Honolulu is home to the only royal palace in the United States, and it stands downtown, a few blocks from glass office towers and the harbour. Between the palace, Waikīkī, Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor, the city fits more than two centuries of Hawaiian, American and Pacific history into a short stretch of Oʻahu's south shore. Here are the facts and stories behind it.
10 fun facts about Honolulu
- A sheltered harbour: Honolulu means roughly sheltered bay or calm harbour in Hawaiian. King Kamehameha III made it the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1845, moving the court from Lahaina on Maui.
- The only royal palace on US soil: ʻIolani Palace was completed in 1882 for King Kalākaua and was the official residence of Hawaiʻi's last two monarchs.
- Electric light before the White House: the palace grounds were first lit electrically in November 1886, for Kalākaua's 50th birthday, and the rooms inside had electric lights by 1887, about four years before the White House.
- A statue that was lost at sea: the first casting of the King Kamehameha statue sank off the Falkland Islands in 1880 on its way from Europe. A second cast was set up in front of Aliʻiōlani Hale in 1883, and the salvaged original now stands in Kapaʻau, on Hawaiʻi Island. Every 11 June, Kamehameha Day, the Honolulu statue is draped in long flower lei.
- An alphabet of 13 letters: written Hawaiian uses only five vowels and eight consonants, one of which is the ʻokina, the glottal stop you see in names like Oʻahu and ʻIolani.
- A tower that turned 100: the Aloha Tower opened on 11 September 1926 to greet ships arriving in Honolulu Harbor. At 56 metres (184 feet), it was the tallest structure in Hawaiʻi for about four decades.
- Diamonds that weren't: British sailors in the 19th century named Diamond Head after the shiny calcite crystals they found on its slopes, which they mistook for diamonds. Its Hawaiian name is Lēʻahi.
- The father of modern surfing: Duke Kahanamoku, born in Honolulu in 1890, won Olympic gold in the 100 metres freestyle in 1912 and then spread surfing around the world. His bronze statue stands on Waikīkī Beach, usually hung with lei.
- A memorial over a sunken ship: on 7 December 1941, 1,177 crew members died on the battleship USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The white memorial, dedicated in 1962, spans the wreck, which still lies on the harbour floor.
- A president from Honolulu: Barack Obama was born in the city in 1961 and graduated from Punahou School in 1979, the only US president born outside the continental United States.
The story of Queen Liliʻuokalani
Liliʻuokalani became queen in 1891, after the death of her brother Kalākaua. In January 1893 a group of mostly American businessmen, backed by sailors and marines from a US warship, overthrew her. After a failed attempt to restore the monarchy in 1895, she was arrested, forced to abdicate and held for about eight months in an upstairs room of ʻIolani Palace, where she passed the time making a quilt and writing music. She was also the composer of Aloha ʻOe, the best-known Hawaiian song, written years earlier. The United States annexed Hawaiʻi in 1898. The palace served as a government building until 1969 and opened as a museum in 1978, and in 1993 the US Congress passed a formal apology for the overthrow.
What to eat in Honolulu
- Poke: cubes of raw fish, usually ʻahi tuna, dressed with soy sauce, sesame, onion and seaweed.
- Plate lunch: two scoops of rice, a scoop of macaroni salad and a main such as kalua pork or teriyaki chicken, a mix that reflects Hawaiʻi's plantation-era cultures.
- Loco moco: rice topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg and brown gravy, a filling dish first made in Hilo on Hawaiʻi Island.
- Shave ice: ice shaved as fine as snow and soaked in fruit syrups, sometimes with ice cream or sweet azuki beans underneath.
- Malasadas: sugar-coated doughnuts brought by Portuguese workers from Madeira and the Azores. Leonard's Bakery has been frying them since 1952.
Good to know before you go
- Tickets for the USS Arizona Memorial programme at Pearl Harbor are free but limited, so reserve them in advance through the official national park booking site. Bags are not allowed at the memorial.
- Non-residents need a timed reservation for Diamond Head. Go early in the morning, when it is cooler and the light over Waikīkī is best.
- Hanauma Bay, the snorkelling cove east of Waikīkī, also needs a reservation, is closed on some weekdays and sometimes shuts for repairs, so check before you go.
- The grounds of ʻIolani Palace are free to walk around; to see the throne room and royal apartments you need a tour ticket.
Explore Honolulu with World City Trail
Our Honolulu scavenger hunt turns these sights into a game you play on your phone. The route leads through the main sights of downtown Honolulu and takes around two hours, with about 37 minutes of walking.
At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace. You can start whenever you like and play in English.
Play the Honolulu scavenger hunt →
Facts checked in October 2026.