Museums in Honolulu: what each one costs, and how to get in free

What to see

• Van Gogh’s Wheat Field (1888) and Monet’s Water Lilies (1917–19)
• Gauguin’s Two Nudes on a Tahitian Beach and Diego Rivera’s The Flower Seller
• A 55,000-piece collection spanning 5,000 years, with one of the strongest Asian art holdings in the United States
• Open-air courtyards you can sit in for free — the café and shop don’t require admission

Getting in cheap: The deepest free tier of any paid museum on the island. Under-18s are always free, so a parent pays $15 and the kids pay nothing. Hawaiʻi residents get in free on Community and Family Sundays — the third Sunday of every month — and again on Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, July 31. Students at Hawaiʻi state universities are free with ID, and SNAP/EBT cardholders plus three guests get free admission and free parking through Museums for All.

What to see

• Hawaiian Hall — three floors built as ascending realms: Kai Ākea (gods and pre-contact Hawaiʻi), Wao Kanaka (land and daily life), and Wao Lani (the aliʻi and key moments in Hawaiian history)
• Pacific Hall, covering Moananuiākea — model canoes, woven mats, and the archaeology and linguistics of Pacific migration
• The Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kāhili Room, where the feather standards of the aliʻi are displayed alongside royal portraits
• The Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center — 16,500 square feet with an erupting volcano; the planetarium’s Polynesian wayfinding shows are a separate $3

Heads up — Bishop Museum prices are dynamic — they move with the day of the week and seasonal demand, which is why every rate above is a range. Family Sundays are no longer offered.

Getting in cheap: SNAP and EBT cardholders get in free through Museums for All, bought onsite. Everyone else should note the kamaʻāina gap, which is the widest on the island — around $14 a head — so bring your Hawaiʻi ID.

What to see

• The Lēʻahi Gallery — 6,200 square feet, the largest interior exhibition space in the building
• The Art in Public Places Collection, the largest collection of work by Hawaiʻi artists anywhere; Hawaiʻi was the first state to pass a Percent for Art law, in 1967
• The Sculpture Garden and second-floor courtyard, free to sit in
• The 1928 Spanish-Mission building itself, modelled on the Davanzati Palace in Florence

Getting in cheap: Free is the whole model. In the museum’s own words: “Admission to our grounds, galleries and events is always free, and no advance tickets are required.” That includes the exhibitions, the events and the First Friday and Super Saturday programmes.

What to see

• The only royal palace on American soil, and the seat of the Hawaiian Kingdom under Kalākaua and Liliʻuokalani
• The audio tour runs in nine languages, including Hawaiian
• Speciality tours — the Kalākaua Legacy tour, the White Glove tour, and one on Hawaiʻi’s royal connection to Japan

Getting in cheap: Kamaʻāina Sundays, the second Sunday of most months, are free for Hawaiʻi residents with ID — one complimentary ticket each, gates at 8am, activities 9am to 2pm. Audio tours go to the first 500 people, so arrive early. Remaining 2026 dates: 13 September, 11 October, 8 November, 13 December.

What to see

• The USS Arizona Memorial itself, reached by Navy boat, standing over the sunken ship
• Two free museums on shore covering the road to war and the attack
• Programmes run every 15 minutes from 8am–noon and 1pm–3:30pm; the last one is 3:30pm

Heads up — Boat trips can be suspended or cancelled in high wind or rain, and dock repairs occasionally cut availability. Book a morning slot and you get a second chance the same day.

Getting in cheap: A fee-free national park. The only money that changes hands is the $1 per ticket Recreation.gov charges to hold your reservation, plus parking.

What to see

• The Surrender Deck — the exact spot where Japan formally surrendered on 2 September 1945
• The Combat Engagement Center and the below-deck crew quarters
• 887 feet and 45,000 tons of ship, with gun turrets looking out over the harbour

Heads up — A Passport to Pearl Harbor covering four sites is listed at $99.99 adult on the Missouri’s site and $89.99 on the Aviation Museum’s. Check which price you are being quoted.

What to see

• Going down inside a real WWII submarine — hatches, narrow passageways, torpedo rooms and crew quarters
• Three galleries on Pacific submarine warfare, with a free audio guide included
• The Waterfront Memorial to the 3,505 submariners lost in the Second World War

Heads up — The submarine has steep ladders, tight spaces and low clearances, and is not wheelchair accessible. The galleries and park are.

Getting in cheap: Military personnel in uniform get in free.

What to see

• Two historic WWII hangars, still bullet-scarred from 7 December 1941
• The Ford Island Control Tower, with 360-degree views over the harbour
• Aircraft from WWII warbirds through Cold War jets, plus flight simulators

What to see

• Doris Duke’s oceanfront house, built in 1937 around a collection of Islamic art gathered over sixty years
• Gallery spaces you wander at your own pace rather than being marched through
• The setting itself — Black Point, with Diamond Head behind you

Heads up — HoMA states Shangri La is closed throughout September. Check the reopening date before you plan around it.

What to see

• Battery Randolph, built in 1911 as part of the “Ring of Steel” that encircled Oʻahu against attack by sea — the museum is inside the gun emplacement
• The Gallery of Heroes, honouring 25 Medal of Honor recipients with Hawaiʻi ties and more than 60 Service Cross recipients
• A frank gallery on Hawaiʻi’s Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor — the loyalty questions, the internment of 1,400 people, and the Territorial Guardsmen

Getting in cheap: Completely free, and it sits in the middle of Waikīkī — the best-value hour on the whole strip if the sun gets to be too much.

What to see

• The oldest standing Western-style buildings in Hawaiʻi, from the 1820s and 1830s
• The printing office where Hawaiian was first set into type
• An archive that researchers still use, next door to Kawaiahaʻo Church

Getting in cheap: The cemetery grounds are free and open every day, 10am–4pm, even when the houses are closed.

What to see

• Hawaiʻi’s first historic house museum, and one of only three royal residences left standing
• Original furniture, china, quilts and family portraits belonging to Queen Emma
• The cool of upper Nuʻuanu, which is exactly why the royal family summered here

What to see

• A restored 1913 courtroom with its original territorial-period furnishings
• The Martial Law gallery, on the years 1941–1944 when Hawaiʻi was under military rule
• The Monarchy gallery, tracing the kapu system through to the 1893 overthrow

Getting in cheap: Free, and it is inside Aliʻiōlani Hale — the building with the gold Kamehameha statue out front that everyone photographs and almost nobody goes into.

What to see

• Okage Sama De — the multi-generational story of Japanese Hawaiʻi from the 1868 immigration onward, told through artifacts and oral testimony
• The Ellison Onizuka remembrance collection, with his space suit and a Challenger model
• The state’s only moon rock on public display

What to see

• Your Town — a child-sized community where kids try on real jobs, from firefighter to mechanic
• Fantastic You! — hands-on exhibits about how their own bodies work
• Hawaiian Rainbows and Rainforest Adventures, on island life and the forests that shape it

Heads up — Rainforest Adventures closes 30 minutes before the rest of the building.

What to see

• Founded in 1904 — the second-oldest public aquarium in the United States
• Right on the shoreline next to Kapiʻolani Park, so it pairs with a beach afternoon
• Focused on Hawaiian and Pacific reef life rather than imported spectacle

Heads up — The Hawaiian Monk Seal Habitat is temporarily unavailable and some exhibits have been removed. Do not go for the seals. The aquarium is also closed on Honolulu Marathon day, 13 December 2026.

Getting in cheap: At $12 it is the cheapest ticketed attraction in Waikīkī, and every admission includes the mobile audio guide.

What to see

• The Conservatory, Palm Garden and outdoor Butterfly Garden
• The Prehistoric Glen cycad collection
• Exceptional Trees — legally protected specimens, some planted in the 1850s

Getting in cheap: The cheapest ticket in this guide — $3 for residents, $1 for a child. Free docent-led tours run at 10:30am on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, rain or shine, with Thursdays added during 2026.

What to see

• More than seven miles of trails across nearly 200 acres
• Over 6,000 taxa of tropical and sub-tropical plants
• Deep Mānoa rainforest, twenty minutes from Waikīkī

Heads up — Weekdays only, and you cannot turn up without a booking.

Getting in cheap: Free, with a suggested $10 donation.