The city is well served by public transport , with nine tramlines , an extensive network of city buses and the zippy Astram monorail line which transforms into a subway in the city centre, terminating beneath the Hondori arcade. In practice, however, traffic can make catching a bus or a tram a frustratingly slow business; to get around the central sights quickly, you're often better off walking .

Within the city centre the minimum tram and city bus fares are ?150, with the numbered trams being easier to use if you don't read Japanese. From the station, trams #1 and #5 head south to Hiroshima Port past Hijiyama-koen, while #2 and #6 head west to the Peace Park and beyond. Tram #9 shuttles back and forth from Hatchobori past the Shukkei-en garden. If you need to transfer from one tram to another to get to your destination, ask for a norikai-kippu from the driver; drop this in the fare box when you leave the second tram. If you need to transfer again, a second norikai-kippu costs ?50.

With fares so cheap, neither of the one-day tram tickets are worth buying. A better option is the pre-paid travel card , which can be used on the buses, trams and monorail/subway - the ?1000 card gets you ?1100 worth of travel. These cards can only be bought at the tram terminus at Hiroshima Station, the bus centre and the main JTB office on Rijo-dori.

One offbeat way of seeing Hiroshima is to take a taxi tour with Stephen Outlaw-Spurell, possibly Japan's only gaijin taxi driver. The American has become something of a local celebrity and offers a range of fully guided tours of the city at ?5200 per hour, worth considering if there's a group of you to split the cost. Bookings are made through the taxi firm Tsubame Kotsu (tel 082/221-1955, fax 228-2500).