We'll be in Kyoto in mid March for a few days, and we plan on doing a day trip to Hiroshima on either a Saturday or a Sunday. Is either day more desirable than the other, from a tourist standpoint?

Not particularly. Both are weekends so there will be more locals out and about - and none of the common tourist destinations are closed on either day.

We'll be doing a day trip to Hiroshima from Osaka (four adults) via Shinkansen in March, and I'm looking for recommendations on places to see besides the Peace Memorial Park and the museum. How many hours should we plan on spending in Hiroshima? Any must-see and/or must-avoid sites? Lunch venues?

Thanks!

Hi,

You have the peace memorial park with its memorials , the A-dome building and the Museum

Hiroshima is about 50 mins from the Itsukishima shrine ( with its red torii gate in the ocean) on Miyajima island ( cruise boat from the pier close to the A-dome building)
The shukkeien garden is beautiful
Hiroshima Castle is interesting
Hiroshima is worth spending a few days as it is a good base for
Iwakuni
Kure
Also a night time visit to the peace park and the a dome building is worthwhile as it is a different experience with the building illuminated at night
However for just a day the peace park etc is worthwhile
although it would be a long day from osaka
Regards

TBS

Woudl recommend to go up the Hiroshima Orizuru Tower which is right next to the A-dome building.

Hi

I did find it a bit expensive for what it is at y2200 but it does offer a unique view of the a dome building ghen walk down the ramp around the building but on a nice day probably worthwhile once

Regards

Tbs

No.

Reply of the day.

You could go to the Simose Art Museum. I haven’t been but it just won UNESCO’s Prix Versailles as the “World’s Most Beautiful Museum”.

https://simose-museum.jp/en/news/pos...%202%2C%202024.

Hopefully, what is exhibited inside will be more interesting than the current show - which happily ends on the 16th Feb 2024.

The "how many hours" question is difficult to answer because your primary interest is/should be the Peace Park and Museum. Can't really answer how much time you should spend in any park or any museum. You could linger in or speed-walk through the park and/or spend seconds or many minutes at several/all of the exhibits. However, there is a limit to how much time you can spend in the city.

Looks like the earliest arrival time at Hiroshima via fast shinkansen would be 07:25 and latest departure from Hiroshima would be 22:12. The next-to-last return would be at 21:59 and I would plan on that with the later train being a backup.

That would be about 14.5 hours. Subtract 15 minutes spent at Hiroshima Station both after arrival and before departure. Thus, you can have a maximum of ~14 hours in Hiroshima. Figure 2 hours each way for traveling to/from the shinkansen platforms at Hiroshima Station and you have a maximum of 18 hours for your day trip.

If you want an 18-hour day trip, then more power to you. I recommend that you get the earliest train that you are all comfortable with, but either don't book the return trip or get seats on the next-to-last train. This would be to avoid the schedule pressure. You could make/change reservations online (I assume) after you have a good idea on the day of when you want to return.

After the PP&M you can decide if you have time/energy to take the ferry to Miyajima that TBS mentioned or maybe you just want to go to the castle/garden/station.

Miyajima would be the best choice to visit besides, or instead of, the PP&M. That would require a bit more planning than other sights, including checking the tide tables for Itsukushima. You should check the japan-gude webpage to plan your visit.