Waikiki to Iolani Palace? It’s easy! (bus, trolley, bike) Oahu Hawaii travel tips

ALOHA!

Even just seeing ‘Iolani Palace from the outside is worth it, and that part is free!

This is the only official royal palace in the United States, and it is at the center of a pivotal part of history, both native Hawaiian and US history. You won’t find anything like it in any other part of the United States. It’s designated a National Historic Landmark.

You can make it a more enriching experience by stepping inside the palace. For that, there is a fee.

To go inside, there are several options, so be sure to look at the ‘Iolani palace tours.

 

👆 It’s free to see the Iolani Palace from the outside. You’ll want to consider doing a tour too, so you can learn more about Native Hawaiian history and US history.

 

 

👆 For a fee, you can go inside Iolani Palace.

 

👆 You’ll see the gate when you arrive!

 

👆 There’s a banyan tree near the palace. See more banyan trees in Waikiki!

 

The Iolani Palace is located in downtown Honolulu, and while you’re downtown, you will also want to stop by to see more historic Hawaiian landmarks like the King Kamehameha Statue and Kawaiahaʻo Church. These are quick stops and within walking distance of the palace.

Before you go, get an intro to Hawaiian history from the National Park Service. This includes the story of the Hawaiian monarchy and how the Hawaiian islands became part of the United States.

 

Waikiki to Iolani Palace is around 3 miles. It’s easy to take the bus, trolley, or even bike there.

Now, I’ll show you below some ways you can get to Iolani Palace from Waikiki!

 

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Tour of Hawaiian history

You can get a narrated tour through Honolulu by taking the Waikiki trolley red line. You can pick this up in Waikiki, and this also acts as a hop-on hop-off type thing, with a stop at Iolani Palace if you want to get off.

To learn more about native Hawaiian history in downtown Honolulu, you can also do a downtown walking tour on a Tuesday or Thursday. The meeting spot for this is downtown. This will take you by Iolani Palace and the King Kamehameha Statue, along with other Hawaiian historical things to see.

You can book this walking tour as a Hawaii free tour, although tips are appreciated. Read the reviews.

 

 

How to get to Iolani Palace

Now, here is more about getting to Iolani Palace from Waikiki, by trolley, bike, bus, or uber!

 

Trolley

One of the easiest ways to get from Waikiki to the Iolani Palace is by taking the Waikiki trolley!

There are many different routes that the trolley takes, and the one that you’ll want to do for Iolani Palace is the Waikiki Trolley red line.

This is also called the Hero and Legends tour, and it’s the trolley to take for downtown Honolulu history.

You can pick it up in Waikiki, and it does a loop through downtown Honolulu. As a hop-on hop-off trolley, you can get off at Iolani Palace. The trolley comes around on the red line stops usually once an hour.

You can buy a trolley red line ticket individually, or as part of a multi-line pass.

 

👆 You can take a hop-on hop-off trolley to Iolani Palace.

 

👆 The red line on the Waikiki trolley makes a stop at Iolani Palace.

 

 

Bike

Since it’s not that far away, you can bike from Waikiki to Iolani Palace! This is the fun way!

You can do a one-way bike ride by using the bike sharing bikes. This allows you to go from point A to point B. This isn’t the same as a bike rental.

With bike sharing, you’ll find a bike station in Waikiki, ride to a bike station near Iolani Palace, and then drop off your bike there, and that’s that! You don’t need to ride the same bike back to Waikiki. (You can even just take the bus back if you don’t want to bike both ways.)

There are lots of bike sharing stations in Waikiki, and there are several bike stations that are within a few minutes walk of Iolani Palace. See the biki bike station map. Zoom into Honolulu, and you’ll see Iolani Palace marked. You’ll see there are bike stations around that block. The markers indicate in real-time how many bikes are available at that docking station, and how many bike “parking” spaces are available.

You’ll pay to use the bike based on 30 minute increments. You can pay ahead of time or just show up to a bike station and pay by credit card. (I’ve gotten a bike by paying at the station.)

Follow the rules of the road, and always bike with traffic, not against.

 

If you are just interested in seeing Iolani Palace from the outside (and don’t need to go inside), then you’ll want to consider doing the Historic Honolulu bike tour. This gives you a quick stop at the Iolani Palace. This bike tour starts in Waikiki.

See the official info and read the reviews.

 

 

Bus

The cheap way to get to Iolani Palace is by bus!

And there’s a direct bus from Waikiki, which makes it so it’s not that complicated. Google maps makes it easy to navigate. Just look for the public transit icon, pick a route you like, and do what it says!

The actual bus ride is around 15 minutes. The bus stop near Iolani Palace is about a 5 to 10 minute walk.

Just to get you started, for example, you can type in your hotel in Waikiki as your starting point, and Iolani Palace as your destination. See the map.

When you’re actually in Waikiki, you’ll just use your current location as the starting point. It will tell you where your nearest bus stop is. You can play around with the routes. Doing this on the google maps app on your phone gives you more details. You can click on “scheduled” to see more upcoming departures, and you can click on “stops” when you’re actually on the bus to see exactly how many stops you have left (and follow along on the map with GPS once you’re on the bus). It will tell you where your nearest bus stop is.

 

👆 Google maps is the easy way to figure out how to get from Waikiki to Iolani Palace by bus!

 

👆 You’ll see different options, so you can expand each route to see which one is best.

 

👆 You can expand out any bus route for details.

 

👆 It will also tell you about future bus timings!

 

If you’ll be taking the bus more than a few times, it will be worth getting a HOLO card, which you can get at any ABC Store in Waikiki. This acts as a public transportation cash card, and you can load it up online. You can also order your card online if you still have time.

Otherwise, you’ll need cash in exact change for every bus ride you take. See current bus fare.

 

 

Uber

Finally, there is Uber in Waikiki. Since it’s a 15 minute drive, you might find it reasonable to take uber to Iolani Palace. You can check the uber app even if you’re not currently in Hawaii just to get an idea of how much it will cost. For the best estimate, try to do a search during the day Hawaii time since it will be based on real-time data of available drivers!

 

 

Quick travel tips when you’re OFF TO WAIKIKI!

It’s easy to go by bus from Waikiki to Iolani Palace. Google maps is very helpful.

You’ll want to look into doing Iolani Palace tours.

Iolani Palace is in downtown Honolulu, and while you’re there, you’ll want to stop by more Hawaiian royalty historic sites of Kawaiahao Church and the King Kamehameha Statue.

To learn more about Hawaiian history, do the downtown Honolulu walking tour or historic Honolulu bike tour.

For more Hawaiian cultural experiences, you must go to a Hawaiian luau!

 

Happy seeing the Iolani Palace!