United States (Pacific)
Hawaii
Which Hawaiian island to pick and how to reach them from the UK: there are no direct flights, so you connect through the US mainland — here's the West Coast routing, the island-by-island verdict and what a fortnight actually costs.
In short
Hawaii at a glance
Hawaii is a long-haul-on-top-of-long-haul trip: there are no direct flights from the UK, so you fly to a US West Coast hub — usually Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO) — and connect onward five hours over the Pacific to Honolulu. Total door-to-door is comfortably 18–22 hours each way with the layover, and Hawaii is 11 hours behind the UK, so the jet lag is real. The islands are genuinely different from each other, not interchangeable: pick one or two and island-hop on the 40-minute Hawaiian Airlines inter-island flights rather than trying to see all four headline islands. Allow at least 10–14 nights to make the journey worth it.
The thing to get straight before anything else is that Hawaii is two long-haul flights, not one. Nothing flies direct from the UK, so you cross to a West Coast hub like Los Angeles or San Francisco, collect and re-check your bags for the onward leg, and then take a separate five-hour hop out over the Pacific to Honolulu. With an eleven-hour time difference and no daylight saving on the islands, the westbound jet lag is the worst I’ve felt anywhere — which is exactly why a long weekend is pointless and ten to fourteen nights is the floor for making the journey pay.
The mistake first-timers make is treating the four headline islands as one destination and trying to tick them all. They aren’t interchangeable: Oahu is the busy, easy, history-and-surf island with the only proper buses; Maui is beaches, resorts and the Road to Hana; the Big Island is live volcanoes and high-altitude stargazing; Kauai is the green, vertical, hiking one. Pick one for a first trip, or pair two and link them with the quick Hawaiian Airlines inter-island flights — you’ll spend your fortnight on beaches and volcanoes instead of in island airports.
The route
A two-week, two-island plan that pairs the most accessible island with one wilder counterpart, so you front-load the easy logistics while you're jet-lagged and save the adventurous driving for once you've adjusted. Inter-island flights are short Hawaiian Airlines hops; the long legs are the West Coast connection at each end.
-
Days 1–4
Oahu (Honolulu & the North Shore)
Land at Honolulu (HNL) after the West Coast connection and go gently — you're 11 hours out of sync. Base in Waikiki for the first nights, snorkel Hanauma Bay (pre-book the timed entry, it caps daily numbers), pay your respects at Pearl Harbor, then drive ~1 hour up to the North Shore for the big-wave beaches and shrimp trucks. Oahu has the island's only real public transport, so you can ease in before you need a hire car.
-
Days 5–9
Maui (the road to Hana & Haleakala)
A 40-minute Hawaiian Airlines hop to Kahului (OGG). Pick up a hire car at the airport — you cannot do Maui without one. Drive the Road to Hana (about 64 miles and a full day each way of hairpin bends and waterfalls), watch sunrise from the 10,000ft Haleakala summit (a timed reservation is required for the sunrise slot), and snorkel Molokini crater on a morning boat trip.
-
Days 10–13
The Big Island (Volcanoes National Park)
A short flight to Kona (KOA) or Hilo (ITO). This is the island for active volcanoes — Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (entry $30 per vehicle, valid 7 days) for the Kilauea caldera and lava-tube walks, the Mauna Kea stargazing road, and the green and black sand beaches. Distances are big here, so a hire car and a half-day either side of the island is the realistic pace.
-
Day 14
Fly home via the West Coast
Connect back through LAX or SFO. You gain the 11 hours flying east, so you land in the UK two calendar days after you set off; leave a generous layover for the US connection and clearing onward security, and don't book anything for the day after you arrive home.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Waikiki (Oahu)
££ mid-rangeThe obvious first base — a walkable beachfront strip of hotels at every price, with restaurants, the only proper bus network in Hawaii and day trips to Pearl Harbor and the North Shore on your doorstep. It's busy and built-up rather than a desert-island idyll, but it's the easiest landing pad while you're jet-lagged.
Best for: First-timers, walkability, the arrival days
Kaanapali / Wailea (Maui)
£££ premiumMaui's two resort coasts: Kaanapali in the west for long sandy beaches and the boardwalk, Wailea in the south for the upmarket resorts and calmer snorkelling. Both put you within easy reach of Molokini boats and the Haleakala road, though you'll need the hire car for everything beyond the resort.
Best for: Beaches, couples, snorkelling
Kailua-Kona (Big Island)
££ mid-rangeThe sunny, dry west-coast base for the Big Island, well placed for the Kona coffee farms, manta-ray night snorkels and the drive down to the volcanoes. It's lower-key and better value than the Maui resorts, with the trade-off that the island's distances mean long drives to the headline sights.
Best for: Volcanoes, value, quieter stays
Getting around Hawaii
Forget driving between islands — there's no road, and the inter-island ferry network is minimal, so you island-hop by air. Hawaiian Airlines runs the most frequent short hops (roughly 40 minutes, £40–80 each way) between Honolulu, Maui, Kona, Hilo and Lihue; Southwest also flies the routes. Once you land, only Oahu has a public bus worth using ('TheBus' in Honolulu) — on Maui, the Big Island and Kauai you need a hire car to see anything, and demand outstrips supply so book it well ahead. Remember you drive on the right, US-style, and fill up before remote drives like the Road to Hana, where petrol stations are scarce. UK roaming to the US is expensive, so a US eSIM is worth setting up before you fly.
Book the essentials
Where to stay
Tours & tickets
Airport transfers
Car hire
Stay connected
Hawaii FAQs
How do you get to Hawaii from the UK?
Which Hawaiian island should I choose?
How much does a Hawaii trip cost from the UK?
Ready to book?
Compare car hire