My recommendation to you is to arrive at trail head early, spots filled very fast. We hiked first then did the Chain of Craters Road after. Excellent day.

I would suggest going to the volcano visitor center. There are park rangers that will answer all of your questions, and where the best place to go if you’re not interested in hiking. Also across from the visitor center is the volcano house. We stayed there one night and had a really good view of the glow. We took so many pictures. Seeing the actual lava lake is hit or miss when going on a hike. Hope this helps. Have a wonderful time!

No problems with heights, since I have the same fear. Most trails have plenty of land past the railing so you don't feel like you are looking straight down. Use your judgement & all will be good!

1 or 2....or, if you will be on the island for 10 days or longer, or if this is your #1 priority, or if you are dedicated hiker or naturalist, maybe 3. VNP is huge, with many hours worth of drives and hikes. Also, it will likely be sunny in the morning then start to rain the afternoon, so you may not have full days. With all that said, I spent one day, about 8 hrs, in the park and felt completely fulfilled. TOP SITES (IMO): 1) Kilauea Iki Trail - amazing hike through old crater, 2hr 2) Crater Rim Drive - incredible drive from visitor center down to ocean, through massive lava fields, 2-4hr 3) Halema’uma’u trail - beautiful hike through a rainforest down to the active Kilauea crater, 1.5hrs 4) Kikaeau overlook - this is the active volcano, you can also see the glow at night, 1hr—-This is my “best of” list and a good full day, you can see it adds up to 6-8hrs. If you feel like you will want to do more hiking than this, add another day. Hope this helps!

Hi - there is a lot to see at Volcanoes, and one of my favorite hikes is the Kilauea Iki Trail. It's fairly short at 4 miles, but involves some elevation. I walked it "clockwise" as you view the caldera, but think it may be easier to go "counter-clockwise". The reason I say that is the elevation paths are different - one is steps & the other is switchbacks through the jungle. The steps got pretty tiring going up & I thought the switchback would be a more enjoyable way to go up the 400 feet of elevation.

Definitely the visitors center. Take a short walk to the sulfur springs/steam vents and then head over to the crater rim. Drive down to some of the old lava flows - pretty spectacular.

Self drive.

Inn on the park Honolulu might be okay, not sure of your budget or how many nights, it is listed on booking, if that helps.