Central Oahu
Central Oahu is largely made up of a pineapple-filled valley that lies on the Leilehua Plateau, between the Waianae and Ko’olau mountain ranges. It extends northwestward from Pearl Harbor to Haleiwa on the island’s North Shore. The principal towns here are Pearl City and Waipahu, situated on the periphery of Pearl Harbor - 10 miles and 14 miles from downtown Honolulu, respectively - and Wahiawa, a modest-sized town, nestled amid fields of pineapple, another 7 miles or so further along.
Waipahu
Pearl City has very little to interest the visitor, but in Waipahu you can search out the Waipahu Cultural Garden Park, located in the center of town. It’s a 50-acre cultural park, comprising an historic plantation village and outdoor museum of sorts, featuring some 30 replica 19th-century homes and buildings of various ethnic groups from the plantation era, including Hawaiian. Chinese, Portuguese, Puerto Rican, Japanese. Okinawan, Korean and Filipino, all with original, period furnishings.
Wahiawa
In Wahiawa, there’s the 27-acre Wahiawa Botanical Gardens, and just to the north of there, at Schofield Barrack, you can visit the Tropical Lightning Museum with its war memorabilia. Also north of Wahiawa are the Del Monte Pineapple Variety Garden, showcasing several varieties of pineapples from around the world, and the Dole Plantation, also with fields of pineapple, as well as a gift shop.
Ischgl is a small mountain village turned hip ski resort, with massive appeal among the party-hearty young crowds. It is... Read More
Andorra la Vella is its own little world, and not just because it’s a 290-square-mile independent principality (a fifth the... Read More
Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche) is the place to be seen. It is to Argentina what Aspen is to the... Read More
Aspen is America's most famous ski resort. And that's an understatement. For, as a ski complex, Aspen is unsurpassed. Its... Read More
Zermatt is a small but glamorous mountain resort town, with a population of approximately 5,700. It is one of Switzerland's... Read More
St. Moritz is a glitzy, alpine resort town in the celebrated Engadin Valley of Switzerland, with huge notoriety as the... Read More
Lake Tahoe is the premier lake resort of America, and the largest alpine lake in all of North America. It is an absolutely... Read More
St. Anton, Sankt Anton am Arlberg in German, is Austria's premier ski-bum resort! It's actually a small village cum... Read More
Kitzbühel, a small, Tyrolian resort town in the Kitzbüheler Alps, comes with international renown and huge snob appeal, and... Read More