What to do in Hiroshima & Miyajima | 6 Must Try Travel Ideas

Standing 600 meters below where the bomb went off, seeing the Atomic Bomb Dome is a powerful experience. It's hard to comprehend the scale of what happened here without seeing this last standing structure, a symbol of hope around which the Peace Memorial Park emerged.

The Peace Museum is essential viewing, with photos and chilling testimonials from citizens who witnessed the devastation firsthand. Regardless of your views on the use of atomic bombs, you'll certainly leave hoping nuclear weapons are never used again.

Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is a savory pancake dish that's incredibly customizable, which is surprisingly rare in Japan. Unlike Osaka style, where ingredients are mixed, here they're gradually layered, with fried noodles packed inside. It's a theatrical experience watching it take shape on the grill, and the noodles add a welcome variety of flavors. Just avoid the organ meat option! It's incredibly filling and a cheap meal, about 700-900 yen depending on toppings like cheese.

Miyajima Island is home to over a thousand friendly wild deer. They'll quite happily eat all your worldly possessions, so be careful! They don't stop and will eat everything you love. It's a unique and amusing encounter.

There's no better time to see Itsukushima Shrine than at sunset. Around 4:25 PM, as the sun disappears behind the mountain, the view is absolutely stunning and serene. Even with 2,000 people around, it doesn't detract from the beauty of one of Japan's most beautiful sites.

If you come to Miyajima, I highly recommend getting there around 2 PM and going up Mount Misen. It's a 500-meter mountain on the island, and you can get an incredible panoramic view of the Seto Inland Sea. Then, climb down through the mountains and arrive at Itsukushima Shrine for sunset.

Hiroshima is the biggest producer of oysters in Japan, so it's common to see 'yaki gaki' (grilled oysters) sizzling on street fronts across Miyajima. The mouth-watering scent of drizzled garlic butter and soy sauce rises from the grill. While I'm not into raw oysters, these grilled ones are definitely worth a try. Just be careful, as sometimes they can be sandy!

Ramune is a soda pop drink from the 1920s that tastes like lemonade, but the real fun is the mechanism to open it. You have to push down a marble inside the bottle. It can be a bit tricky and messy, often resulting in an explosion if not held tightly. While it's cool in a theatrical way, it might not be worth the fight to open it, and the drink itself is just okay.

This is Japan's first pizza vending machine, offering two flavors: Margherita and Four Cheese. It's pretty expensive at 980 yen for a Margherita, which is a restaurant price. It takes about four to five minutes to cook, which is reassuring as it uses an oven system, not a microwave. The pizza comes out a bit burnt and uncut, and you'll need to find your own cutlery. The location, in a car park, isn't very convenient. The crust is good (7/10), but the cheese feels a bit cheap (6/10). Overall, it tastes better than it looks, but the high expectation from the photo can lead to disappointment (5/10).