Hiroshima is one of those places that we all know and find horrifying through its gruesome history.

Travel enriches. Travel teaches. Travel opens your eyes.

For these very reasons, it doesn’t always have to be a trip to the most beautiful places on this planet. Sometimes it needs a little bit more of history and culture. For example, it is interesting to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and see on the spot what went on back then. To try to feel it just rudimentarily and to understand how it went for the people. It is also sometimes necessary to see a less beautiful but at least as interesting side of this world. Like for example a visit to Hiroshima in Japan.

A Hiroshima visit should not be missing from any trip to Japan. A visit to the city where the very first atomic bomb in world history was dropped. A place full of sad fates and experiences.

It does not take much time to see the city. The visit passes quickly, but the thoughts accompany you longer. Two nights are actually an ideal duration of the trip. Arrive in Hiroshima the night before, spend a comfortable evening and get enough sleep for a day full of world history.

If you are in Hiroshima, of course you want to see the last traces of this horrible act with your own eyes. But besides all the historical sights, the city also offers a few beautiful places away from the past.

#1 Peace Memorial

The Peace Memorial is probably the most famous building in all of Hiroshima. The dome, swept away by the pressure, is a reminder of the magnitude of what happened here in 1945.

#2 Peace Memorial Museum

Appropriately, the Peace Memorial Museum is only a short distance away. Here you can make a little tour about the 6th of August 1945 on your own.

#3 Peace Memorial Park

Right next to it is the Peace Memorial Park with the Peace Monument. A beautiful place, with an unpleasant history.

#4 Hiroshima Castle

For a little different Japanese history, Hiroshima Castle is highly recommended. Not only that it is already beautiful from the outside. Inside it goes further on the traces of many years of history of Japan.

#5 Hiroshima Downtown

Apart from the past, Hiroshima is very happy and lively nowadays. You can feel this best in Hiroshima Downtown. There is always something going on here. Also, this part of the city shows that today the world is all right again.

#6 Shukkeien Garden

In search of a little more peace and quiet, you’ll find the perfect oasis of tranquility in the Shukkeien Garden. Here you can feed koi fish in peace and forget the world around you.

At the Peace Memorial, we met an elderly gentleman who stands there almost every day with his wife and tells visitors his personal story about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. His mother was four months pregnant with him when she entered Hiroshima three days after the attack. Unaware at the time of the consequences.

His mission is to show the whole story from his personal perspective. A fate that we will not find like this in history books and media. More info about it can be found on his blog: A-Bomb In-Utero Survivor Speaks . He has also produced a video about his fate.

The prices are per person, except for the accommodation, which we rent for 2 people.

Accommodation: $81 / night

Restaurant: $7 – $19 / meal

Snack: $2 – $5 / meal

Pleasure: $5 – $7 / event

Bus: $1.50 / ride

Activity: $2 – $3 / event