Budget · 3-hour walk · Honolulu
Downtown and Chinatown in three hours
The only royal palace in the United States, the coral church, King Kamehameha, and the markets and lei stands of Chinatown.
Honolulu was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi until the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, and the buildings of that kingdom stand within a few blocks of each other downtown. This route takes them in turn and finishes in Chinatown, a few streets away and a century older in feeling.
The route, stop by stop
-
ʻIolani Palace
Finished in 1882 and lit by electricity before the White House was. After the overthrow, Queen Liliʻuokalani was imprisoned in an upstairs room.
60 min here Walk here → -
King Kamehameha Statue
The king who united the islands, in gilded bronze in front of Aliʻiōlani Hale. On 11 June he is draped in long lei.
10 min here Walk here → -
Kawaiahaʻo Church
Built between 1836 and 1842 from some fourteen thousand blocks of coral cut from the reef by hand.
15 min here Walk here → -
Chinatown
Lei sellers on Maunakea Street, noodle factories and the food stalls of the Maunakea Marketplace. Chinatown was rebuilt after a fire in 1900 that health officials had set to burn out plague.
35 min here Walk here →
More walks in Honolulu
More in Honolulu
Every walking route in Honolulu, the full Honolulu guide for where to stay and what a day costs, or walks in other cities.