Hiroshima in 2 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)
Two days: the Peace Park, then Miyajima, nothing else squeezed in
Two days is tight for Hiroshima, so this plan doesn’t try to cover the castle, the museums, or a second day trip. Day 1 is the Peace Memorial Park and downtown; Day 2 is Miyajima, in full. If a third day opens up, the 3-day itinerary folds in the castle and Shukkeien Garden; longer still, the 5-day and 6-day versions add Onomichi and Iwakuni.
| Day | Focus | Getting around | Rough daily cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | A-Bomb Dome, Peace Memorial Park and Museum, okonomiyaki | Hiroden tram | ~¥240 tram fares + modest museum fee (verify) + ¥1,000-1,500 okonomiyaki (verify) |
| Day 2 | Miyajima: Itsukushima Shrine, Mount Misen | Tram/JR + ferry | ~¥200 ferry one-way (verify) + ¥100 visitor tax (verify) + food |
Day 1: the A-Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Park
Start at the A-Bomb Dome, the preserved ruin of the former Industrial Promotion Hall, standing almost directly beneath the 1945 blast and deliberately kept as it was. Walk south into the Peace Memorial Park: the Memorial Cenotaph, the Flame of Peace burning since 1964, and the Children’s Peace Monument, inspired by Sadako Sasaki, who died of leukemia in 1955 at age 12 after folding paper cranes. This ground asks for quiet, unhurried attention rather than a quick pass-through. Go into the Peace Memorial Museum at the park’s southern end, the Main Building reopened in 2019 after seismic retrofitting; a modest entrance fee applies (verify current pricing), and it’s worth allowing at least an hour. For lunch or dinner, Okonomimura’s multi-floor okonomiyaki stalls run roughly ¥1,000-1,500 a plate (verify); the batter, cabbage, pork, noodles, and egg are layered, not mixed, a real distinction from Osaka’s version. Get around on the Hiroden trams, a flat fare around ¥240 (verify), Japan’s largest surviving tram network. Buy a Hiroden day pass if you’re planning several rides, since single fares add up faster than the pass on a full sightseeing day.
Day 2: the ferry to Miyajima
Take the tram or JR train to Miyajimaguchi, then the roughly 10-minute ferry across to Miyajima (around ¥200 one-way, verify, plus a ¥100 visitor tax, verify). Itsukushima Shrine’s floating vermilion torii gate, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, is the reason to come; time the visit around high tide if the “floating” effect matters to you, or low tide if you’d rather walk out to the gate itself. If time allows, take the Miyajima Ropeway partway up Mount Misen, leaving about a 30-minute walk to the 535m summit for views across the Seto Inland Sea. Try anago-meshi (grilled conger eel over rice) or momiji manju, the maple-leaf-shaped cakes sold near the ferry terminal, before heading back. Check the last ferry time before you settle in for a late lunch on the island; sailings thin out in the evening and missing the last one back means an unplanned night away from your Hiroshima hotel.