Day 1 — Peace Memorial Park & the Atomic Bomb Dome
Begin at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, ideally right at opening (8:30am), before tour groups and school trips fill the galleries. The exhibits document the atomic bombing of August 6, 1945, through artefacts, photographs, and personal testimony. It is a difficult but essential two hours, and the museum handles the material with care rather than spectacle.
From the museum, walk out into Peace Memorial Park itself. The Cenotaph frames a direct sightline to the Flame of Peace and the Atomic Bomb Dome across the river — stop here rather than rushing past. The Children's Peace Monument, covered in strings of folded paper cranes sent from schools around the world, sits nearby and is one of the park's most moving spots.
Cross the Motoyasu River to stand closer to the Atomic Bomb Dome, the ruined skeleton of a former exhibition hall left standing as the closest surviving structure to the blast's hypocentre. Give this quiet time rather than a quick photo stop.
For lunch, walk into downtown Hondori, the covered shopping arcade a short distance east, for a relaxed meal away from the memorial district. In the afternoon, visit Shukkei-en Garden, a compact Edo-period landscape garden that was among the first places replanted after the war — a calmer counterpoint to the morning.
Evening: try Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki at one of the counters in Okonomimura, a multi-floor building of small grills where you can watch the layered noodles, cabbage, and pork build up in front of you.
Day 2 — Miyajima Island
Take the streetcar or JR train from central Hiroshima to Miyajimaguchi (about 30–45 minutes), then the short JR ferry across to Miyajima island — a scenic ten-minute crossing that gives an early view of the floating torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine.
Visit Itsukushima Shrine itself first, ideally checking tide times in advance: at high tide the vermillion torii and the shrine's stilted halls appear to float on the water; at low tide you can walk out across the sand to the base of the gate. Both are worth timing for if your schedule allows.
Mid-morning, take the two-stage ropeway up Mount Misen, Miyajima's sacred mountain, then walk the final stretch to the 535m summit for views across the Seto Inland Sea. Wild deer roam freely around the lower town and the temple grounds — friendly but best not fed.
Spend the afternoon wandering Miyajima's small historic town: Daishoin Temple's atmospheric grounds, the old merchant houses, and stalls selling freshly grilled oysters and hot momiji manju, the maple-leaf-shaped sponge cakes that are the island's signature souvenir.
If your schedule allows, staying overnight on Miyajima is worthwhile — once the day-trip crowds leave on the evening ferries, the shrine and waterfront are quiet and the floating torii lit after dark is a different experience entirely. Otherwise, take the ferry back to Miyajimaguchi and the streetcar into Hiroshima for the night.
Day 3 — Hiroshima Castle, Downtown & a Slow Finish
Morning: Hiroshima Castle, a reconstructed five-storey keep set in a moated park a short streetcar ride from the centre. Note that the keep closed to visitors in March 2026 over earthquake-safety concerns, with its exhibits moving to a new museum facility within the outer walls — check current status before planning to go inside, though the moated grounds themselves remain open and worth the walk.
From the castle grounds, walk or take the streetcar back toward Hondori for lunch. This is a good opportunity to try anagomeshi, conger eel served over rice, a local specialty that's lighter than the eel dishes found elsewhere in Japan.
Afternoon: spend an unhurried couple of hours exploring the Hondori arcade and the streets around it — casual shopping, coffee, and a good sense of everyday Hiroshima away from the memorial sites. If you didn't make it on day one, this is also a natural time to revisit Peace Memorial Park in different afternoon light, or to walk along the river past the Motoyasu embankment.
For a change of pace, consider a short trip out to Okunoshima ("Rabbit Island"), reachable by train and ferry in around 1.5 hours each way, for its hundreds of free-roaming wild rabbits and small wartime museum — best suited to travellers with a later evening train out of the city.
Evening: a final dinner of Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki or fresh oysters, followed by a walk along the river near Peace Boulevard as the city lights come on — a fitting, contemplative way to close out a visit built around themes of memory and renewal.