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Capital city in Capital territory, Solomon Islands · Honiara

Honiara

Honiara is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal.

Honiara
Honiara · Wikimedia Commons (see file page)
The place

Honiara is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. As of 2019, it had a population of 129,569 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lies along the Kukum Highway. In 1983, a capital territory – comprising the 22 square-kilometre metropolitan area of Honiara – was proclaimed, with a self-governing status akin to a province, although the city also retained its older role as capital of Guadalcanal Province.

Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What is there

Worth seeing in and around Honiara

9 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

  1. 01
    Lawson Tama Stadium

    Lawson Tama Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Honiara, Solomon Islands. It is used mostly for football matches.

    1.8 km · Multi-purpose stadium in Solomon Islands · Wikipedia
  2. 02
    Holy Cross Cathedral

    The Holy Cross Cathedral, also referred to as the Catholic Cathedral of Honiara, is the cathedral church and seat of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Honiara. It is located in the city of Honiara, which is on Guadalcanal Island and is the capital of the Solomon Islands, a country in the southwest Pacific Ocean.

    1 km · church in Honiara, Solomon Islands · Wikipedia
  3. 03
    Solomon Islands Parliament Building

    The Solomon Islands Parliament Building in Honiara is the seat of the National Parliament of Solomon Islands.

    200 m · National Parliament Building of the Solomon Islands · Wikipedia
  4. 04
    Guadalcanal American Memorial

    The Guadalcanal American Memorial is a World War II monument on Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands. Dedicated on August 7, 1992, it was established as a tribute to the Americans and their allies who lost their lives during the Guadalcanal Campaign from 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943.

    1.2 km · world War II monument in the Solomon Islands · Wikipedia
  5. 05
    Cathedral Church of St Barnabas, Honiara

    The St. Barnabas' Anglican Cathedral, Honiara is one of three Anglican cathedrals built in the Solomon Islands.

    2 km · cathedral in the Solomon Islands · Wikipedia
  6. 06
    National Library of Solomon Islands

    The National Library of Solomon Islands, sometimes Solomon Islands Public Library, was founded on June 26, 1974 and is located in Honiara, capital of the Solomon Islands. Its opening took place on July 17, 1980.

    1.1 km · public library in Solomon Islands · Wikipedia
  7. 07
    Solomon Islands National University

    The Solomon Islands National University was established in 2013 by the Government of the Solomon Islands.

    600 m · university of Solomon islands · Wikipedia
  8. 08
    National Archives of Solomon Islands

    The National Archives of Solomon Islands are located in Honiara. One of the functions of the National Archives of the Solomon Islands is to provide and maintain an access and reference service whereby the Government and the general public may have access to the archival materials held in its custody.

    200 m · building in Honiara, Solomon Islands · Wikipedia
  9. 09
    Honiara Solomon Islands College of Higher Education

    Honiara Solomon Islands College of Higher Education is a university in Honiara, Solomon Islands; apart from the University of the South Pacific, which has a satellite campus in the country. It is located in eastern Honiara, south of Honiara Golf Club, just to the southwest of King George VI National High School.

    600 m · university in Honiara, Solomon Islands · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

See

What Wikivoyage says to see

  1. 01
    Guadalcanal American Memorial
  2. 02
    National Museum
  3. 03
    Aola Bay
  4. 04
    Tenaru Falls

    60 m (200 ft) waterfall in the rain-forest.

  5. 05
    Matanikau River

    A 20.5 km river mouth in palm-fringed tropical forest.

From Wikivoyage: Honiara, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Do

Things to do

Take a guided trek to one of the waterfalls nearby, such as the beautiful Matanikau Falls, about a two-hour walk from the starting point a short bus-ride from the city centre. Check out a service at one of the many churches. South Seas Evangelical Church has an easily-found location next to the central markets and beautiful singing. Its main Sunday service is at 9:30am.

From Wikivoyage: Honiara, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Eat

Where to eat

There is surprising variety in Honiara with many restaurants catering to expats. This includes hotels listed below. There are a number of eateries near the museum, to its left if you are facing it from the main road. A range of lunch foods and drinks are on offer, including fish 'n' cassava chips and green (drinking) coconuts.

  1. 01
    The Taj Mahal

    Has good Indian and Sri Lankan food though a little pricey and only open at certain times of the day.

  2. 02
    Point Cruz Yacht Club

    The favoured hangout of expats in Honiara, the yacht club has a variety of simple and inexpensive meals available nightly.

From Wikivoyage: Honiara, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Go there

Getting to Honiara

Airports
Honiara (HIR), 11 km
  • Port Vila → Honiara
    1291 km · quickest by air, 6h 12m · $320–490
  • Port Moresby → Honiara
    1404 km · quickest by air, 6h 37m · $340–530
  • Lae → Honiara
    1490 km · quickest by air, 8h 19m · $340–520
  • From anywhere
    The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
    Plan a trip

Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

Not yet researched

No local-transport research exists yet for Honiara

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Honiara. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

The nearest places where the work is done
  1. 01
    K'gari (formerly Fraser Island)AU

    8 ways of moving, 31 sources

    1,897 km
  2. 02
    Kangaroo IslandAU

    9 ways of moving, 17 sources

    3,720 km
  3. 03
    Bruny IslandAU

    11 ways of moving, 24 sources

    3,962 km
  4. 04
    Milford Sound / PiopiotahiNZ

    8 ways of moving, 32 sources

    3,993 km
  5. 05
    WakatobiID

    12 ways of moving, 17 sources

    4,035 km

If you know how people move in Honiara – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.

Around it

Next door to Honiara

  • Chinatown, Honiarasuburb in Guadalcanal, Honiara Town, Solomon Islands1.4 km
  • Rove, Honiarasuburb in Guadalcanal, Honiara Town, Solomon Islands2.4 km
  • Kakabonasuburb in Guadalcanal, Honiara Town, Solomon Islands8.1 km
  • Tandaidistrict of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands4.6 km
  • Burns Creek, Honiarasuburb in Guadalcanal, Honiara Town, Solomon Islands7.6 km
  • Kokumbonavillage on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands4.5 km