Hawaii, USA

How to Get to Hawaii from the UK

Planning your trip to Hawaii may seem impossible – a tropical island paradise on the other side of the world from our cloudy, grey island; the UK. It can be overwhelming figuring out where to start. Especially as there are no direct flights to Hawaii from the UK, you have to take a connecting flight. After spending a month in Hawaii, I’ve put together this guide. It will explain everything you need to know about travelling to Hawaii from the UK. That includes visas and entry requirements, how to get there, how long to spend there and more!

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Entry Requirements

To travel to Hawaii from the UK, you must have prior authorisation to enter the US in the form of a visa, resident card or via the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). So long as you’re a permanent British citizen and have an electronic passport (ePassport), you should be able to travel under the VWP. The VWP is a great option for citizens from participating countries. It allows you to enter the US for tourism or business for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. The application is done online through the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA). This is an online system operated by US Customs and Border Protection.

Applying for an ESTA

Your ESTA must be approved before you travel to the US. An ESTA is required even if you’re just changing flights in the US to travel elsewhere. You must apply for the ESTA at least 72 hours before departure, but the earlier the better. If your ESTA application is rejected you’ll have to apply for a regular visa. This involves booking an in-person appointment and takes much longer than an ESTA. An ESTA application costs $14 (approx. £10). Once approved, your ESTA remains valid for 2 years, unless you get a new passport or change details.

Information for international visitors to the US can be found on the Department of Homeland Security website here.

Read more about the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) here.

Once you have read all of the information in the pages above, click here to apply for an ESTA.

Routes to Hawaii

There are currently no direct flight routes to Hawaii from the UK. All possible routes involve changing at least once, but there are a number of options. One of the most popular routes to Hawaii is via the US. There are flights departing to Hawaii from most major US cities. The California airports are usually the cheapest options, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other US airports with connecting flights to Hawaii include Dallas, Atlanta and Seattle.

Journey Times

  • London to California – approx. 11 hours
  • California to Hawaii – approx. 5 hours 40 mins

Another potential route to Hawaii is via Asia. There are direct flights to Hawaii from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, and China. You can also reach Hawaii from Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, and from Auckland in New Zealand. Travelling via the US is by far the fastest, and usually the cheapest, route to Hawaii from the UK. However, you may consider one of these longer routes if you want to stop off and explore other destinations during your trip.

Time Difference and Jet Lag

All of the Hawaiian Islands are in the Hawaii–Aleutian Standard Time (HST) timezone. The time difference between the UK and Hawaii is 10 hours, Hawaii being 10 hours behind UK time. This is quite a significant time difference to adjust to, meaning jet lag is very likely. If possible, you may want to factor some time to deal with jet lag into the length of your trip. This could avoid you wasting the first few days of your trip due to tiredness.

Alternatively, stopping off at a destination on the way to Hawaii can help to reduce the severity of the time difference. For example, spending some time in the destination of your connecting flight, such as California (which is what we did). During our first 1-2 days in San Francisco, we struggled because of the 8 hour time difference. However, when we flew to Hawaii a week later, the extra 2 hour time difference wasn’t an issue at all, as we had already adjusted in California.

Best Time to Visit Hawaii

The best time of year to visit Hawaii is typically considered to be between May and September. These are the months with the warmest weather and least amount of rainfall on the islands. However, the Hawaiian Islands are tropical, so some rain is to be expected all year round. Even if there are rainy showers, they don’t tend to last for the whole day. If it’s raining on one side of the island, quite often the weather on the other side will be lovely and sunny!

The cheapest time to visit Hawaii is usually during the winter months, or at the very start and end of the ‘peak’ season (March, April, and September). There are also much fewer tourists in Hawaii during these months, so tourist attractions tend to be much quieter. The temperature doesn’t drop much even during the winter months in Hawaii. This makes it an incredible holiday destination all year round.

How Long to Spend in Hawaii

Deciding where to allocate your time is a challenge in a destination like Hawaii, as there’s just so much to do! How long you spend in Hawaii will of course depend on how much time you have available for your holiday. Another thing to be decided is how many islands you’re going to visit. In my opinion, this depends on what kind of holiday you prefer. Hawaii is a gorgeous tropical destination where many people go to enjoy a laid-back resort or beach holiday. If this is your style, you could easily spend your time on just 1 island and not get bored. But Hawaii is also a place packed with activities and experiences for the more adventurous traveler. If this is your case, you’ll want to visit more than just one island.

How Many Islands to Visit

There are 8 main Hawaiian Islands, 7 of which are inhabited. Of these 7, the most popular ones among visitors to Hawaii are Oahu, Kauai, the Big Island and Maui. Many people make the mistake in thinking all of the Hawaiian Islands are the same. However, this is not the case at a ll. Each island is unique from the rest, with different things on offer which make it so special.

I personally recommend staying for at least 1 week on each island. This is enough time to fully explore, see the highlights, do some activities, and also enjoy some down time. All of the islands are incredible, but trying to visit too many in a short timeframe will probably mean not properly enjoying any of them. In my opinion, a few days simply isn’t enough time to see all of what the islands have to offer. Although the islands are close together, time spent waiting for inter-island flights is time for enjoying the holiday lost. Keep in mind, airport commutes, waiting for flights and checking into accommodation multiple times is all time wasted if you’re on a relatively short holiday. Going to Hawaii from the UK is also a huge distance to travel. This means adding at least 1 day of travel onto the beginning and end of your trip. I spent 4 weeks in Hawaii, visiting the 4 main islands; Oahu, Kauai, the Big Island and Maui. To find out more about the breakdown of the trip, read the full blog post here: How to Travel 4 Islands in 4 Weeks

Inter-Island Travel

As I mentioned above, the majority of flights to Hawaii fly into Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) on the island of Oahu. From there you’ll need to take an inter-island flight to reach any of the other Hawaiian Islands. Flights from Oahu to each of the other Hawaiian Islands take approximately 40 minutes, though actual air-time is usually less. Alternatively, there are some direct flights from California’s airports such as Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO) to the Big Island and to Maui.

Whichever island you land on, visiting any of the other islands will require you taking a connecting flight. Travel between the islands is quick, easy and flights tend to be very affordable. The longest inter-island flight is from Kauai to the Big Island, which takes around 45 minutes. There are currently three airlines offering inter-island travel; Hawaiian Airlines, Mokulele Airlines, and Southwest Airlines.

Multiple Airports

It’s also worth noting that some of the islands have more than one airport. The Big Island has two airports; Kona (KOA) on the west of the island and HILO (ITO) on the east of the island. Maui also has several airports, the main one being Kahului Airport (OGG). There’s also Kapalua Airport (JHM) in West Maui and Hana Airport (HNM) in East Maui, which are both much smaller. This is something to take into consideration when doing price comparison between flights.

I hope this guide to travelling to Hawaii from the UK comes in handy with planning your trip. Thanks for reading! If you’re interested, check out my other Hawaii blog posts below: