Find cheap flights to Honolulu (HNL), United States

Hawaii’s biggest tourist area Honolulu has been the playground of vacationing Americans for decades and if you’re expecting a South Sea island-like, sleepy backwater, think again. The destination is all about hedonistic fun, whether lounging on the palm-fringed beaches, eating the freshest of catches from the Pacific or partying the night away. A great transport system means it’s also easy to explore the lush valleys and pristine sands of the rest of Oahu, the island on which Honolulu sits. Most tourists spend their time in Waikiki, just east of Honolulu on the southern coast of the island where surfing, shopping and relaxing is the order of the day.

There are no flights direct to Honolulu from the UK but you can get there with one stop off, usually in an American or Canadian airline hub. For this reason the flights all depart from London Heathrow.

Flights from London Heathrow to Honolulu

British Airways offers a direct service to Los Angeles from where it codeshares shares with American Airlines to get you to Honolulu. American will take you all the way there from London Heathrow but you will have to stop off twice, at Chicago O’Hare as well as Los Angeles. United Airlines and Continental both have a service out of London Heathrow stopping at Houston but you may have to change twice on the return leg. Air Canada operates into Honolulu via a stop in Vancouver.

Despite President Obama’s home state being synonymous with days of eating shave-ice in the sun and bodysurfing in the Pacific, there is plenty more to do in Honolulu. Pearl Harbour just north of Honolulu has five fascinating historical sites that tourists head for to get a better understanding of the Japanese attack in 1941. The floating USS Arizona Memorial is a shrine to the victims of the attack while you can explore the 60,000 ton Battleship Missouri, from which General Macarthur accepted the unconditional surrender of the Japanese in 1945, at Pearl Harbour’s historic Battleship Row. WWII history enthusiasts can also poke about the USS Bowfin submarine, known as the Pearl Harbor Avenger.

Walkers also love Oahu for its picture-postcard perfect scenery. Just inland from Honolulu are the Winward peaks and the extinct volcano Punchbowl whose windswept cliffs make a moving location for the military cemetery where the victims of the Pacific Wars including Vietnam are laid to rest.