A friend from Honolulu told me that Hilo is like old Honolulu and the first place you will probably want to visit is the Hilo Farmer’s Market. In my mind, there’s no better place to get a feel for a city than to see what the locals grow and create. I wrote a post solely on my trip there and for Wilson’s by the Bay Shave Ice (the Hilo locals call it Ice Shave).
I could actually write posts about each restaurant and shop I visited but we would both would be here forever so instead here’s a quick roundup.
Be sure to walk around Liliuokalani Park — it’s absolutely peaceful.
If you plan on visiting a lot of museums get the Big Island museum discount pass to save up to 50%.
I popped into the Tsunami museum since Hilo has been hit hard twice by them not including some flooding from last year’s earthquake in Japan. It’s worth a visit.
I really enjoyed the Basically Books bookstore which sells all kinds of Hawaiian books, maps and souvenirs. On their website they created a top 20 list for visiting Hilo — it’s worth following.
Extreme Exposure sells fantastic Hawaiian photos.
I had a fun lunch at Puka Puka Kitchen where locals grab one of their Bento Boxes to go.
To give you an idea how old school Hilo is I went into a shop to buy two postcards for 25 cents each and handed the cashier a five dollar bill. She asked if I had something smaller but I didn’t so a local woman behind me said, “it’s okay I will cover it.”
Breakfast in Hilo
Looking for a place to eat breakfast in Hilo? Here are two fine choices:
