The most spectacular moment of a tour of Oahu comes as you cross the Koolau Mountains on the Pali Highway (Hwy-61) to see the sheer green cliffs of the windward side of the island, veiled by swirling mists. The highest spot, just four miles out of Honolulu heading northeast, is the Nuuanu Pali Lookout . Kamehameha the Great finalized his conquest of Oahu here in 1795, forcing hundreds of enemy warriors over the edge of the cliffs; Mark Twain saw the battlefield seventy years later, littered with skulls.

The wide highway is barely adequate for its role as a major commuter thoroughfare connecting Honolulu with Kailua and Kaneohe . Apart from the Japanese Buddhist Byodo-In Temple , in a spectacular setting against the mountains off Hwy-83 (daily 8.30am-4.30pm; $2), there's little worth seeing. The best way to get a close-up view of the inaccessible inland cliffs is on the attractive hiking trails in Kahana Valley State Park (no opening hours or fee), a dozen miles short of the island's northernmost tip.

Oahu's leading paying attraction, with one million annual visitors, is the Polynesian Cultural Center , slightly further north at Laie (Mon-Sat 12.30-9pm; $27). This haphazard mixture of real and bogus Polynesia - in which the history is firmly on the latter - is owned by the Mormons, and staffed by students from the adjacent Brigham Young University, who perform tired music and dance routines. TheBus #52 takes roughly two hours to get this far.

Windward Oahu

• Windward Oahu

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