Originally Posted by
imm2b
I have a hard time following your questions.
I've visited Japan recently, including Okunoshima. I'll give you my thoughts. We brought the Japan Rail 7-day Pass, all of our train travels were done with the pass. We did Kyoto, Hiroshima, Okunoshima, Miyajima, Fukuoka and Nagasaki then back to Osaka all on the rail pass. We got more than what we paid for the passes.
I used
http://www.hyperdia.com/ to plan my Japan travels.
If time is limited, I would skip Okunoshima. We visited Okunoshima in the morning and Miyajima in the afternoon as a day trip. The island is deserted, a bit boring for my taste. If you loved rabbits, they are everywhere waiting to be fed. Bikes are available for rent, you can go around the island on bike in about an hour. If you decided to go I can give you some pointers on how to get there.
In my opinion, Miyajima is worth at least a whole day. I wish we had spent more time there. During Cherry Blossoms it was an amazing place.
Hiroshima is good for an afternoon. We actually took a taxi from our hotel at the train station to the Memorial site, we spent in total about 2 hours in Hiroshima.
Nagasaki is a very nice city. The Atomic museum is very extensive and informative. Glover Garden, Dejima Dutch trading post and Chinatown are some of the highlights.
Thanks and sorry for the stream of conscious post; I was sort of working out our schedule and plans as I was typing so it came off a biut rambling and all over the place. We're going to skip Ōkunoshima.
Here's a more condensed and concise summary of my initial post:
We're scheduled to leave Matsue after breakfast at our ryokan in the morning. We're due to arrive at our ryokan (Iwaso) on Miyajima that same afternoon. We have dinner scheduled at the ryokan that evening.
We have to be in Nagasaki the following day to check-in at our ryokan there. We have dinner scheduled at that ryokan (in Nagasaki) on the day of arrival but I was wondering whether it would be best to reschedule for a different day in order to add flexibility to our travel between Miyajima and Nagsaki.
My main question is how to maximize our time in Miyajima and Hiroshima given the above criteria. The only fixtures in our plans are that we have to leave Matsue in the morning, check in to Iwaso the same afternoon, and arrive in Nagasaki the following day.
I would like to spend as much time on Miyajima as possible. I listed all of the sites that I'd hoped to explore; including the temples, shrines, and pagodas, Momijidani Park, and possibly the ropeway.
I would also like to hit the "highlights" of Hiroshima; the bomb site, museum, memorials, and ideally Shukkei-en Garden as well (if that's suggested). I was trying to discern whether it would make more sense to do this stuff upon arrival in Hiroshima from Matsue, or whether it would be best to ferry straight to Miyajima and spend the remainder of the day and night on the island, then visit Hiroshima the following morning en route to Nagasaki, after checking out of Iwaso.
I was also wondering whether Hiroshima Castle (we've already been to Kanazawa and Nara) or any of the other parks or museums were worth a visit; would you prioritize anything else in Hiroshima beyond the bomb stuff?
Thanks for your feedback!