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Honolulu -- Neighborhoods -- Chinatown -- Sights -- Bishop Museum Diamond Head Hanauma Bay Pearl Harbor Punchbowl Waikiki
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The Rough Guide Hawaii (Hawaii (Rough Guides))
HONOLULU
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Hotels in Honolulu
• Aqua Kuhio Village Honolulu from $60.00 USD
• Aqua Bamboo Honolulu from $79.00 USD
• Outrigger Reef On The Beach Honolulu from $126.00 USD
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Vacation Rentals in Honolulu
• Diamond Head Beach Hotel Honolulu from $165.95 USD
• Celebrity Resorts Honolulu Honolulu from $79.95 USD
• Castle Waikiki Shore Honolulu from $309.95 USD
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Until the Europeans came, HONOLULU was insignificant; soon so many foreign ships were frequenting its waters that it had become Kamehameha's capital, and it remains the economic center of the island. The city covers a long (if narrow) strip of southern Oahu, but downtown is a manageable size, and a lot quieter than its glamorous image might suggest. The tourist hotels, and most of Honolulu's hustle, are concentrated among the skyscrapers of very distinct WAIKIKI , a couple of miles east.
The setting is beautiful, right on the Pacific and backed by dramatic cliffs and the extinct volcanoes of Punchbowl (a military cemetery) and Diamond Head ; but then beauty is not so rare a commodity on Hawaii, and you can see this sort of scenery in plenty of other places without a city in the middle of it. What attracts most visitors to stay in Honolulu, and especially Waikiki, is the sheer hedonism of shopping, eating and generally hanging out in the sun. It's also the center of an exemplary public transportation system, facilitating exploration of the whole island.
The City
Downtown Honolulu is surprisingly small, set back a little from the sea and centering around a spacious plaza on King Street that includes Iolani Palace and the state capitol . The palace was built for King David Kalakaua in...
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