A thermally assisted magnetic recording medium includes a substrate and at least two, i.e., first and second magnetic recording layers. These layers are hard magnetic layers and contain magnetic grains and a non-magnetic substance magnetically segregating the magnetic grains at grain boundaries. The first magnetic recording layer has a magnetic anisotropy energy Ku1, a grain volume v1, and energy for maintaining its recording magnetization Ku1v1; the second magnetic recording layer has a magnetic anisotropy energy Ku2, a grain volume v2, and energy for maintaining its recording magnetization Ku2v2; and the ratio Ku1v1/kBT of Ku1v1 to a thermal fluctuation energy kBT, where kB represents a Boltzmann constant and T represents an absolute temperature, and the ratio Ku2v2/kBT of Ku2v2 to kBT satisfy the following conditions: Ku1v1/kBT is larger than Ku2v2/kBT at room temperature, but is smaller than Ku2v2/kBT at temperatures around the Curie temperature of the first magnetic recording layer.