City walk Hiroshima — Peace Park & Miyajima, Japan

Hiroshima: Peace Memorial Park to Miyajima

A day in two halves — the memorial park and museum in central Hiroshima in the morning, then a short ferry to the island of Itsukushima and its shrine in the afternoon.

Duration: 1 day
Distance: 8 km
Difficulty: Easy
Best season: April–May and October–November; the June rainy season and humid midsummer are the least comfortable

This route pairs the two places most visitors to Hiroshima come for. The morning is spent in Peace Memorial Park, built on the flat delta ground that the atomic bomb of 6 August 1945 destroyed, and in the museum that documents the bombing. The afternoon crosses Hiroshima Bay to Itsukushima — usually called Miyajima — where a Shinto shrine stands over the water below a wooded sacred mountain.

The walking is flat and easy, on paved paths and island lanes, about 8 km in total across the day. The distance is not the constraint; the museum and the ferry are.

Getting there. Peace Memorial Park is reached from Hiroshima Station by tram in about 15–20 minutes. For Miyajima, take the JR Sanyo Line to Miyajimaguchi Station and the ferry from the pier beside it; the crossing takes about ten minutes. There is also a sightseeing boat down the river from the park itself.

Permits & tickets. No permit needed. The park grounds and the A-Bomb Dome are free and open at all hours. The Peace Memorial Museum charges a small admission. The ferry and Itsukushima Shrine each charge a fare or fee.

Good to know:

Allow at least 90 minutes for the museum. Its exhibits are direct and include personal effects and photographs of victims; visitors travelling with children may want to know this in advance.
The floating torii stands in the sea at high tide and on exposed mud at low tide. Check the tide table before choosing a crossing time — both states are worth seeing, but they are not the same visit.
Ferries to Miyajima run frequently through the day, but confirm the last return sailing before you settle in on the island.

Download waypoints (GPX) Points of interest in walking order — not a trail trace.

Day by day

DayDistanceAscentDescentWalking time

Day1 Hardest dayThe memorial park, then the island

Distance8 kmAscentNot recordedDescentNot recordedWalking timeNot recorded

Day 1

The memorial park, then the island

Peace Memorial Park → Mount Misen foothills, Itsukushima 8 km

Navigate this day

Central Hiroshima in the morning, Hiroshima Bay at midday, and Itsukushima in the afternoon.

Segments

Peace Memorial Park 0.8 km Map

Genbaku Dome-mae tram stop → Cenotaph and Peace Flame

Paved park paths

A park in the centre of the city, laid out by the architect Kenzō Tange on ground that was a merchant district before the bombing. It holds more than fifty memorials and monuments, among them the arched cenotaph and the Children's Peace Monument. Entry is free and the grounds are open at all hours. Allow about an hour.
The A-Bomb Dome 0.4 km Map

Cenotaph → Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)

Riverside path

The Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall stood close to the point above which the bomb detonated. Its walls and the steel frame of its dome remained standing and have been kept in that state. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. It is viewed from the path around it; the ruin itself is not entered.
Peace Memorial Museum 0.6 km Map

A-Bomb Dome → Peace Memorial Museum

Paved park paths

The museum at the southern end of the park documents the bombing and its effects through objects, photographs and survivor testimony. Admission is small. Allow at least 90 minutes; many visitors take longer.
Ferry to Miyajima 0.5 km Map

Miyajimaguchi Station pier → Miyajima ferry terminal

Ferry crossing and pier approach

Itsukushima, popularly called Miyajima, sits in the northwest of Hiroshima Bay and belongs to the city of Hatsukaichi. The crossing from Miyajimaguchi takes about ten minutes. Wild deer move freely around the terminal and the streets beyond it.
Itsukushima Shrine and the floating torii 1.2 km Map

Miyajima ferry terminal → Itsukushima Shrine

Seafront promenade

A Shinto shrine built out over the water on piles, best known for the vermilion torii standing offshore, which appears to float at high tide. The complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and several of its buildings are designated National Treasures. A small entry fee applies.
Mount Misen foothills 1.5 km Map

Itsukushima Shrine → Momijidani Park and the ropeway base

Valley paths and shrine lanes

Behind the shrine the island rises to Mount Misen, the sacred mountain at the island's centre and its high point at 535 m, inside the shrine's World Heritage area. This route stays low, following the maple-lined valley of Momijidani Park to the ropeway base — climbing the summit is a longer half-day of its own.