Honolulu's Most Iconic Landmarks

Iolani Palace was completed in 1882 for King Kalakaua, who wanted a residence worthy of a modern kingdom. It had electric lighting by 1887 and a telephone, innovations that were rare at the time.

After the king's death, his sister, Queen Liliuokalani, reigned here until the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.

In 1895, the queen was imprisoned in an upstairs room of the palace for several months. The building later served as the seat of government of the territory and then of the state, until the new State Capitol opened in 1969.

Restored and opened as a museum, it now displays the throne room, the royal bedrooms, the grand staircase of koa wood and many original furnishings.

On the grounds, the coronation pavilion, the royal burial mound and the Iolani Barracks recall the life of the court.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft attacked the American fleet and military bases at Pearl Harbor, pulling the United States into World War II. The battleship USS Arizona exploded and sank, and 1,177 of its crew died. Most of them remain inside the hull.

The USS Arizona Memorial, dedicated in 1962, is a white structure that spans the sunken battleship without touching it. Visitors reach it by boat after a documentary film, and drops of oil still rise to the surface from the wreck.

The visitor center has museums, exhibits and a waterfront walk.

Nearby, the Battleship Missouri, on whose deck Japan's surrender was signed in 1945, the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum complete the visit.

Kamehameha I united the Hawaiian Islands under a single kingdom in the early 19th century. His statue in Honolulu was designed by the American sculptor Thomas Gould and cast in Europe.

The first casting was lost at sea, so a second one was made and unveiled in front of Aliiolani Hale in 1883. The original was later recovered and now stands in Kapaau, on Hawaii Island, near the king's birthplace.

The statue shows the king with a feathered cloak, a helmet and a spear, his right arm outstretched in welcome. Every year on June 11, King Kamehameha Day, it is draped with long lei during a ceremony.

The Bishop Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in memory of his wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last direct descendant of the Kamehameha royal family. It was created to house her collection of Hawaiian artifacts and heirlooms.

Its grand Hawaiian Hall, with three floors of dark koa wood galleries, tells the story of Hawaiian culture, gods, royalty and daily life. Featherwork capes and royal objects are among its treasures.

The Pacific Hall presents the cultures of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia, and the museum also has a planetarium and a science center devoted to volcanoes and the natural history of the islands.

Aloha Tower opened in 1926 at Pier 9 of Honolulu Harbor. For decades it was the tallest building in Hawaii, and in the era of ocean liners, its clock faces, with the word Aloha written above them, greeted passengers arriving by sea.

Crowds and musicians gathered on the pier to welcome ships with lei.

Today the tower stands among taller buildings, but it remains a symbol of the harbor. Its observation deck on the top floor offers views of the port, downtown and the ocean, and cruise ships still dock nearby.

Hanauma Bay formed when the sea broke into a volcanic crater on Oahu's southeast shore, creating a curved bay sheltered from the open ocean. A coral reef lines its floor, home to tropical fish and sea turtles.

In 1967, the bay became a Marine Life Conservation District, and fishing is prohibited.

To protect the reef from heavy use, the city limits the number of visitors with reservations, closes the preserve on two days each week and requires every visitor to watch an educational video about the reef before going down to the beach.