Things to Do in Honolulu, United States: Walking Guide

Honolulu is the capital of Hawaii and a city shaped by royal history, missionary heritage, military memory, art, and Pacific culture. The best things to do in Honolulu include exploring downtown’s historic landmarks, visiting museums, and following the waterfront from the city’s political heart to Honolulu Harbor. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Honolulu with 46 narrated places, helping you discover the city as you walk.

What to See in Honolulu

Honolulu’s most important sights are concentrated across several connected areas, from the Capitol District and downtown to Waikiki, Diamond Head, and the city’s museums.

ʻIolani Palace

ʻIolani Palace is the only royal palace on U.S. soil. It served as the residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, beginning with Kamehameha III in 1845 and ending with Queen Liliʻuokalani in 1893. After the monarchy was overthrown, the building became the capitol for successive governments until 1969.

Today, the palace is a museum. Inside, the Grand Hall features a koa-wood staircase and elegant decoration, while the second floor contains the royal family’s private apartments. The palace also preserves the bedroom where Queen Liliʻuokalani was confined for nearly eight months after the failed counter-revolution of 1895.

Kawaiahaʻo Church and the Mission Houses Museum

Kawaiahaʻo Church was once the central church of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and the chapel of the Hawaiian royal family. Its name refers to the water of Haʻo, recalling a spring and freshwater pool associated with a high chiefess. The present coral church is one of the oldest standing Christian places of worship in Hawaiʻi.

Together with the Mission Houses Museum, the church forms the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site, designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1962. The museum preserves documents, objects, and records from approximately 1820 to 1863, as well as historic houses that show how New England missionaries adapted their buildings to the Hawaiian environment.

Washington Place

Washington Place is a historic home closely connected with Queen Liliʻuokalani. Built in the 1840s, it became her home after her marriage to John Owen Dominis and was the site of her arrest during the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She died there in 1917.

The house later served as the governor’s mansion from 1921 to 2001, where thirteen governors lived. Its history makes it an important place for understanding the transition from the Hawaiian monarchy to later forms of government.

The Hawaii State Capitol and the statue of Father Damien

The statue of Father Damien stands at the entrance to the Hawaiʻi State Capitol and the Hawaiʻi State Legislature. The bronze memorial portrays the Belgian Catholic priest in his later years, after he had been diagnosed with the disease of the people he cared for on Molokaʻi. Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 11, 2009.

The memorial provides a direct connection between Honolulu’s civic landscape and the history of Catholic service in Hawaii.

Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace

The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace was completed in August 1843 and dedicated on August 15 of that year. Its origins belong to Hawaii’s early missionary era, when Roman Catholic missionaries faced opposition from influential Congregational and Presbyterian ministers.

The building’s appearance changed over time. A Gothic redesign introduced a more elaborate porch and a concrete bell tower, but a later bishop chose to return the cathedral to another style, which has continued to the present day.

Honolulu Museum of Art

The Honolulu Museum of Art was founded by Anna Rice Cooke in 1922 and officially opened in 1927. Its collection has grown to more than 55,000 works, with particular strength in Asian and Pan-Pacific art.

Japanese and Chinese art are especially well represented, alongside Italian Renaissance paintings from the Samuel H. Kress collection. The museum also holds American and European paintings, decorative arts, textiles, contemporary art, and works from Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Highlights include the James A. Michener collection of ukiyo-e prints and a collection tracing the artistic history of Hawaiʻi.

Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum

The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum is home to the world’s largest collection of Polynesian cultural artifacts, together with natural history specimens. Founded in 1889 in honor of Bernice Pauahi Paki, the museum grew from objects connected with the princess and later expanded into spaces formerly occupied by the Kamehameha School.

Its exhibits focus on Hawaiian cultural material and the natural world. The site also includes a native Hawaiian garden and opportunities to explore the ocean floor, making it one of Honolulu’s major places for understanding both the islands’ heritage and environment.

Aloha Tower

Aloha Tower is a retired lighthouse at Pier 9 of Honolulu Harbor. It opened on September 11, 1926, and welcomed vessels arriving in the city. For roughly four decades, it was Hawaii’s tallest structure, rising 184 feet with a 40-foot flag mast.

Built in the Hawaiian Gothic architectural style, the tower became a landmark of Honolulu’s waterfront. During World War II, it was painted in camouflage after the attack on Pearl Harbor so that it would be difficult to see at night. The nearby dock of the Falls of Clyde adds another maritime point of interest.

U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii

Inside Battery Randolph at the Fort DeRussy Military Reservation, the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii connects Honolulu’s military history with the historic structure itself. The battery became a museum in 1976.

The collection includes a US M24 Chaffee tank, a Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank, an AH-1 Cobra helicopter, and small arms. A gallery honors recipients of the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross, as well as their naval and air-force equivalents.

Diamond Head Light and Shangri La Museum

Diamond Head Light, also known as Diamond Head Lighthouse, is a United States Coast Guard facility listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The present lighthouse was built in 1918 after earlier ships ran aground near Waikiki. It retains the original ironwork and Fresnel lens from the first lighthouse.

Nearby, Shangri La Museum occupies a home built by Doris Duke between 1936 and 1938. Inspired by her travels through the Islamic world, Duke worked with artisans to incorporate Moroccan ceilings, Persian tilework, and Mughal-style gardens. The museum’s collection contains thousands of works connected with Islamic art, culture, and design.

Other Honolulu museums and landmarks

Several other places add depth to a visit:

• Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii: Known in Hawaiian as Mauna ʻAla, it is the final resting place of members of the Kamehameha and Kalākaua dynasties.
• Liljestrand House: Designed by Vladimir Ossipoff and completed in 1952, this historic home was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
• Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center: A children’s museum in the Kaka’ako Waterfront Park area, with six permanent exhibits designed to encourage curiosity and ambition.
• Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, Honolulu: One of the stops included on Neywo’s Capitol District walk.
• Aliiolani Hale, the Kamehameha Statue, Hawaii State Art Museum, Hawaii State Library, and Honolulu Hale: Central landmarks included in routes through Honolulu’s historic core.

Explore Honolulu with a self-guided audio tour

Neywo’s Honolulu audio guide includes three walking tours, one bus route, and one bike route, with narration available in 11 languages. Each story plays as you reach the place, at your own pace: no group, no schedule.

The available routes are:

• The Capitol District: ʻIolani Palace and Kawaiahaʻo: a 1.86 km walk lasting 114 minutes, with 12 narrated stops.
• Downtown and Chinatown to the Aloha Tower: a 1.54 km walk lasting 58 minutes, with 8 stops.
• The Ultimate Honolulu: the art museum to Washington Place: a 2.22 km walk lasting 100 minutes, with 6 stops.
• TheBus Route 3: through downtown Honolulu’s historic core: a 5.9 km bus route lasting 25 minutes, with 7 stops.
• Downtown Honolulu by bike: from Bishop Street to Iolani Palace and the Mission Houses: a 2.6 km bike route lasting 13 minutes, with 5 stops.

Download Neywo and explore Honolulu with the city’s history unfolding at the places where it happened. You can begin with the Capitol District, connect museums and landmarks downtown, or follow the route toward Aloha Tower—always independently and at your own pace. Discover more destinations across the United States with the same audio-guide format.