Iolani Palace

ʻIolani Palace stands on the corner of King Street and Richards Street in downtown Honolulu. King Kalākaua built it, and it was the home of Hawaiʻi's last reigning monarchs and the center of the Kingdom's political and social life until the overthrow of the monarchy. King Kalākaua and his sister and successor, Queen Liliʻuokalani, walked its halls, and it was outfitted with electric lights, indoor plumbing and a modern communications system. After an unsuccessful attempt by Hawaiian royalists to restore her to power, Queen Liliʻuokalani was arrested, put on trial before a military tribunal in her own throne room and imprisoned in an upstairs bedroom of the palace. The land is thought to have been the site of an ancient heiau. Today the Friends of ʻIolani Palace care for it, and it is a National Historic Landmark. You see the first and second floors either with a palace docent or on a self-led audio visit. Docent-led visits take you through the first-floor staterooms and the second-floor private quarters and end in the basement galleries, and the audio recording comes in Hawaiian, English, Japanese and several other languages. Tickets are sold online, with no walk-ups or same-day reservations, and you collect them at the window in Hale Koa, the Barracks building next to the palace. Shirts and footwear are required, you wear shoe coverings the palace provides, and bathing suits and beachwear are not permitted. Large bags, backpacks, luggage, food and drinks are not allowed inside, and personal strollers are not permitted, so small children ride in a front carrier or a palace stroller or hold an adult's hand. Flash photography, video, audio recording, tripods, selfie sticks and extended lenses are not permitted. All public areas of the palace and ʻIolani Barracks are wheelchair accessible, though motorized scooters and electric wheelchairs are not permitted in the palace itself. There is paid parking on the palace grounds, entered off Likelike Mall between the palace and the Hawaiʻi State Library, and in the private garage at Aliʻi Place on Alakea Street. Parts of the grounds are marked kapu, so respect them and stay out. Smoking and electronic smoking devices are prohibited on the grounds.