Hiroshima Peace Park Customized Tour with Licensed Guide
Description
Hiroshima is home to the historically significant and moving Peace Memorial and Museum. In the city stands Hiroshima Castle, nicknamed the ‘carp castle’ because of the glistening carp fish residing in the moats. The Shukkei-en Garden captures the beauty of a Japanese style garden in a small space. On this private walking tour with a Government Licensed and Experienced English speaking guides, you will be able to experience these sights without worry. Your guide will also be able to teach you about the history and culture of Hiroshima in a personalized way that you can only achieve with a private guide. Once your reservation is made, a guide will be in touch to plan out the times and details of your private tour. We are looking forward to sharing with you the history of Hiroshima on our tour!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park (平和記念公園, Heiwa Kinen Kōen) is one of the most prominent features of the city. Even visitors not looking for it will likely stumble upon the large park of over 120,000 square meters. Its trees, lawns, and walking paths are in stark contrast to the surrounding downtown area. Before the bomb, the area of what is now the Peace Park was the political and commercial heart of the city. For this reason, it was chosen as the pilot's target. Four years to the day after the bomb was dropped, it was decided that the area would not be redeveloped but instead devoted to peace memorial facilities. Admission Fee: ¥200
Hiroshima Castle (広島城, Hiroshimajō), also called the Carp Castle, is a good example of a castle built on a plain in the center of a city as opposed to hilltop and mountaintop castles. Its main keep is five stories tall, and its grounds are surrounded by a moat. Also within the castle's precincts are a shrine, some ruins and a few reconstructed buildings of the Ninomaru (second circle of defense). Hiroshima developed as a castle town, whereby the castle was both the physical and economical center of the city. Built in 1589 by the powerful feudal lord Mori Terumoto, Hiroshima Castle was an important seat of power in Western Japan. While it was spared the demolishment that many other castles met during the Meiji Restoration, like the rest of the city, Hiroshima Castle was destroyed by the atomic bomb in 1945.
Shukkeien is a Japanese garden in Hiroshima, designated as one of Japan’s Top 100 Historical Parks and a National Scenic Spot. This article introduces the highlights of the garden, access information, and other tips to enjoy it.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
This private tour is a walking day tour. A private vehicle is not included. Public transportation or local taxis maybe used to transfer between sites. Exact transportation costs can be discussed with the guide after a reservation is finalized. Please have Japanese Yen on hand for your transportation costs.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Tour dates can be changed up to 2 days before the tour. Any tour date change may result in a change of tour guide or tour unavailability.
- This is a walking tour. Pick up is on foot.
Reviews(538)
Nori was great- educational, kind and patient. He tailored the tour for the senior in the group and engaged a 7 year old as well. It was a great experience.
Went on the tour trough hiroshima on the 6th of august. Shuji did amazing! When we arrived at the hotel he was there ready to go. He went above and beond expectations and gave us an amazing tour with beautifull and impressing sight. He kept a nice pace and was kind tje whole time. Also was he verry knowledgable about the history of the A-bomb and Hiroshima Castle. As well as helping us with extra tips and information for outside the tour. Can highly reccomend goin on this tour!!!
A beautiful visit, lots of emotions. Mari was a great guide and allowed us to better understand what happened here. Thanks to her
Thank you so much for your wonderful review. It truly means a lot to me. It was a great honor and a real pleasure to show you Hiroshima, my hometown, and to share its history with guests who have such a genuine interest in learning about it. I really enjoyed our conversations throughout the day, and I was grateful for the opportunity to share this meaningful place with you. I also learned so much about your country's culture through our time together. Thank you for sharing your stories and perspectives with me. They made the tour even more memorable. I hope the memories of Hiroshima will stay with you for a long time, and I wish you many more wonderful adventures together. Arigato gozaimasu! Merci beaucoup! - Your Hiroshima Guide, Mari
We had a memorable day touring and learning about the history of Hiroshima. Our guide, Hiroko, communicated clearly before and during the tour. She also adjusted our itinerary to keep us out of the sun on a very hot day. We appreciated that!
I was kind of scared of this tour since it was quite long: 4h (if I remember good) but it was super fun and interesting and also emotional, especially the museum. I had an excellent guide, Yoko. She’s fantastic! She so joyful and made that long tour feel soo short ! When it was finished I was like : what!? So soon!?. I’m 15 (a teenager that is really lazy) and I went with my family, so trust my opinion, it was really good. We visited important places, that everyone should know about and learned new things, that everyone should also know, cause this is real, this is history and also pain of Hiroshima. To finish, I really recommend this tour for families! It’s catching also for teens.
Amazing experience, would highly recommend. Very friendly, knowledgeable and willing to tailor the tour to our needs. Introduced us to traditional cuisine for lunch which was amazing and thoroughly enjoyable. Wouldn’t have found the restaurant without Aki and and experience our daughter will treasure. After the tour she was willing to bring us to some shops based on what we liked and hailed a taxi for us when we were departing. All in all would highly recommend and so thankful to Also for her time and bringing us around some of the historical sites as well as teaching us how to make origami crane birds.
Thank you so much for your kind review. It was a pleasure meeting you and your family. I'm delighted that you enjoyed the tour, the traditional lunch, and our time exploring Hiroshima together. I hope your daughter will always remember making the origami crane and her visit to Hiroshima. Thank you again for your recommendation. I hope to welcome you back to Japan someday! Akie
Great experience and fantastic private tour in Hiroshima. Our tour guide, Yoko, had prepared the tour well in advance and we have tailored the tour also considering our kids (13 and 15 years old). The tour lasted around 4 hours. My kids and us all really enjoyed the way Yoko explained the history of the city, the museum, the dome and the garden visit. Highly recommended !
Great experience and fantastic private tour in Hiroshima. Our tour guide, Yoko, had prepared the tour well in advance and we have tailored the tour also considering our kids (13 and 15 years old). The tour lasted around 4 hours. My kids and us all really enjoyed the way Yoko explained the history of the city, the museum, the dome and the garden visit. Highly recommended !
Thank you very much for taking the time to write such thoughtful reviews. Your kind words truly made my day. It was an honor to guide such a kind and warm family. I was so happy to see how much all of you love Japan and were genuinely interested in its history and culture. I was also very impressed by your family's language skills. Folding origami cranes with all of you was one of my favorite parts of the tour. I would love to see you again someday in Japan.ーYoko
Minori was a gem of a guide! Lives right in Hiroshima and knows everything. Personable and knowledgrable. Do it!
Thank you so much for your glowing review! It was truly a pleasure to guide you through Hiroshima. I am so glad that you enjoyed our time at the Peace Memorial Park and that my local insights added to your experience. Your kind words mean the world to me and are a great encouragement for my future tours. I hope you have wonderful memories of your time in Japan, and I would love to see you again if you ever find yourself back in Hiroshima! Minori
Sei was wonderful from the start. He communicated with us right away and stayed in touch until we arrived, including when we arrived late at the train station. Because we had missed our ferry from Miyajima, our tour started late, and Sei was quick to adjust our itinerary. He immediately recognized that we were primarily interested in walking the Peace Park and diving into the history of Hiroshima and the nuclear attack. Sei focused on our interests, adding historical information as we walked around and took in the site. Sei has a wonderful temperament and demeanor, and was lovely with our teenage sons. He accommodated the short time we had at the Hiroshima museum because we took a lot of time in the park, and allowed us the maximum time for our visit by whisking us to the train station and helping us locate our next train platform (which we really appreciated). We highly recommend Sei to anyone visiting Hiroshima.
