staying in Hiroshima

As non-speakers of Japanese my family , husband and two older teens is travelling to Hiroshima for three days in April. The problem is I just can%26#39;t work out where it is best to stay geographically in order to manage to see the main tourist spots and a trip to Miyajima . All the maps are in Japanese!!We want to see as much as possible so has anyone any ideas for us? Equally having trawled through many hotel sites I am confused why the same hotels are different prices on some sites for the same rooms. Please has anyone got any helpful suggestions.Alison

staying in Hiroshima

These might help - www.hcvb.city.hiroshima.jp/e_navigator/

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2160.html

With regards to hotel rates - that%26#39;s the nature of the industry.

staying in Hiroshima

Thank you I%26#39;ll certainly look up your suggested sites

I stayed at the Granvia in Hiroshima BECAUSE it was adjacent to the Railroad station.

The train to Miyajima station would be right there. This rr trip itself is about 30 minutes to the Miyajima station. I think eight stops. Then about a four minute walk to the ferry.

If you have a (JR) Japan Rail Pass you can take the JR Ferry to Miyajima without having to pay anything additional. If you don%26#39;t have a JR Rail pass there is an alternate Ferry line at the same place.

The ferry itself is about 10-12 minutes to the Miyajima Island. As you approach the island you will see the red torii gate to your right. So when you exit the ferry and are clear of the ferry terminal just bear to your right along the water. Can%26#39;t miss it.

Having said all that - if you stay at the Granvia in Hiroshima then you won%26#39;t be near the tourist spots in Hiroshima. I stayed in Hiroshima two nights and went to Miyajima Twice.

Here%26#39;s a link to an easy-to-read map of Hiroshima in English. infomapjapan.com/images/map/Hiroshima_map_we…

If you stay near the main train station, you can just walk with your bags from your train to the hotel, and you will be near the train to Miyajima.

If you stay near Peace Park, you will be close to the A-Bomb Musuem.

Between the train station and Peace Park is the central business district, with lots of stores and restaurants.

So any of those locations would be fine. It%26#39;s about a half-hour walk from Peace Park to the train station, and the city has a good system of trolleys if you%26#39;d prefer not to walk.

You can also take a ferry from the Peace Park to Miyajima direct. It is not JR and also has a more limited schedule but it involves fewer transfers.

I recommend if you can do it, stay overnight at Miyajima. It can be very congested during the day but it is so quiet at night...there are virtually no restaurants open after sixish; everybody eats at their ryokan, and then after you can go strolling around and enjoy the torii gate all lit up.

Places to stay can be expensive, see if www.japaneseguesthouses.com can help you out if you decide to do that.