Key Stops
- Visit the slopes of Diamond Head to watch for people surfing and sailing, and, if you’re lucky, migrating humpback whales in the winter.
- Honolulu Museum of Art, opened in 1927, offers excellent exhibitions against a backdrop of six tranquil garden courtyards and architecture with Spanish, Hawaiian and Chinese influences.
- Chinatown, one of Honolulu’s largest intact historical districts, is home to aloha wear boutiques, art galleries and a bookstore centered on Native Hawaiian culture, set among longstanding lei vendors and produce stands.
Every Friday evening, the Honolulu Museum of Art keeps its doors open until 9 p.m., and its courtyard cafe is a lovely spot to grab a glass of wine and listen to live music in between gallery hopping. New exhibitions include Kenyatta Kelechi’s collection (through Jan. 12), which depicts contemporary Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners through wet plate photography, a technique from the 19th century, and a retrospective of Satoru Abe (through July 20), arguably Hawaii’s most influential artist and still creating at age 98. His work spans seven decades across sculptures on themes of seeds, roots and trees to recent abstract multidirectional paintings (adults $25).
