Hawaii Trip Planning Guide

More Than a Road, It's a Journey

There's a moment on every Hawaiian road where the rest of the world falls away. It might be when the scent of wild ginger and damp earth drifts through your window on the road to Hāna. Or when the sky opens up over the stark lava fields of Saddle Road, revealing a universe of stars. This is a different kind of driving.

A mainland road trip is often about conquering distance. About getting from point A to point B. Here in Hawaiʻi, the road itself is the destination. It's not a path you conquer. It's a story you enter.

This guide is your invitation to that story. The scenic drives of the Hawaiian Islands are more than just asphalt laid over volcanic rock. They are pilgrimages through living history, sacred landscapes (wahi pana), and vibrant communities that thrive in the shadow of giants. To drive here is to trace the footsteps of kings, to witness the creative fire of Pele, and to feel the deep, grounding pulse of the ʻāina (the land).

Planning Your Hawaiian Road Trip Adventure

Many guides will give you a list of stops. This one aims to give you a compass. We will explore the most breathtaking byways across Maui, the Big Island, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi. But we will do so through the lens of mālama ʻāina—the sacred duty to care for the land—and with aloha as our guide.