Hey everyone! I took 4 days (3 nights) of paid time off and decided to visit Honolulu for the first time! Here is my itinerary and what you can do if you like hikes, food, beer, and a lot of walking. Be prepared to walk over 20,000 steps every day on this trip. We didn't have a car but we did do a car share program to get to Kokohead lookout trail (it's about 30 minutes away from Waikiki in East Honolulu). We did the HUI Car Share that was recommended by our Uber driver from the airport, which costs roughly $12/hr to rent a car. It's all app-based so you make an account and fill in your information to rent a car, based on hour. You pick up/drop off at any locations affiliated with HUI. (Kind of like a zip car).
Here's my 4 day 3 night itinerary for Honolulu, Hawaii
Saturday 8/19
Our flight took off from Phoenix at 8:35 am and we had a layover in Las Vegas before we finally arrived in Honolulu at 2 pm. We took an Uber from the airport to our hotel which was a 2 miles walk away from Ala Moana. We stopped by Maui brewing co which is located on the 2nd floor rooftop of the city. It had an amazing view of the city. We also visited another outdoor bar/coffee place near Royal Hawaiian Center where the high-end shopping is located. Then we walked around international marketplace, which is basically an outdoor mall with a giant tree in front of it. However, it was smaller than we expected and just had normal corporate retail stores. We then continued walking to Ala Moana and shared a Hawaiian plate of kahllua pork, chicken adoba, and pork dish. We wanted to check out the two food courts there but we were too full, so we walked back towards the hotel and stopped by Waikiki brewery co on the way back.
Sunday 8/20
We woke up early at 7 am and walked to Kai coffee near our hotel. We then got ready and rented a car at international marketplace and went to kokohead trailhead. We stopped at blowout lookout which had a fantastic view. After that, we went to koko regional park to do the kokohead lookout hike which was a 1.9 miles hike with lots of steps. We got poke lunch at Foodlands and then went to international marketplace where we got a quick drink at the food court. We also ordered a couple of spam musubi for a late snack from the musubi cafe. After that, we walked Waikiki beach and lounged there for an hour or two. We wanted to try Marugame udon but the line was long so we went to paia market instead. Unfortunately, the line was still over an hour wait. We went to grab a drink near outriggers and then headed back to our hotel.
Monday 8/21
We took an Uber to Diamond Head hike which is more popular and had lots of kids. It had a paved road mostly all the way up with a couple of stairs. After that, we went to Ginza tonkatsu for lunch and tried the special kurabata pork which was really good. Unfortunately, it was the last one so we only got to try one of it along with a sandwich. We walked around and went to Royal Hawaiian Center where we shared a dole whip ice cream. We then went back to our hotel and then to the beach for a few hours. We even attempted paddle board and bodyboard. We waited an hour and finally tried Marugame udon which was good. We walked around, went shopping, and bought some Honolulu cookie. We also visited Aloha Beer Company and had lunch at Ginza (for katsu) at 12 pm.
Tuesday 8/22
Last day!
Woke up at 7 AM to go to the beach one last time. It was the perfect time to be there because there was still shade! We rented a bodyboard, a chair, and an umbrella, but we didn't need the umbrella because of the shade.
We walked around the beach and got souvenir cups from Starbucks and an ABC mug.
For lunch, we finished the leftovers of udon and pork katsu at the hotel's patio poolside.
We started heading to the hotel by Uber at 10 AM to get to the airport. Along the way, we stopped at the Priority Pass International Lounge, which was really small and crowded and not great. It was just a small room with juice boxes, water, and coffee, and we couldn't take them out of the lounge. It wasn't super fancy.