Hiroshima is the gateway to Iwakuni: the Shinkansen stops here, most visitors sleep here, and the JR Sanyo Line to Iwakuni starts from its main station. It is also a city that everyone should see for its own sake.
At its centre is the Peace Memorial Park, laid out on the district that lay beneath the atomic bomb on 6 August 1945. The skeletal Atomic Bomb Dome, preserved as it stood after the blast, is a UNESCO World Heritage site; the Peace Memorial Museum tells the story through the belongings and testimony of those who were there.
Top things to do: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Walk the park
Start at the Atomic Bomb Dome, cross the river and follow the axis past the Children’s Peace Monument and the Flame of Peace to the cenotaph, which frames the Dome through its arch.
Visit the Peace Memorial Museum
Allow at least an hour and a half. It is sobering and unforgettable. Entry costs only a couple of hundred yen; at busy times there can be a queue, so go early or late.
Take a guided walk
A guide adds what the monuments cannot say for themselves. Several excellent, inexpensive walking tours run daily.
Eat okonomiyaki
Hiroshima’s layered savoury pancake with noodles is the city’s comfort food — the right way to end the day.
How to get there
- From Iwakuni: JR Sanyo Line to Hiroshima Station, about 50 minutes.
- From Hiroshima Station to the park: about 15–20 minutes by tram to the Genbaku Dome-mae stop.
- With a pass: JR passes cover the train; the tram is paid separately.
Insider tips
- Do Hiroshima and Iwakuni on different days if you can; each deserves unhurried time.
- The park is open at all hours and is moving in the quiet of early morning.
- Stay near Hiroshima Station for the easiest connections — see where to stay.
Best tours & tickets: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
These experiences are the easiest way to see Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the rest of Iwakuni:
Guided day tour from €107 Hiroshima: Hiroshima and Miyajima UNESCO Sites 1-Day Tour
The best-reviewed way to see both of Hiroshima’s World Heritage sites in a day, with a guide for the Peace Memorial Park and museum in the morning and Miyajima in the afternoon. It does not go to Iwakuni — but it frees up another day to visit Kintaikyo on your own, about fifty minutes down the line.
- Peace Memorial Park and the Atomic Bomb Dome
- Miyajima and Itsukushima Shrine
- More than four thousand reviews
Small-group day trip from €76 Hiroshima & Miyajima: 2 UNESCO Sites 1-Day Small-Group Tour
A shorter, cheaper small-group version of the classic Hiroshima-and-Miyajima day: the Dome and the Peace Park, then the island and its shrine. Well reviewed and good value. Like the longer tour it does not include Iwakuni.
- Atomic Bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Park
- Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima
- Small group at a lower price
Guided walk from €29 Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park Historical Walking Tour
A guided walk through the Peace Memorial Park that explains what stood here before 6 August 1945 and what each monument means. Short enough to fit into a morning before you head west to Miyajima or Iwakuni.
- Atomic Bomb Dome, cenotaph and Children’s Peace Monument
- The history told on the spot by a guide
- Inexpensive and highly rated
Guided walk from €31 Hiroshima Historical Walking Tour: Why the A-Bomb Was Dropped
One of Hiroshima’s most-reviewed walking tours. It sets the bombing in its historical context as you walk between the main sites of the Peace Park — a thoughtful two and a half hours.
- The wider history behind the bombing
- Key sites around the Peace Park
- Well over a thousand reviews
