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Hiroshima & Miyajima Private Tour: Peace Park & Floating Torii

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/14

Duration4h–8h

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Hiroshima's Peace Park and Miyajima's Shrine in One Day

You spend the morning moving through Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park—the A-Bomb Dome, the museum, the Children's Peace Monument, and the Cenotaph—with a guide who gives context and leaves space for reflection. After lunch, you take the ferry to Miyajima Island to see Itsukushima Shrine and its floating torii gate, explore the shrine grounds, and walk the island's traditional streets. Your guide arranges all transport and entry tickets, so you arrive at each stop ready to step in.

4h–8h

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Explore Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Visit A-Bomb Dome
Tour Peace Memorial Museum
See Children’s Peace Monument
Pay respects at Cenotaph for A-Bomb Victims
View Peace Flame
Ring Peace Bell

Day 2 — Discover Hiroshima city and gardens

Walk Hiroshima Hondori shopping street
Explore Hiroshima Castle and museum
Stroll Shukkeien Garden

Day 3 — Visit Miyajima Island and shrine

Explore Itsukushima Shrine and torii gate
Enjoy views from Mount Misen
Shop local treats on traditional streets

The Experience

"You'll understand why we call it the Peace Flame when you stand in front of it," your guide says as you approach the Cenotaph for A-Bomb Victims in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. The day starts with pickup via public transport, then moves straight into the weight of history. The A-Bomb Dome—the skeletal remains of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, one of the few structures near the epicenter to survive the 1945 blast—stands as a UNESCO World Heritage Site that stops you mid-stride. It's not a museum piece behind glass; it's there, preserved exactly as it was found, and the guide walks you through what happened on August 6, 1945, and what came after.

Inside the Peace Memorial Museum, you move through photographs, personal belongings, and survivor testimonies that make the scale of the bombing real in a way statistics never do. The Children's Peace Monument comes next—the bronze statue of a girl holding a golden crane, surrounded by thousands of folded paper cranes sent from around the world. Visitors fold their own and add them to the display. You'll ring the Peace Bell, which has an inscription asking for the souls of victims to rest in peace. The guide doesn't rush you through any of this. There's time to sit, to read the names on the Cenotaph, to let the message sink in. Before leaving the park, you stop at Hiroshima Hondori, a pedestrian arcade where locals eat okonomiyaki and shop, a reminder that the city rebuilt itself and moved forward.

Then you take the ferry to Miyajima Island. The Itsukushima Shrine appears as you approach—the famous red torii gate rising from the water at high tide, one of Japan's most photographed landmarks. The shrine itself is built over the water, its architecture designed to blend with the landscape rather than dominate it. You explore the shrine's halls and grounds, and if you're there at the right tide, you can walk out to the gate itself. Deer roam freely on the island, unbothered by visitors. There's time to walk the traditional streets, pick up momiji manju (maple-leaf sweets shaped like maple leaves) or fresh oysters, and absorb the quieter pace of the island before the ferry back to Hiroshima.

The whole day moves at a pace that lets you absorb rather than just check boxes. Your English-speaking guide handles the logistics—tram routes, ferry schedules, entry tickets to both the museum and the shrine—so you don't have to. Public transport gets you between stops, which means you see the city as it is, not from a tour bus window. Strollers and prams work fine if you're traveling with small children; the park and shrine are accessible, though there's walking involved.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup via public transportation, tram and ferry fares between Hiroshima and Miyajima, entry tickets to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Itsukushima Shrine, and an English-speaking guide who leads you through the Peace Memorial Park (including the A-Bomb Dome, Cenotaph, Children's Peace Monument, and Peace Flame), then across to Miyajima Island for the shrine and its grounds. The guide handles logistics and timing so you can focus on the experience.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPublic transport nearby

Operated by coco

Is this one for you?This tour works well if you want to see both Hiroshima's peace memorials and Miyajima's shrine without arranging transport, entry tickets, or navigating between stops yourself—the guide and included fares take that off your hands, leaving you free to absorb each place.