Hawaii is more than its beaches. The islands hold the only royal palace on American soil, sacred temples built centuries before contact, and the harbor where the country was pulled into World War II.
As a history teacher I keep coming back to how much of America’s story runs through here. The 14 landmarks below move from a clifftop lighthouse to the memorial at Pearl Harbor.
Here is our ranked list of the best landmarks and historic sites in Hawaii, counting down to number one.
Hawaii Landmarks At A Glance
A quick guide before you island-hop. Most of these sit on Oahu, with the volcano parks on Maui and the Big Island and Kalaupapa on Molokai.
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| Landmark | Type | Island |
|---|---|---|
| Pearl Harbor National Memorial | WWII memorial | Oahu |
| Hawaii Volcanoes National Park | National park | Hawaii (Big Island) |
| Haleakala National Park | National park | Maui |
| Iolani Palace | Royal palace | Oahu |
| Natl Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific | National cemetery | Oahu |
| Aloha Tower | Historic tower | Oahu |
| Kalaupapa National Historical Park | Historical park | Molokai |
| Shangri La Museum | Art museum | Oahu |
| Puʻu o Mahuka Heiau | Hawaiian temple | Oahu |
| Puʻuhonua o Honaunau NHP | Place of refuge | Hawaii (Big Island) |
| Honolulu Zoo | Historic zoo | Oahu |
| Honolulu Museum of Art | Art museum | Oahu |
| Dole Plantation | Visitor attraction | Oahu |
| Kīlauea Lighthouse | Historic lighthouse | Kauai |
14. Kīlauea Lighthouse
On the northern tip of Kauai, this 1913 lighthouse once guided ships across the Pacific. The point around it is now a national wildlife refuge.
Seabirds wheel by the thousands here. Watch for albatross, boobies, and the occasional Hawaiian monk seal below the cliffs.
13. Dole Plantation
On Oahu’s central plateau, the Dole Plantation grew from a 1950s fruit stand into one of the island’s most visited attractions, drawing more than a million people a year.
Ride the Pineapple Express train, wander the garden maze, and learn how pineapple shaped, and strained, island history.
12. Honolulu Museum of Art
Founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke, this is the largest art museum in the state, with tens of thousands of works bridging Asia, the Pacific, and the West.
Its courtyards and Asian collections are standouts. It remains a quiet counterpoint to the beach.
11. Honolulu Zoo
The Honolulu Zoo traces its roots to lands set aside by King Kalakaua in the 1870s, making it the only U.S. zoo founded on grants from a reigning monarch.
Set in Kapiolani Park near Waikiki, it focuses on tropical Pacific species.
10. Puʻuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park
On the Big Island’s Kona coast, this park preserves a puʻuhonua, a sacred place of refuge. In old Hawaii, a person who broke a kapu could escape death by reaching this ground.
Carved kiʻi statues, a reconstructed temple, and royal fishponds line the lava shore. Walk it with respect for its meaning.
9. Puʻu o Mahuka Heiau
Above Waimea Bay on Oahu’s North Shore stands the largest heiau, or temple, on the island, built in stone in the 1600s.
It is a State Historic Site and remains sacred to Native Hawaiians. The bluff also gives a long view down the coast.
8. Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art
Heiress Doris Duke built this oceanfront Honolulu estate in the 1930s and filled it with Islamic art collected over decades.
Now a museum, it holds one of the country’s finest collections of Islamic art and design. Tours start from the Honolulu Museum of Art.
7. Kalaupapa National Historical Park
On a remote Molokai peninsula, the Hawaiian Kingdom and later the territory exiled more than 8,000 people with Hansen’s disease, then called leprosy, between 1866 and 1969.
Father Damien and Mother Marianne served the community here. The park preserves the settlement and honors the people who were sent away and built a life anyway.
6. Aloha Tower
Completed in 1926, the Aloha Tower greeted arriving steamships at Honolulu Harbor and was for years the tallest structure in Hawaii at 184 feet.
Take the elevator up for a harbor view, or just stand where generations of travelers first set foot on the islands.
5. National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
Set inside the Punchbowl, an extinct volcanic crater above Honolulu, this national cemetery opened in 1949 as the resting place for tens of thousands of service members.
Many died in the Pacific campaigns of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. The overlook above the graves takes in the whole city.
4. Iolani Palace
Built by King Kalakaua in 1882, Iolani is the only royal palace on U.S. soil. It was the seat of the Hawaiian Kingdom until the monarchy was overthrown in 1893.
Queen Liliʻuokalani was later imprisoned in an upstairs room. The restored palace tells the story of a sovereign nation and its loss.
3. Haleakala National Park
Maui’s dormant volcano rises above 10,000 feet, and its summit draws crowds before dawn for a sunrise above the clouds.
The park stretches from that lunar crater down to the lush Kipahulu coast. Reservations are required for sunrise.
2. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Home to Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, two of the world’s most active volcanoes, this Big Island park lets you stand near a living, erupting landscape.
When Kīlauea is active you may see the glow of lava after dark. The park once included Haleakala before that became its own.
1. Pearl Harbor National Memorial
Our number one. On December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, killing 2,403 Americans and pulling the country into World War II.
The memorial spans the sunken USS Arizona, where more than 1,100 sailors still rest, and the deck of the USS Missouri, where the war ended. Reserve the Arizona boat tickets ahead.
Plan most of a day: book the USS Arizona Memorial program in advance, then add the Missouri and the aviation museum on Ford Island.
More Things To Do
Beyond the landmarks, the islands reward slow days. A few more ways to fill the trip:
- Drive the Road to Hana on Maui for waterfalls and black-sand beaches.
- Snorkel Hanauma Bay on Oahu, with advance reservations.
- Watch for humpback whales off Maui from December through April.
- See all of Hawaii’s national parks mapped and ranked.
You should know that this guide does not come out of thin air. My sons Will and Jim have spent their adult lives exploring America’s national parks and public lands destinations.
Will and Jim have worked with the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior, the USDA, and the U.S. Forest Service creating films on the places and issues that matter. In 2018, after a career teaching history, I joined them to help tell the stories behind these sites.
