Glass office towers rise over Bishop Street behind low government buildings with columned porticos, and the district ends at a working harbor.
What Downtown Honolulu looks like
Bishop Street runs through the Central Business District under glass and steel office towers, among them and . Fort Street Mall, a block over, is a pedestrian spine with the same towers rising behind it.
A few blocks south the Capitol District holds low government buildings behind lawns and columned porticos. faces South King Street in Italian Renaissance Revival stone, brick and stucco, its clock tower rising over a bronze statue of King Kamehameha I set in a Roman general's stance. stands on the next block, two storeys of brick under concrete facing. Four corner towers and two more at the center carry double lanais wrapped around both floors.
Merchant Street holds the oldest commercial buildings in the district, two to five storeys of coral block, cast concrete block and brick finished in white stucco or bare stone. The 's arched windows and brick pilasters sit under a plain stucco skin on the corner, and the Bishop Estate Building next door at 71 Merchant Street shows its original dark lava stone face.
Honolulu Harbor runs along the district's southern edge, with downtown's piers facing the clock tower and lighthouse of . Chinatown's storefronts fill the blocks between Nuʻuanu Stream and Nuʻuanu Avenue.
Shot in Downtown Honolulu
Hawaii Five-0 made Aliʻiōlani Hale into the fictional Five-0 headquarters for its entire run, filming the exterior across South King Street from the real Iolani Palace the show names it after. Magnum P.I. has closed the same blocks for street work, most recently a car sequence through the Bishop Street financial district.
Hawaii Five-0
Aliʻiōlani Hale, called Iolani Palace in the show, stands in for the task force headquarters across South King Street from the real Iolani Palace.
Hawaii Five-0, 2010
Aliʻiōlani Hale
Played the Five-0 task force headquarters, present day
The 1874 government building's exterior has stood in as the Five-0 task force headquarters since the series premiered, with the show referring to it on screen as Iolani Palace even though the real Iolani Palace is the next building over. The bronze Kamehameha I statue facing South King Street appears in the same shot every week. Street View
Magnum P.I., 2018
For a March 2023 episode, the production closed this intersection to film Thomas Magnum's red Ferrari 488 Spider driving through downtown, with the crew also working along Merchant Street nearby. Police held traffic at both corners while extras and downtown office workers waited near the production's equipment cart. Street View
What Downtown Honolulu can double for
Suva, Fiji
Suva's Victoria Parade pairs the colonial Government Buildings with the Reserve Bank of Fiji's tower and newer office blocks a few streets over, the same mix of colonial civic architecture and high rise towers that Bishop Street and the Capitol District make here. Fiji's towers are shorter and fewer than Bishop Street's, so a wide shot needs a long lens to compress the two together. Suva's harbor serves cargo ships rather than cruise liners. Try searching colonial government building tower now.
Hagåtña, Guam
Hagåtña's Plaza de España sits beside the Government House and the Guam Congress Building, Spanish colonial walls and an arched gate a few steps from the island's working government quarter. Hagåtña has no high rise towers at all, so only a tight frame on the colonial walls and government buildings holds the match, not a wide shot that would include Bishop Street's skyline. Try searching colonial government plaza walls now.
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