While Honolulu doesn’t have the historical prominence of, say, Europe, the Middle East, or Asia, there are plenty of entertaining historical sites to the city. Some are within walking distance of both Waikiki and Downtown. Regardless, they’re all worth a few moments of your time. And feet.

Museum buffs will go ga ga over Bishop Museum. I don’t know if ga ga can be diagnosed, but museum folks will understand.

Bishop Museum is part of a sprawling campus centered with a formidable, four-story lava rock structure; a rusty version of the Addams Family residence. Inside is the world’s greatest collection of artifacts from Hawaii and the Pacific.

The museum was founded by Bernice Pauahi, a true Hawaiian Princess. She collected priceless artifacts and instructed her husband to establish a Hawaiian museum. It’s a world treasure of over 20-million acquisitions; 12-million of which are insect specimens. Bzzzz,

If you want to know something about ancient Hawaii, you could do no better than Bishop Museum.

Closer to the center of town and more ocean oriented, is the Hawaii Maritime Center. It’s at the foot of Downtown Honolulu, to the Diamond Head side of Aloha Tower Marketplace.

You’ll see the first steamer cruise ships, canoes from Polynesian voyagers, surf boards (not the fiberglass and foam core versions of today; these are the big, heavy wooden surf boards), artifacts and exhibits galore. Moored next the Maritime Center is the sailing vessel, The Falls of Clyde. This less-than-seaworthy four-masted schooner once ran tea and silk from China to the US West Coast.

Only blocks away but still Downtown is the only official royal palace on American soil. Iolani Palace—built by King David Kalakaua in 1882. It only cost $362,000 to build but nearly bankrupt the small Hawaiian Kingdom. The structure is Italian Renaissance complete with Corinthian columns. It was also the first electric building in Honolulu—preceding both the White House in Washington, DC and Buckingham Palace in London.

100,000 visitors a year trek through the hallowed halls of Iolani Palace. No shoes allowed. And no flash cameras. Speak softly.

Want to know the best places to eat in Hawaii? Click over to Ono Dining for totally biased reviews on Hawai's best (and not so best) restaurants.