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I have a business trip to Hawaii (first time there) and I'm taking my wife. She will have 7 days and I'll have 3 days to vacation. Can you recommend some things to do for her (like shopping) and some things for a 3 day itinerary for me? Thanks

What Island are you going to? If it is Oahu, I recommend she go to the Ala Moana Shopping Center, Aloha Stadium Swap Meet and the Outlet Mall. She may also enjoy the Bishop Musuem as well as a small modern art museum. All of these destinations can be reached by bus. She can get a handout of bus routes for certain destinations from the hotel, or she can ask the bus driver's. They are very informative and friendly.

Thanks for the reply. Yes we are going to Oahu. We'll be staying in Honolulu the whole time. Thanks for the information.

Derek - If you can find the time, I would recommend your spending your three days on one of the other islands just to give you a taste of how diverse they can be esp. after spending so many days in Oahu. I'm not knocking Oahu; it's just that in my opinion, the other islands have so much more to offer other than the metropolis that Honolulu offers.

Iolani Palace, Bishop Museum Drive tour around the island. I would save shopping for a weekend at home. I don't think there is a whole lot to buy on Oahu. You will only find this out after spending a day shopping. Unless of course you are coming from a very small rural area in the U.S

Jim if he is on here asking for things to do for his wife, do you think she is independent enough to go to an island without him. Not trying to offend anyone I just think it is pretty obvious. Different strokes for different folks. Gobs to do Derek but I would encourage some independence if that is out of the question, some day tours. I agree a shame to go to Oahu to shop.

Hi Derek, there are 2 things that are musts in Hawaii, Pearl Harbor on Oahu & Hawaii Volcanoes Nat'l Park on the Big Island...it is a shame to fly all the way to Hawaii & not see this eruption. It is something you cannot see anywhere else... Forget shopping, unless you are interested in buying some of the Hawaiian products that include beautiful quilts, fantastic wood products & pineapple. Taking pineapple home for gifts was always one of my favorite things to do, you rarely get any really good pineapple anywhere on the mainland. Whatever, enjoy your time there... Aloha, Linda

Jim, all they have to do to experience the diversity of Oahu is to get out of Waikiki and to visit the windward side, north shore and the leeward side. Are you renting a car? You can take the bus to get to Waikiki and Honolulu destinations but I do not recommend the city bus to explore outside of Waikiki/Honolulu because it is a very slow way to get anywhere. Since you asked about shopping, your wife can go to the outlet mall which features major discount stores like Saks fifth Avenue, Bose, Geoffrey Beene, Boarders Books & Music, and many more. She can also go to the ALOHA STADIUM SWAP MEET. There are vendors that encircle the Aloha Stadium several times around. There are great deals on Aloha wear, but the rest was cheep trinkets. The entry fee is 50 cents per person. The swap meet is open every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday 6am-2pm. She can also check out the INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE which is located in the heart of Waikiki on Kalakaua Avenue. It is crammed with vendors selling island souvenirs. Haggle with the vendors for best price. Of course,there is also the Ala Moana Shopping Center. As for other activities, it depends on what you like. You can do a CIRCLE ISLAND BUS TOUR that lets you leave the driving to someone else while you just relax and enjoy the 120 mile tour of the island. Fully narrated with many stops at scenic lookouts and historic places. If you play golf, you will find some of the most challenging and beautiful 18 hole golf courses there. If you want to go horseback riding, you can do it at the kualoa ranch and enjoy the breathtaking views of the Kualoa mountain range and the picturesque coastline. One day advanced notice required. Riding available on Sat & Sun only. You can also ride with the Correa Trails Hawaii where you ride through the rainforest in the Koolaus above Waimanalo or with the Happy Trails Hawaii Ltd. where you ride through the rainforest, to waterfalls, and to scenic sea cliffs of Waimea. You can also kayak, jetski, bodysurf, scubadive, hike and windsurf so let us know what activities you're interested in and I'll be happy to provide more info. For cultural and historical adventures, you can visit the BISHOP MUSEUM which has the largest collection of historical Hawaiian artifacts. There are special activities throughout the day, including hula and dance demonstrations. You can also visit the IOLANI PALACE which is the only royal palace on US soil. An informative guided tour of the palace gives you a great insight how King David Kalakaua lived. King David Kalakaua had the Palace built in 1882 to replace a smaller house on the same grounds that was used as the Royal Palace. The Palace has been used for many purposes and the contents ended up around the world. It has since been restored, and many original contents are now on display. And of course, not to be miss is the Pearl Harbor. It takes approx. 2-3 hours to view the museum, a documentary movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the USS Arizona Memorial. Admission is free but you must arrive early to get tickets for the movie and each visitor must get their own ticket from the park Ranger. Shirts and shoes are required on the memorial. The visitor center is open from 7:30am to 5:00pm, daily. A Navy shuttle operates between the visitors center and the USS Arizona memorial from 8am to 3pm daily, 7:30am during the summer. Other WWII museums located close by are the USS Bowfin Submarine and the USS Missouri Battleship. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Hope this helps you.

Hey great advice from everyone. Thanks a million. We have a variety of interests but do enjoy about anything. As for my wife she hasn't traveled much and isn't an overly adventerous sort, but she'll make do I'm sure. I'd love to go to some of the other islands, but my question is are they available for day trips or do I need to get a hotel on the other island and cancel my reservation on Oahu? How much does it cost? If I had to choose 2 day trips would the Big Island and Maui be the ones to choose or would you recommend something else>

You can do day trips but they usually pick you up at hotels at 4 in the morning. I suggest booking a room cheaply if that is a factor on another island overnight. If it were me Princeville Sheraton depending on the time of year or Somewhere near the Volcano on the big Island. If you wife just wants to hang out at an all inclusive resort Hilton Waikoloa on the big island but not during school break periods. Close to the airport and all inclusive. I would totally skip Waikiki for this experience

Derek, check out this website, https://www.fishbowltours.com/index_14.html They provide outer island tours from Oahu or overnight packages where they provide you the airfare, car and a hotel. For the one island day trip, it's $170 and for the overnight package, it's for $134. For the daytrips, I will opt for Kauia and the Big Island. Kauia because of it's sheer beauty and the Big Island because of the Volcano National Park and its black sand beaches. Enjoy planning your trip.

Agree with pam, I would also go with the Big Island (make sure you fly into Hilo to go to Volcanoes Natl park) and Kauai for the same reasons that she stated. If you were to do only one island, then I would go with the Big Island

where the heck is kauia?

get some strange they have some good skank in HI

If you only have 3 days left for your vacation, doing 2 island day trips will be so exhausting for you as they usually have to pick you up around 5am and fly you back late at night. If you still want to do 2 trips, I would choose Big Island and Kauai too.

It sounds like your wife will have 7 days to explore Oahu during the day, and then you'll have evening time together. Of course, she'll have lots of time to take in Oahu sites on her own. The posters above have all made good suggestions for shopping, site seeing, museums, etc. Unfortuantly, it sounds like you won't have a chance until the last 3 days to either tour Oahu or go to another island...For evening activities on Oahu try to get out of Waikiki for a little site seeing, driving towards Hawaii Kai into Kailua/Kanehoe is a pretty drive and easily done from Waikiki in the evening. Avoid the highways (H1, H2, etc.) during rush hour traffic, if at all possible. Dinner in Haleiwa is also nice, loads of good restaurants, neat little north shore town, etc. Another pretty drive is to head out on the Pali Highway (really, just a road) from the leeward side towards the windward (Kailua) side, stopping at the outlook. If you are done with work early enough to catch the view with daylight remaining the overlook is spectacular. The best bet for seeing another island is to plan and 2-3 day trip to another island - less rushing around, more time to actually see the island and relax. Maui, Kauai, or the BI are all good choices. You can buy an interisland package from places like Roberts Hawaii or Hawaii Travel Wholesalers - these packages include interisland airfare, hotel, and a car (which you really need off of Oahu). Aside from a package, interisland flights are usually about $60 each way, using interisland coupons (which you can buy from a HI travel agent or from Bank of Hawaii ATMS (some of them, at least). The cost of a package is about the same as making the travel arrangements yourself. I would discourage an interisland trip unless you can stay for 2-3 days as I don't think a daytrip is really worth the cost and trouble for what you get out of it. Have a good trip!

Ok, someone's going to yell at me but I recommend the Polynesian Cultural Center. I usually HATE this type of place but we found it entertaining. I second what was said about visiting Pearl Harbor. Standing in the Arizona Memorial was like being in a church. We also enjoyed hiking to the top of Diamond Head and visiting the public parks around near Waikiki. The International Market Place was ok but the words "tourist trap" come to mind at every turn. I recommend saving the shopping for when you return home because there is lots to see on Oahu (not to mention the other islands). Have fun. Mike Honeycutt