£326+ Cheap flights to Honolulu

City overview

Find a quiet spot on one of the golden beaches and watch the tranquil turquoise waters wave as visions of hula dancers parade in your head. Grab your jasmine-scented lei and start exploring. Honolulu is the largest city in Hawaii, but there’s more to this state’s capital than congested highways and crowded hotels. Visitors booking flights to Honolulu will find themselves immersed in rainforests, exploring canyons and mesmerised by breathtaking waterfalls. A holiday to Honolulu will also take travellers back in time to one of America’s most pivotal moments. Just a short drive from Honolulu is Pearl Harbor, where on December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacks on this island brought the United States into World War II.

The museums and historic and cultural sites will immerse you in Hawaiian culture and lore. Waikiki Beach provides an introduction to water activities and surfing. For pounding surf, take a drive to the north shore and visit its magnificent beaches. In the winter, grab a seat on the bleachers and watch the professional surfers compete on the north shore’s monster waves.

Getting around Honolulu

Honolulu’s bus system covers most of the city, making it the easiest way to get around. For a narrated tour during your travels, hop on the Waikiki Trolley, which stops at attractions in Waikiki and the city centre. If you’re planning on going outside of the city, you’ll want to rent a car. Car rentals are reasonably priced, but traffic can be very heavy inside the city.

Local Airport

The main airport for travellers booking flights to Honolulu is Honolulu International Airport (HNL).

What is good to know if travelling to Honolulu?

• Don’t miss a trip to the Science Adventure Centre which has 30 unique exhibits which allow visitors to experience walking into a volcano, operating mini subs in a “deep sea” tank, and creating tsunamis. Other permanent exhibits at the museum include the Hawaiian and Polynesian Halls, Planetarium, Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame and Maritime Centre.
• Historic Chinatown offers visitors the chance to experience a mix of different cultures from Asia. There’s a Buddhist temple, a Japanese shrine, herb and Chinese shops, art galleries, restaurants, an open market where tangy spices rule the cuisine, acupuncturists, and herbalists. While there, stop by and watch the wonderful lei sellers on Maunakea Street.
• There are several botanical gardens in Oahu. In Honolulu’s city centre is the oldest of the gardens, the Foster Botanical Garden, has trees that were planted in the 19th century while the Wahiawa Botanical Garden is a tropical rain forest. Senator Fong’s Plantation and Gardens is set on 25 acres of valleys and plateaus of landscape.
• Visit the replica of the Byodoin Temple in Uji, Japan. According to legend the brass temple bell brings good luck to those who can ring it. There’s a stunning nine-foot Lotus Buddha, the largest wooden Buddha carved in more than 900 years. Traditional Japanese gardens, a two-acre koi pond, and wandering peacocks make up the Temple’s grounds. Outdoor enthusiasts have more than 20 walking trails to choose from that take you through rain forests, mountain forests and dry valleys.
• Playing golf on rain forest or lava rock? In Oahu this is possible and makes for quite a challenging game because the ground is harder and the ball runs off the tee more easily.

Honolulu airport overview

As the main gateway to Hawaii, Honolulu International Airport  is one of the busiest airports in the United States, with 21 million travellers passing through it each year. The airport is busy with old-fashioned terminal buildings that haven’t changed much since they were built in the 1960s.

There are three terminals at Honolulu Airport, and as the airport is not as well-signed as it could be, transferring between them can be very confusing. The Commuter Terminal and the Interisland Terminal serve smaller regional airlines. The Interisland Terminal also sees some flights to and from the US mainland and Hawaiian Airlines’ international flights. The Overseas Terminal, also called the International Terminal, serves all other international arrivals and departures.

The city of Honolulu, about 5km (3 miles) from the airport, has more than one million inhabitants and is as bustling as any major city. Although you might want to go further afield for that remote-island holiday, it’s a warm and hospitable first experience of Hawaii.