Hiroshima and Miyajima day trips compared
The Peace Memorial Park in the morning, the floating torii of Itsukushima in the afternoon. Below are the guided day trips you can book from Osaka, Kyoto or Hiroshima Station, with one question answered for each: is the Shinkansen in the price or not?
- Start in Osaka, Kyoto or at Hiroshima Station
- 100 yen Miyajima visitor tax since October 2023
- Shinkansen included on some tours only
Day trips to Hiroshima and Miyajima side by side
Most-reviewed first. The two columns after the tour name tell you where the day begins and whether the bullet train is part of what you pay. Tap a column header to re-sort.
| Photo | Tour | Starts from | Shinkansen included | Format | Duration | Reviews ↕ | Price ↕ | Book |
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Hiroshima and Miyajima UNESCO Sites Day Tour Japan Panoramic Tours | Hiroshima Station | No, book your own train | Coach tour from Hiroshima | 8 hours | ★ 4.9 (4,062) | €107 per person | Book on GetYourGuide |
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Hiroshima and Miyajima Bus Tour from Osaka, Kyoto or Hiroshima, Shinkansen Optional H.I.S. | Shin-Osaka, Kyoto or Hiroshima Station | Yes, in the Osaka or Kyoto package option | Bus tour, train package option | 8 to 12 hours, depending on where you start | ★ 4.7 (1,266) | €102 per person From-price = start in Hiroshima. The Shinkansen package price shows after you pick the Osaka or Kyoto option. | Book on GetYourGuide |
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Hiroshima and Miyajima Day Tour with Lunch from Hiroshima H.I.S. | Hiroshima Station, 9:45 | No, book your own train | Bus tour from Hiroshima | 8 hours | ★ 4.7 (423) | €102 per person | Book on GetYourGuide |
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Miyajima and the Peace Memorial, Symbols of Peace and Beauty Pinpoint Traveler | Peace Memorial Park (7-Eleven Motoyasubashi) | No, book your own train | Small group or private | 8 hours | ★ 4.9 (375) | €151 per person | Book on GetYourGuide |
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Hiroshima and Miyajima Day Trip from Osaka by Bullet Train Amigo Tours Japan | Shin-Osaka, guide meets you at Hiroshima Station | Yes, in the option with train tickets | Train on your own, guided day in Hiroshima | 8 to 11.5 hours | ★ 4.8 (370) | €85 per person Check which option the from-price belongs to before you compare it with a train package. | Book on GetYourGuide |
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Private Guided Tour of Hiroshima and Miyajima Island Voyagers | Your hotel in Hiroshima, the Shinkansen exit or a cruise terminal | No | Private guide, public transport | 6 hours | ★ 4.8 (334) | €93 per person | Book on GetYourGuide |
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Hiroshima and Miyajima in One Day, Private Tour with a Licensed Guide Japan Guide Agency | Your hotel in Hiroshima | No | Private, government-licensed guide | 8 hours, a 4-hour option exists | ★ 4.8 (281) | €348 per person | Book on GetYourGuide |
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Hiroshima and Miyajima, Two UNESCO Sites in a Small Group Cornwall | Hiroshima Station, JR main exit | No, book your own train | Small group, public transport | 6.5 hours | ★ 4.8 (275) | €74 per person | Book on GetYourGuide |
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Guided Half-Day Tour of Miyajima Island from Hiroshima AIDO | JR Miyajimaguchi Station | No | Miyajima only, small group | 4 hours | ★ 4.9 (161) | €61 per person | Book on GetYourGuide |
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Hiroshima and Miyajima Small-Group Tour with a Local Guide Evergrove | Hiroshima Station, 2nd floor, south side | No, book your own train | Small group, public transport | 6 hours | ★ 5.0 (136) | €78 per person | Book on GetYourGuide |
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Hiroshima and Miyajima Full Day Tour by Bullet Train from Osaka JTB | Osaka | Yes | Shinkansen package | 13 hours 10 minutes | ★ 4.6 (136) | €345 per person | Book on Viator |
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Hiroshima and Miyajima Full Day Tour by Bullet Train from Kyoto JTB | Kyoto | Yes | Shinkansen package | 13 hours 20 minutes | ★ 4.5 (136) | €349 per person | Book on Viator |
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Private Tour to Hiroshima and Miyajima from Osaka or Kyoto, with Lunch Travel Club Japan | Hotel pickup in Osaka, Kyoto or Hiroshima | No, about 3.5 hours by van each way | Private van with driver | 12 hours | ★ 4.9 (127) | €685 per group Price for the whole van, up to 6 people. | Book on GetYourGuide |
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Hiroshima and Miyajima Day Trip from Kyoto by Bullet Train Amigo Tours Japan | Kyoto Station, guide meets you in Hiroshima | Yes, in the option with train tickets | Train on your own, guided day in Hiroshima | 8 to 12 hours | ★ 4.7 (101) | €85 per person Check which option the from-price belongs to before you compare it with a train package. | Book on GetYourGuide |
The booking platforms show the cheapest option of each tour as its from-price, and on the day trips that is usually the start in Hiroshima. Prices load from the platforms and include taxes and fees.
- The from-price of a tour called "from Osaka" or "from Kyoto" is usually the start in Hiroshima. H.I.S. sells its Shinkansen package as an option on the same page, and that price only shows once you pick Osaka or Kyoto.
- Japan Panoramic Tours, the most-reviewed day tour here, does not include the train. Guests from Osaka or Kyoto are asked to book a return Shinkansen that leaves after 18:30.
- On the Amigo Tours trips you ride the Shinkansen alone. The tickets arrive at 18:00 Japan time the evening before, the guide waits in Hiroshima, and the Peace Memorial Park part costs extra.
- Short museum time is the complaint reviewers raise most often on the train-package tours. Around midday the Peace Memorial Museum can be full, and between 11:00 and 14:00 entry is at times by reservation only.
- "Hiroshima Station" is not one meeting point. Operators use the north side, the south side or the Shinkansen gate, and the H.I.S. bus from Hiroshima leaves at 9:45 without waiting for latecomers.
From Osaka or Kyoto, with or without the train
Hiroshima is on the Shinkansen line west of Osaka and Kyoto, and the train fare is the biggest cost difference between the tours. That is why the packages with a return Shinkansen cost a multiple of the tours that begin at Hiroshima Station.
The full package is the simplest version. H.I.S. (as an option) and JTB (on Viator) book the train for you, so the whole day sits on one voucher. Amigo Tours sends you the train tickets and lets you ride alone; the guide takes over at Hiroshima Station. The third way is to buy your own Shinkansen ticket and join a tour from Hiroshima Station, such as Japan Panoramic Tours, Evergrove or Cornwall. It suits you if you want to choose the train times or stay overnight. The fourth is the private van by Travel Club Japan with hotel pickup in Osaka or Kyoto: no train at all, but around seven hours on the road and a driver rather than a guide.
All four, set against each other with start points, train, museum and lunch: Hiroshima and Miyajima day trip from Osaka.
The torii and the tide
The great torii in front of the Itsukushima Shrine seems to float at high water, from a level of about 250 cm at Hiroshima Port. When the tide drops below about 100 cm, you can walk across the sand to its base. Between the two it stands in shallow water and looks like neither. Coach tours keep a fixed timetable, so the tide on your day decides what you see. Private guides can shift the order of the day to the tide table, and AIDO, which runs a four-hour tour of Miyajima only, checks the tides before each walk.
One more thing on the island itself: the restoration of the great torii was completed in December 2022, while work on the five-storey pagoda and the eastern corridor of the shrine is scheduled to run until December 2026.
The Peace Memorial Park and museum
The park, the Atomic Bomb Dome and the Peace Memorial Museum are a memorial to the people killed by the atomic bomb on 6 August 1945. The museum shows their belongings, photographs and the accounts of survivors, and many visitors find it hard to take in. If you travel with children, read about the exhibition beforehand and decide how much of it they see.
Each year on 6 August the city holds the Peace Memorial Ceremony. The museum opens longer that day and is very full. During Obon, from 8 to 16 August, museum tickets are sold online only.
Visitor tax, ferry and the JR Pass
Since 1 October 2023 every visitor to Miyajima pays a visitor tax of 100 yen per visit. It is charged with the ferry fare or through your IC card; JR Pass holders pay it separately at a ticket machine. The regular ferry from Miyajimaguchi takes about ten minutes, and the JR ferry is covered by the JR Pass.
The JR Pass itself became much more expensive on 1 October 2023. On the Shinkansen to Hiroshima the fastest Nozomi trains need an extra supplement with the pass, while Sakura trains are covered. For a single day trip the pass rarely pays off; it starts to make sense when Hiroshima is one stop of a longer rail journey.
Before and after the trip
Most guests sleep in Osaka or Kyoto and are back on the platform in the evening. If you arrive in Osaka hungry, our sister site compares the Osaka food tours, where okonomiyaki comes mixed the Osaka way rather than layered as in Hiroshima. With a free day in Kyoto, a tea ceremony in Kyoto is a quiet counterpart to the long train day.
One day, two UNESCO sites and a train fare to account for
Hiroshima day trips are sold under titles that promise Osaka or Kyoto, while the price shown belongs to Hiroshima Station. We list each bookable tour with where it starts, whether the Shinkansen is included, and what the operator says about the museum, lunch and cancellation. Where a listing contradicts itself, we say so. When you book through a link on this page, the booking platform pays us a small commission; it comes out of their margin, not out of your ticket price.
FAQ about Hiroshima and Miyajima day trips
Can I see Hiroshima and Miyajima in one day from Osaka or Kyoto?
Yes, and most visitors do it that way. Count on a long day: the guided trips from Osaka and Kyoto run between about 11 and 13 hours door to door. The Shinkansen does the distance; the time goes on the Peace Memorial Park, the ferry crossing and the walk to the Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima.
Is the bullet train included in the tour price?
Only on some tours, and often only in one option. H.I.S. sells a complete package with a return Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka or Kyoto as an option on its product page. Amigo Tours sends Shinkansen tickets the evening before, but you ride without a guide. JTB runs a full Shinkansen package from Osaka and from Kyoto on Viator. Japan Panoramic Tours, Evergrove, Cornwall and the private guides start in Hiroshima, so you book the train yourself.
Why does a tour from Osaka show such a low from-price?
Because the from-price is the cheapest option of the product, and that is usually the start at Hiroshima Station. On the H.I.S. tour the Shinkansen package price only appears after you choose the Osaka or Kyoto option. Compare a train package with a Hiroshima-start tour only after adding your own train ticket to the second one.
When does the torii stand in the water?
The great torii of Itsukushima appears to float from a tide level of about 250 cm, measured at Hiroshima Port. Below about 100 cm you can walk out to it across the sand. In between it is neither properly in the water nor reachable on foot. Bus tours run at fixed times, so the tide on your day is luck; a private guide or the half-day Miyajima tour by AIDO can plan around the tide table.
Do I have to pay the Miyajima visitor tax on a tour?
Every visitor pays 100 yen per visit since 1 October 2023. It is collected together with the ferry fare or through your IC card. If you travel on a JR Pass, you pay it separately at a ticket machine. Most tour listings do not say whether they cover it; keep a few coins ready.
Is the Peace Memorial Museum suitable for children?
The museum documents the effects of the atomic bombing on people, with personal belongings, photographs and testimonies. Many adults find the visit hard. Parents usually decide in advance how much of the exhibition their children see; the park and the Atomic Bomb Dome outside are easier to explain. Cornwall states a minimum age of 6 for its small-group tour.
Does the JR Pass pay off for a Hiroshima day trip?
Rarely for this trip alone. The pass price rose sharply on 1 October 2023. The fastest Nozomi trains are only usable with an extra supplement, while Sakura trains on the same line are covered. The JR ferry to Miyajima is included in the pass. If Hiroshima is your only long train ride, a single return ticket or a tour package is usually the simpler choice.
Are there tours in Spanish or German?
Amigo Tours and Pinpoint Traveler guide in English and Spanish. A German-speaking live guide is not offered on the tours here; Japan Panoramic Tours has an audio guide that includes German.
Are these tours wheelchair accessible?
Most of them involve a lot of walking on Miyajima and in the Peace Memorial Park and are not suitable for wheelchairs. The historical walk through Hiroshima by Localized is listed as wheelchair accessible.
Train included or not, in one table
Start point, Shinkansen and duration for every bookable Hiroshima and Miyajima day trip.
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