Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ppcg4]

I'm considering Hiroshima or Fukuoka for Christmas. Kinda leaning towards Hiroshima since I've already been to Fukuoka.

Has anyone done this? How much can I expect to pay? Hotel rooms can be had for like $50/night. I don't really care about staying at the Ritz, and flights can be relatively cheap, but I'm wondering about the actual cost of the entire trip.

Any advice would be great.

[JJJ]

About $500 for the flight during Christmas, $50/night at a cheap hotel, maybe a little more and $50/day spending money. More, if you want to buy more toys. Done.

That was easy...wasn't it?

[shaggy]

If you don't mind hostels I stayed at J hoppers in Hiroshima summer of 2007- we rented a private room 3000 yen (34$ US)- it was nice and clean and the staff were helpful. It had a kitchen and you can buy your own groceries if you are travelling cheap. It was near the A bomb dome and the museum - can't remember how far.

http://hiroshima.j-hoppers.com/

[VanIslander]

"i'm... dreaming,... of an atomic... christ-mas..."

[ppcg4]

lol@VanIslander

I am really considering this. I wonder how much transportation from/to the airport will cost. I'm on a really tight budget. Yeah that's right, not all English teachers are rich.

Anyone who's been to Hiroshima, is it super expensive like Fukuoka and Tokyo?
What is the transportation there like? How easy is it to get to the memorial and other sightseeing things? I'm considering going for 2 nights.

[runthegauntlet]

[The Gipkik]

Hiroshima is a pleasant place to go for a day trip, along with Miyajima. Really nice little island, but it's better in the Fall. I lived in Hiroshima for a year and it's nothing special, although it's a nice place to live for a while as it's not too congested. A few decent bars, lots of restaurants.

There is a city called Okayama between Hiroshima and Kobe, and not too far from there are some little rural rental houses that rent to foreigners. They are called Okayama International Villas. This is the way to experience some really cool parts of Japan. I stayed in a 100 year old house with traditional coal burning heaters on the floor and a thatched roof. It's called Hattoji Villa. Great place. Hell, even Madonna stayed at this place once. Really, really cheap too.

Check out the website: http://www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?cID=357&pID=1386

[Ramen]

[Bloopity Bloop]

Hiroshima is pretty boring. Hiroshima + Miyajima = good weekend trip and not much more.

[reactionary]

I dunno why, but for some reason I saw a lot of stunning girls walking around Hiroshima (and not so many in my 8 months of being in Osaka/Kyoto). I'll leave out any a-bomb jokes...

[ppcg4]

Thanks for the replies.

I booked my flight to Hiroshima for Christmas evening, coming back Tuesday, Dec 29th. I hope to travel around the area a bit. I will definitely check out Miyajima.

Thanks again for the tips.

[little mixed girl]

you can buy a street car/miyajima 2 day (i think) pass.
it gives you unlimited rides on the streetcar (and buses i think), and it'll pay your ferry fare to miyajima AND get you rides on miyajima's ropeway if you want.

the streetcar is 150yen within the city and the price goes up as you head towards miyajima.
it's faster to take the JR from hiroshima station to miyajima, but whatever u choose.

peace memorial museum will be open, it usually takes about 2 hrs to really get through everything. the cost is 50 yen.
there are various old japanese "guides" who will be more than willing to "guide" you around the park if you are interested.

the thing to eat in hiroshima is okonomiyaki.
when you go to miyajima, buy momiji manjuu (cake looking things in the shape of a maple leaf with various stuff inside...like red bean or chocolate).
itsukushima jinja is also on miyajima island and it's a world heritage site...along with the a-bomb dome.

if you want "westerny" food, there's "molly malone's" and "the shack" on chuo doori and cusco cafe for "mexican/south american".

behind SOGO is chuo koen and you can go take a look at hiroshima castle there.

there's also a museum of modern art, and other various museums.

if you get bored of that, you can head east to onomichi (in hiroshima prefecture). they also have a castle, and their speciality is lots of temples and onomichi ramen. it's good!
or, head west into yamaguchi prefecture and check out iwakuni.
there's a military base there, so you might see some guys in uniform.

from the station hop on a bus headed to "kintaikyo" and check out the bridge, park and iwakuni castle.

miyajima itself is a day trip, and peace memorial park takes up a lot of time too.
i'd say do peace museum/park/hiroshima castle in one day, then head to miyajima another day. and onomichi/iwakuni on other days.

you need to take the JR for iwakuni/onomichi.

hope that helps.