Sleeping in Miyajima or Miyajimaguchi?

Hi

I have been advised that Miyajima is beautiful at night, but looking at the hotels there is very little availability

Is it worth sleeping in Miyajima or would be better to take the ferry late night to Miyajimaguchi?

Thanks

I would decide depending on the hotels available. Indeed, prefered for early-morning and late-evening walks are hotels on the island, but if there are no good hotels available on the island or a better-looking hotel in Miyajima-guchi, then I would decide in favor of the better hotel and visit the island by ferry. But that is just my personal preference. Others may not value hotels as much as the staying-on-the-island experience.

uIs it worth sleeping in Miyajima or would be better to take the ferry late night to Miyajimaguchi?v

That depends on what sort of experience you're looking for and what other plans you have. Staying on the island means you can walk around without crowds of day-trippers, which is nice. However, most amenities on the island close in the evening, so in addition to having a limited number of hotels, there are also limited numbers of restaurants, stores, and sightseeing attractions open at night. In contrast, Miyajimaguchi has more amenities after sundown, and also gives you the option of going into Hiroshima City at night, since it's on the same train line.

Thanks

Yeah I want to enjoy the miyajima experience of having the island almost empty. What I mean is.. if the last ferry is at 22.05 and the first one at 6.05, are you really doing something in the island during those hours other than sleeping?

It is, if you take the last ferry, wouldnft you have the same experience or do people really take the last ferry?

Thanks

It is, if you take the last ferry, wouldnft you have the same experience or do people really take the last ferry?

I think you will get a similar "no crowds" experience. When I visited (I slept on the island), there were very few people after 20:00 near the torii, and even less in the back alleys. People who took the first morning boat(s) seemed to aim for the Itsukushima-jinja.

IMO, the main perk of staying on the island (one night) is that it's more practical. If you do, you can stroll in the empty streets early morning, come back for breakfast, checkout (leave luggage at the hotel), then head out again for sightseeing. If you stay in Miyajimaguchi, you might need to checkout before 6am or ask for a late checkout, depending on what you want to visit.

Aside from the question of availability, I (personally) would consider the cost. Accommodations at the gmust seeh places in Japan are typically over the top in terms of room rate. And realistically, how much time are you going to actually spend soaking up the ambience, especially after the restaurants and shops close? (By the way, are you aware that the two pagodas are currently being renovated and will be covered up? The torii, which is the most iconic site, is unaffected.) What time does it get dark when you will be there? What will you do if itfs rainingc

I would be inclined to save a lot of money and stay in Hiroshima, where hotels are abundant and (except on weekends) cheap, and get up early and take an earlyish ferry. I donft think you have to get there by 6:30; most tourists who are arriving by ferry wonft get there until after 9.

Itfs up to you, of course, but I think too many people are seduced by Instagram images and descriptions of the gmagicalh nature of some of these ultra-famous places in Japan. There are so many great alternatives if you want uncrowded places. I think a good compromise is to just accept that the tourist magnet sites are going to be crowded, and to put up with that but spend some time looking for places that are at least as magical but not packed with tourists. There are so many choices.

uif the last ferry is at 22.05 and the first one at 6.05, are you really doing something in the island during those hours other than sleeping?v

I would say probably not. Once the day trippers have left, most of the shops and restaurants close, and the shrines/temples do too, so there's not much to do except walk around a small town in which most of the locals themselves go to bed pretty early. Compared to, say, Kyoto's Gion district, the town area of Miyajima is petty small and sparse, so there's not a ton of amazing architecture to see aside from the temples and shrines, but most of those aren't open at night or illuminated. Honestly, I think a lot of Miyajima's beauty comes from the mountain views, which you won't really be able to see at night.

Personally, I'd skip the extra expense of staying on the island itself and stay near Miyajimaguchi, then take an early ferry in the morning, but I'm also not particularly drawn to fancy ryokan.

The difference between staying Miyajimaguchi and Hiroshima is 25 minutes, so why would you select something with very limited options when you can simply stay in one place and not drag your luggage around Miyajima island. Many people choose two nights in the area and the wasted time shifting hotels is just that, wasted. And you can get the deserted island feel without staying on Miyajima itself.
Personally, with more than 100 visits, I can see the attraction if spending multiple nights on Miyajima, despite it being a small location and then needing to travel to other places of interest (Iwakuni or Hiroshima), but it really doesn't stack up in terms of transport, places to eat, things to see and do - but that is just one person's opinion.

One possible reason for staying near Miyajimaguchi:
https://www.sekitei.to/en/

I've been already 4 times in Miyajima, only slept there ONCE and all I can say it was during my 5th trip, and I regret not doing it before, besided hiking to the summit of mount Mise which was great the charm of a sunset and night of the floating torii was incredible, specially if you can find it with low tide makes the effort totally worth, you won't regret it

u besides hiking to the summit of mount Misen which was great the charm of a sunset and night of the floating torii was incrediblev
I agree that Miyajima at sunset is beautiful, and so is the torii at night. But the last ferry from Miyajima back to the mainland is at 10:14 PM, which is well past sundown, so you can easily enjoy the sunset/nighttime torii view without staying overnight on the island. The lights for the torii are turned off at 11 PM anyway, so an overnight stay is only getting you 46 extra minutes.

Likewise the Mt. Misen hike isn't something you need to do an overnight stay for. It's about 3 hours round-trip from the start of the trail to the top of the mountain and back down, so it's not something you have to get a super-early start for in order to complete. Even if you do want to start your hike early, the first ferry from the mainland arrives on the island at about 6:30 AM, so unless you're planning to start hiking before that, staying overnight isn't a prerequisite for an enjoyable hike. In addition, for those planning to use the ropeway to go up or down the mountain, it doesn't start running until 9 AM.

I'm not trying to say that staying on the island is unpleasant or without its charms. But in terms of actual activities outside your hotel, there's really not much you -need- to stay overnight to do. The ostensible big plus is being on the island when it's less crowded, but outside the ferry accessible hours (6:30 AM-10:14 PM), the shrine, restaurants, and shops are closed, and the hiking trail isn't illuminated. So really, what you'll get to experience uncrowded is the town itself before/after anything is open, and while it's a nice place, most of the architecture is non-historical and looks like many other modern rural Japanese towns.

To be clear, I love Miyajima and absolutely think it's worth visiting and spending a lot of time on. I just think in this case the actuality of the supposed benefit of staying overnight isn't quite as neat as "being in a historical district when it's not crowded" sounds, even if it's technically true that that's what you're doing. That's why I'd recommend basing the "stay on Miyajima Island or somewhere close by on the mainland" decision entirely on the hotel. If there's a hotel/ryokan on the island you really want to stay at, go for it, since the hotel is where you'll be spending most of your outside ferry-accessible hours. On the other hand, if there's a hotel nearby on the mainland that you like better, either because of its amenities or price, I don't think you're missing anything if you stay there and simply use the early morning/late ight ferries.