the museum, walk 15 minutes north-east to Shukkei-en Garden, a 1620 landscape garden built to replicate scenes from the West Lake in Hangzhou on a miniature scale. Entry is 260 yen. It was almost entirely destroyed in 1945 and painstakingly reconstructed; the fact that the large zelkova trees are now mature again is quietly remarkable. A tea ceremony room inside the garden offers matcha and wagashi for 500 yen if you want to sit for 20 minutes.
Dinner in the Nagarekawa entertainment district, a grid of narrow streets south of Hondori with izakaya, oyster bars, and ramen shops. Hiroshima oysters from the Seto Inland Sea are among the best in Japan, farmed at scale in Mihara and Ondo and available grilled, steamed, or raw. The oyster restaurants on Oyster Street near Ebisu-cho tram stop are tourist-visible but reliable; for something less formal, find the small bars on the backstreets where a plate of grilled oysters is 500 yen and you eat standing at the counter.
Day 3: Miyajima Island
The JR ferry from Miyajimaguchi to Miyajima Island costs 200 yen one way and is free with a JR Pass. The crossing takes 10 minutes. Leave central Hiroshima by 8am to be on the island before the day-trippers from Kyoto arrive on the shinkansen.
The Itsukushima Shrine complex, built on stilts over the tidal flats, dates to the 6th century in its earliest form, though most of the current structure is from the 12th century. The large orange torii gate that appears to float on the sea at high tide is 16 metres tall and was last replaced in 1875. Shrine admission is 300 yen. Tide timing changes the experience entirely: at high tide the gate appears to stand in water and the walkways of the shrine float; at low tide you can walk to the gate’s base. Check tide times before you go, as the difference between a memorable visit and a mudflat walk is a few hours.
After the shrine, take the ropeway up Mount Misen (1,000 yen each way, or 1,800 yen return). The summit at 535 metres overlooks the islands of the Seto Inland Sea in every direction. There is also a hiking trail from the base that takes about 90 minutes and is considerably more rewarding than the ropeway, though steep. The sacred flame at the summit has allegedly been burning since Kobo Daishi lit it in 806 AD.
Stay for dinner on the island if the budget allows. The maple leaf-shaped momiji manju cakes sold at every shop on the main street are the island’s signature souvenir. Avoid the tourist restaurants on the waterfront and eat at one of the smaller places one street back, where the anago (sea eel) over rice costs around 1,800 yen and is the local dish worth ordering.
Day 4: Day Trip to Onomichi
Onomichi is 80 kilometres east of Hiroshima, about 40 minutes on the Sanyo shinkansen to Shin-Onomichi or 70 minutes on the local JR line to Onomichi Station. Take the local line: the approach through the hills above the harbour is part of the experience.
Onomichi is built on steep hillsides above a narrow sea channel, and the temple walk that connects 25 temples across the upper slopes takes about three hours at a relaxed pace. It is one of those routes that most general Japan itineraries leave out, and it is one of the best half-days in western Japan. The ropeway to the top of Senkoji Hill (280 yen up, 180 yen down) gives you a starting point and panoramic views of the Onomichi Channel.
The town’s winding alleys are lined with independent cafes and small galleries. Onomichi is also the western terminus of the Shimanami Kaido, a 70-kilometre cycling route that hops across six islands to Imabari in Ehime Prefecture via a series of suspension bridges. You cannot do the full route in an afternoon, but renting a bike from Giant Onomichi (at the harbour, by the hour or day) and riding across the Mukaishima bridge to the first island is a good 90-minute side trip.
Return to Hiroshima for dinner.
Day 5: Hiroshima Castle and the City’s Neighbourhoods
The original Hiroshima Castle was destroyed in 1945. The current ferro-concrete reconstruction dates from 1958 and houses a museum of feudal-era Hiroshima history across five floors. Admission is 370 yen. The interior is less interesting than the moat and grounds, which are pleasant in any season and beautiful during cherry blossom and autumn foliage.
Spend the afternoon walking the downtown shopping arcade at Hondori, which is the longest covered shopping street in western Japan. The basement food halls of the Fukuya and Sogo department stores at the east end sell prepared foods, wagashi, local sake, and pickles. Budget an hour here and buy whatever interests you: the prepared food sold by weight is often better than a restaurant meal at the same price.
The Naka ward, which runs south of the covered arcade toward the waterfront, has the city’s highest concentration of good independent restaurants and drinking spots. Yoshinoya (not the chain) and the small counter ramen shops on the streets off Aioi-dori are both worth seeking out for dinner.
Day 6: Seto Inland Sea Islands
The Seto Inland Sea contains hundreds of islands, and most visitors to Hiroshima see only Miyajima. Tobishima Kaido, a chain of small islands accessible by bridge and ferry from Mihara (40 minutes from Hiroshima on the Sanyo Line), is the quietest and least touristy. The Shimokamagari Island museum complex includes reconstructed warships from the Battle of Sekigahara and an excellent historical seafood restaurant.
Alternatively, Okunoshima, reached by ferry from Tadanoumi Station (70 minutes from Hiroshima), is a small island that was used as a chemical weapons production facility during World War II and is now home to several hundred semi-wild rabbits that have colonised the island completely. The combination of a dark history museum and hundreds of rabbits running toward you for food is genuinely surreal. Take the 9:43am ferry from Tadanoumi to arrive before the day’s main crowds.
Return to Hiroshima in the afternoon.
Day 7: Departure
The Hiroshima Airport Bus departs from Hiroshima Station and Hatchobori, stopping at major hotels on request. Allow 75 minutes from the city centre. If you are connecting to Tokyo by shinkansen rather than flying, the Nozomi takes 1 hour 30 minutes and the Hikari takes just under 4 hours. The shinkansen is the right choice unless your onward flight is international: the journey into Tokyo from Shin-Osaka on the Nozomi is one of the best train rides in the world and should not be rushed.
Practical Notes
The Hiroshima Tourist Pass covers unlimited tram travel within the city and the JR ferry to Miyajima for 700 yen per day. If you have a national JR Pass, the ferry to Miyajima is covered at no extra cost, making the Tourist Pass unnecessary.
Trams in Hiroshima are a flat 180 yen per ride. The network covers most of the tourist sites. IC cards (Suica, Icoca, Nimoca) work on all trams and buses.
Hiroshima okonomiyaki and oysters are the two dishes worth eating repeatedly. The city’s sake breweries, concentrated in Saijo 30 minutes east by train, produce some of Japan’s finest junmai and daiginjo. A taxi tour of three or four breweries in Saijo with tasting sessions is available through the local tourism board and costs around 4,000 yen per person. This is the one outing that most itineraries omit entirely and most visitors who do it rank as a trip highlight.
August 6 is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, held at 8:15am in the Peace Memorial Park to mark the exact time the bomb fell. It is open to the public and deeply moving. If your visit falls on this date, plan to be in the park by 7:30am.