6 Best Day Trips from Hiroshima
Hiroshima’s own core fills two days comfortably; everything below is what to add once that’s done. Here are the 6 best day trips, ranked roughly by how essential they are.
1. Miyajima (essential, not optional)
A tram or train to Miyajimaguchi, then a roughly 10-minute ferry, gets you to the “floating” vermilion torii of Itsukushima Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. Add the Mount Misen ropeway and hike, the island’s sacred deer, and grilled anago or momiji manju, and this fills a full day on its own. A ¥100 visitor tax is collected on arrival. Most visitors, including us, consider this a mandatory stop rather than a genuine “day trip” to weigh against the others.
2. Onomichi and the Shimanami Kaidō
About an hour by train, Onomichi is a hillside temple town on the Seto Inland Sea, its old streets part of a wider pilgrimage route. It’s also the western end of the Shimanami Kaidō, a scenic cycling route across a chain of bridges toward Shikoku, genuinely one of Japan’s best cycling days if you rent a bike and have the time.
3. Iwakuni’s Kintaikyō Bridge
A five-arched wooden pedestrian bridge first built in 1673, rebuilt more than once since (most recently in 1953), and designated a National Treasure. It’s a particularly good pick for cherry blossom or autumn foliage season, and a manageable half-day out from Hiroshima.
4. Tomonoura, the preserved port town
A couple of hours out, this old tidal port keeps its circular harbor, Heian-era temples and a restored 19th-century merchant house largely intact, a slower, quieter alternative to the busier Onomichi and Miyajima routes.
5. Kure, for naval history
About an hour by train, Kure is a historic port city home to the Yamato Museum, covering Japan’s battleship history in detail, plus a genuinely scenic working harbor to walk along afterward.
6. Sandankyō Gorge
The furthest and least-visited option here: a 16km ravine with waterfalls and standout autumn color, inside a national scenic park. Worth the trip specifically for November foliage, less so outside that window.
See the things to do guide and the main Hiroshima travel guide for the city itself, or the 4-day itinerary for how to slot one of these in without rushing the core.
One concrete tip: don’t try to combine two of these in a single day beyond Miyajima itself. Hiroshima’s day trips are each worth their own unhurried day, not a rushed morning-and-afternoon double-header.