Hiroshima and Miyajima trip

We plan to stay one night in Miyajima on Feb 8. We would travel from Kyoto to Miyajima and then to Kanazawa. However, It seems that there is at least 3 hours JR train ride from Kyoto to Miyajimaguchi and 5hours from Miyajimaguchi to Kanazawa. ( not including the ferry travel time to Miyajima ). I wonder is it worth to spend so much time to travel to Miyajima for one night? What would you recommend for the itinerary. Or is there a shorter JR train ride you can recommend.
Is there locker at Miyajimaguchi station to store our luggages as we want to tour around Hiroshima.
Thank you for your advise.

Kyoto-Miyajima-Kanazawa is not an efficient itenerary.
If you can rearrange to Kanazawa-Kyoto-Miyajima (or exact opposite of it), it will shorten your train rides.
IMO, Kyoto and Miyajima are definitely worth the visit.

Whether it's worth it or not is ultimately a question only you can decide. The places to stay on Miyajima tend to be higher end though, and after the tourist hordes leave the island at dusk the whole area becomes very tranquil. Again, your decision.

For the lockers at Miyajimaguchi Stn, see for yourself:
http://bit.ly/2hphkfc
There are not many though, so availability could be an issue.

For getting to Miyajima from Kyoto though, with a good connection you can do it in just a bit over 2½ hours. Going to Kanazawa does take about 5 hours though.
The main sights of Miyajima are the Itsukushima Shrine, the Daishoin Temple, and climbing up Mt Misen. There are others as well like the aquarium. You can see previews of the best at:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7LcPcmoSg-iCNZ6AdsKGUB-HPKNxP1...

If you have extra time, Iwakuni is also close to Miyajima and its famous bridge and mountaintop castle are also well worth seeing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0COOZXi66mM

As said, five hours is a long trip - you could break it up by seeing more in between. The Korakuen Garden in Okayama is one of Japan's Top 3 and very nice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zAI3_N7NEM

You could also see Himeji, with Japan's best castle, and the Kokoen Garden next to it is very beautiful to see as well.

Kyoto to Hiroshima to access Miyajima; Hiroshima back to Kyoto on the same route. Take the advertised express route (non-Shinkansen) to Kanazawa, you cant miss the ads in Kyoto Station. Sounds like Kyoto would make a good base for you and Hiroshima would definitely a good place to spend the night on the western end of your journey. For my money, you are positioned to see the very best of Japan, outside of Tokyo. All the places to see mentioned in Ken's post are must-sees, one of which is Miyajima; best done as a day trip out from Hiroshima. If your stuck after Kanazawa go to Tokyo on the Hokuriku Shinkansen or back to Kyoto, depending on whether you must fly out of KIX (Osaka) or Haneda or Narita in Tokyo.

My family and I've stayed at Mikuniya Guesthouse in Miyajima a few times.
It is 5,000yen /night and just up from the shrine and close to the rope way terminus. It is converted from a retreat for Ministry of Finance and the rooms are much better than most ryokans(tatami, balcony overlooking deer roaming garden, free coffee vending, friendly elder manager couple, etc. BF is DIY and Tanuki restaurant/bar is open for dinner.
Miyajima island will be all to yourself and deer after ants of tourists leave. If you make a day trip there, you might think why you went there being a sardine in a can.
In addition, if you stay over a Saturday night, you might attend the Sunday morning group priest performance by Gagaku music instruments and prayers . It is rare to be able to hear and see anywhere in Japan.
Also, the treasure museum just across from the shrine exit is a good place to look around by getting a combination shrine and museum ticket.

I agree about the order of Kanazawa, Kyoto, Hiroshima/Miyajima in one of the previous posts, but that's without knowing the rest of your itinerary and what other cities you are visiting. If you can leave Kyoto at 7:20 and arrive in Hiroshima say at 10 AM, you can leave luggage at Hiroshima Station (major station, larger, more lockers) and explore Hiroshima for a few hours. Then come back to grab your luggage and head to Miyajima after lunch. You'll have plenty of time to see the shrine and walk around town as it's fairly small. The next day you can linger or go depending on your schedule. You can go up Mt Misen the next morning and leave the island around noon time.
IMO Hiroshima and Miyajima are definitely worth visiting. We spent two nights as to not rush ourselves, but 1 night is also doable.

Hiroshima prefecture is the most beautiful area in all of Japan and worth so much more than just one night. I'd cancel Kanazawa any time for more time in Hiroshima (heck, I'd cancel Kyoto too).

I agree with you Firas. That's why I spend at least 5-6 nights in Hiroshima to do side trips, with some overnight stays, to place like Onomichi, Kure, Takehara, Kumano,Fukuyama, etc. The Seto Naikai area is gorgeous. I plan on another 5 nights in March to see friends and to explore more of this beautiful prefecture.