Explore the Travel Guides

Before the Europeans came, Honolulu was insignificant, and many foreign ships were soon frequented its waters, Kamehameha became the capital, and remains the economic center of the archipelago. While the city covers a long (if narrow) strip of southern Oahu, which is located in the center of a manageable size and much quieter than its glamorous image can be taken. The high-rise tourist hotels on the edge of Waikiki, of course, a few miles east concentrated.

Although the location is beautiful, right on the Pacific Ocean and backed by dramatic cliffs and extinct volcanoes, most visitors are here simply to enjoy the pure hedonism of shopping, eating and generally hanging in the sun. It is also the center of a specimen of public transport that allows exploration of the island.