Billed as the largest open-air shopping centre in the world, Ala Moana Center in Honolulu is a vast retail destination set between the city's downtown and the famous beaches of Waikiki. Opened in 1959, just days before Hawaii became a state, it gathers hundreds of stores, restaurants and services across several breezy, partly open levels, and ranks among the highest-grossing malls in the United States. The centre rose on what had been swampland on the edge of the city, an ambitious gamble that .....

Standing watch over Honolulu Harbor, the Aloha Tower is a historic lighthouse and landmark that for decades greeted everyone arriving in Hawaii by sea. Completed in 1926 and topped by a great four-faced clock, the slender tower welcomed generations of passengers stepping off ocean liners, its name a warm island greeting spelled out for all to see, and it remains one of the most recognisable structures on the waterfront. For many years the tower was the tallest building in Hawaii, a beacon visib.....

Rising 232 metres above the southeastern shore of Oahu, this volcanic tuff cone is Hawaii's most recognisable natural landmark, its distinctive profile visible from virtually every elevated point in Honolulu and Waikiki. The crater was formed approximately 300,000 years ago in a single explosive eruption that lasted only days, as rising magma encountered shallow groundwater and coral reef, producing a phreatomagmatic blast that deposited ash and limestone fragments in the ring shape visible toda.....

A short stroll from the sands of Waikiki, the Hard Rock Cafe Honolulu brings the international chain's music-themed dining to the heart of Hawaii's most famous resort district. Set on Beach Walk amid the hotels, shops and restaurants that crowd the area, it offers visitors a familiar, upbeat experience wrapped in island touches, blending the brand's global identity with a distinctly Hawaiian sense of place. True to form, the cafe is filled with rock-and-roll memorabilia, signed guitars, stage o.....

Newspapers called it "The Pride of the Pacific" when it opened - and it is now the last surviving historic theatre still operating in Honolulu. The Hawaii Theatre, at 1130 Bethel Street on the edge of Chinatown, opened on 6 September 1922 as the flagship of the Consolidated Amusement Company: 1,760 seats of Beaux-Arts opulence with Corinthian columns, Roman arches and lavish ornament, later crowned with its famous Art Deco marquee and vertical neon sign. Designed by architects Walter Emory and .....

To get in, you walk through a 24 Hour Fitness, up the stairs and across a parking lot toward a glowing sign that still says Hawaiian Brian's - and behind it waits 21,000 square feet of pool tables, dartboards and live music. HB Social Club, at 1680 Kapiolani Boulevard near Ala Moana in Honolulu, is the city's great all-purpose night-out warehouse, operating since the mid-1980s. Locals knew it for decades as Hawaiian Brian's - a billiards hall and dive bar dating to 1983 that settled at the Kapi.....

Standing in the heart of downtown Honolulu, Iolani Palace holds the singular distinction of being the only official royal residence on American soil. Completed in 1882 for King Kalakaua, it served as the seat of the Hawaiian monarchy until the kingdom was overthrown in 1893, and it remains a powerful symbol of Hawaiian sovereignty, identity and the islands' deep history as an independent nation. Architecturally the palace is a marvel of its age, built in a distinctive style its designers called.....

Construction began to the live accompaniment of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra - a ceremonial groundbreaking in January 1963 for the hall the orchestra would call home. The Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall, at 777 Ward Avenue on the edge of downtown Honolulu, opened in September 1964 as part of the Honolulu International Center. The complex was a memorial with ambition: built on the historic Ward Estate for around 14 million dollars as a living tribute to Hawaii's veterans, the center - concert .....

Over a billion people watched what happened in this round room on 14 January 1973 - Elvis Presley's Aloha from Hawaii, the first concert by a solo artist ever beamed worldwide by satellite. The Neal S. Blaisdell Arena, at 777 Ward Avenue in Honolulu, opened in February 1964 as part of the Honolulu International Center. The building is a mid-century dome: a circular hall with radial structural ribs and unobstructed sightlines, designed with total flexibility - portable lower-level seating reconf.....

Stretching along three blocks of Waikiki's iconic Kalakaua Avenue, the Royal Hawaiian Center is one of the largest open-air shopping and entertainment complexes in Hawaii and a centrepiece of the resort district. The complex first opened in the late 1970s and, after a major reimagining completed in the late 2000s, now spans more than three hundred thousand square feet of retail, dining and event spaces gathered into four interconnected buildings. The shopping line-up reflects the cosmopolitan c.....