Hong Kong is a bustling city of skyscrapers with an incredible food scene and a surprisingly good coffee scene too. It is a metropolis of contrasts, the old mixed in with the new and a great place to get lost down one of the many streets to find some real street photography gems. Prior to the pandemic, Hong Kong welcomed 56 million visitors a year. In 2022 it was 605,000 which is a big drop. The Hong Kong tourism board offers deals and discounts for visitors so if you're planning to go check out their website.
The Hong Kong region consists of a peninsula and 236 islands, of which Hong Kong island itself is the best known. It can be divided into four parts: Hong Kong Island, Kowloon peninsula, New Territories and the Outlying Islands. Having been in Chinese, British and Japanese hands, it has always had an important geographically strategic location. Hong Kong was a British colony for 156 years until it transferred back to China as a Special Administrative Region (SAR). They called it one country, two systems.
Modern day Hong Kong is one of the biggest financial hubs, and also in the top 5 most visited countries in Asia. We will share with you how to make the most out of 3 days in Hong Kong and its surroundings!
Good to know:
Official languages: Chinese and English
Currency: Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)
Cash is king in Hong Kong. Bigger international chains and shops will typically accept credit card but the majority of places will only accept cash or the Octopus card.
The Octopus card is the public transport card used in Hong Kong, it can only be bought and topped up with cash. You will need 150 HKD, 50 for the card deposit and 100 as credit. The deposit (and remaining value) can be refunded upon return of the Octopus card.
Hong Kong's metro system (MTR) is a convenient way of travelling through the city and you can take it from the airport to Kowloon or Hong Kong Island.
It is one of the world's most expensive cities, from accommodation to food there aren't many budget friendly options.
Around 170 countries and territories have visa-free access to Hong Kong, making it an easy destination for most tourists.
Hong Kong has high humidity, when we were there in May there were days of 80-90% humidity.
How to get around:
MTR
Walk
Bus
Tram (only on HK Island)
Ferry
Taxi
Top sites to visit:
Victoria Harbour and Avenue of Stars
Victoria Peak
Museum M+
Man Mo temple
Day trip to Macao from Hong Kong
Day 1: Victoria Peak & Hong Kong Island
Victoria Peak is one of the top sites to see in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is in the top 5 most densely populated countries/territories in the world, so Victoria Peak can give you a nice break from the crowds. Just start early as it's a popular place to visit. The Peak Tram is the fastest way up and it is a funicular railway. It is 148 HKD return per person (16.90 EUR). There are a couple of hikes you can do but we did the loop as it's well paved and opens up into beautiful views on the skyline of Hong Kong. It's a welcome bit of nature in the otherwise quite built up and industrial looking city.
As Victoria Peak is on Hong Kong Island, it is a good opportunity to explore the area after visiting the peak. On your way back you can pass by Hong Kong Park, they have water running through the park with turtles in it, lots of greenery and flowers and it's a surprisingly calm place in the middle of the city. Then walk towards Man Mo temple to see a temple from the 1800s surrounded by high rise buildings. If you're into street photography, the walk from Man Mo temple towards the Wan Chai district will give you plenty to see. The Wan Chai district is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Hong Kong, it has casual eateries, traditional family owned shops and heritage buildings. If you prefer to take public transport we can recommend taking the double decker trams. They stop at every stop so there are no buttons to indicate when you want to get off, you just need to keep track of it and the fare is 3 HKD (0.30 EUR).
Depending on where you're staying, it could be a good opportunity to take the "Star Ferry" across from Hong Kong Island to Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) on the Kowloon peninsula. You can pay for it using the Octopus card (transportation card) and depending on whether you go during the week or in the weekend the price varies from (0.45 to 0.64 EUR).
Day 2: Kowloon peninsula
Start your day at the global museum of visual culture M+. It is a modern art museum with numerous exhibitions and a beautiful rooftop garden. We enjoyed the Hong Kong: Here and Beyond exhibition as it displayed Hong Kong's history through the eyes of many artists.
Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) is one of the busiest districts on Kowloon peninsula and it's full of shops, malls, restaurants and bars. In the evening, stroll along the Avenue of Stars where you will find the infamous statue of Bruce Lee and have a view on Victoria Harbour with the iconic red sail boats sailing in the distance (also known as junk boats or Aqua Luna). At 20:00 every evening on the TST promenade, there is a laser show called the "Symphony of Lights" which lasts 15 minutes. Honest opinion: the show itself is a bit underwhelming so if you miss it, don't worry. The harbour is colourfully lit even outside of the show and definitely worth seeing at night.
Where to stay:
We will not be recommending our stay in the Chungking mansions. When something is referred to as a mansion in Hong Kong, it usually means a huge apartment complex. It was too chaotic and busy. We did not want to imagine what would happen if the entire complex would need to be evacuated.
Although we were lucky that our guesthouse was very clean, there was nothing positive to share about the ground floor and the elevator situation. It did give us a little peek into the reality of living in Hong Kong which is that space is expensive. With it being in the top 5 most densely populated countries/territories in the world, the average living space per person is about 14 m2 (151 sq feet).
We preferred Hong Kong Island a bit more so if you can afford to stay there, we would recommend it. However, Kowloon does have more budget friendly options. Wherever you end up staying, if you're travelling on a budget just make sure you lower your expectations. If you're able to book an Airbnb in advance, this could also be a good option.
For the foodies:
Food in Hong Kong can quickly add up as it’s quite pricey. The Michelin guide went to town in Hong Kong, so you will find that there are lots of places that have been mentioned in there. It truly is an Asian foodie heaven! To keep the costs down, we had breakfast in our accommodation. Our supermarket recommendations: Don Don Donki and Market Place by Jasons.
Breakfast/coffee
Arabica (there are multiple branches in Hong Kong. We first got acquainted with Arabica in Kyoto and we have been following them everywhere around the world, having tried it in Muscat, Dubai and now also Hong Kong)
Fineprint (for great coffee, they also helped us charge our camera when it suddenly decided to give up on us at the start of the day)
Lunch/snacks
Chukfo Taipan Restaurant (for authentic Hong Kong style BBQ)
Cheung Hing Kee Shanghai Pan-fried Buns
Yee Shun Milk Company (for their milk pudding, we recommend the ginger milk flavour and the coffee flavour)
Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel in Harbour City (Qiao-An first visited a Dominique Ansel in London and loves their pastries and desserts. In Hong Kong the chestnut madeleines really stood out, they were amazing)
Owl's Choux.Gelato.Coffee (the creme brûlée choux is amazing, good to know is that it's only takeaway)
Via Tokyo (for an afternoon treat made in matcha heaven)
Dinner
Tim Ho Wan (there are multiple branches all over HK but it's famous for being opened by a chef who used to work for a three michelin star restaurant. When he opened Tim Ho Wan, he earned one michelin star and it was often called the most affordable michelin star restaurant in the world. The branch we went to wasn't fancy, just a no frills great dim sum establishment. Their crunchy char sieuw buns are a must try!)
Din Tai Fung (the first time we went to a Din Tai Fung was in Taiwan and it is hands down our favourite soup dumpling restaurant)
Ichiran (we first went to Ichiran in Osaka and loved the place, so we couldn’t resist trying the HK branch)
Kikanbo (another great ramen place originally from Japan. Their rich tasting broth contains red peppers “kara” and fragrant numbing oil “shibi” of which you can determine the spice level yourself)
Day 3: Day trip to Macao
Macao also has a rich history of being a trading port. As early as the fifth century it was a stop-off point for merchants travelling between South East Asia and Guangzhou. The first settlers were fisherman and farmers from the Fujian and Guangdong regions.
In 1557 the Portuguese reached what was then called Ou Mun, which the locals also called A Ma Gao in honour of the Goddess of Seafarers (for whom a temple was built). The Portuguese adopted the name which gradually changed into Macao. The Portuguese signed a land lease with China and established a city that within a short time had become a major trading port between China, Japan, India and Europe.
Macao was transferred back to China in 1999 and also like Hong Kong, became a SAR. Modern day Macao is best known for being Asia's Las Vegas. It is the only place in China where gambling is legal. Gambling was legalised under Portuguese rule in the 1850s and nowadays gambling tourism is Macao's biggest source of revenue.
So what is there to do in Macao except for visiting casino's?
Since Macao was 400 years under Portuguese rule, there is a unique mix of Portuguese and Chinese architecture and (food) culture. It is an easy day trip from Hong Kong as the distance is only about 60km (in a straight line) and you have two options to travel there. You can get there by ferry or by bus. Since 2009, it is possible to cross by the bridge-tunnel system connecting Hong Kong and Macao. It is the world's longest fixed sea crossing.
It does not really matter whether you take the bus or ferry as the duration to get to Macao is approximately the same. The direct bus takes about 1,5 hours and the ferry takes 1 hour. Prices were also similar so for us the most important factor was the time table. One way tickets is around 160 HKD (18.25 EUR) per person. The ferry was more convenient in our case so that's the option we took. We went with Turbojet which goes from Hong Kong Sheung Wan to Macao Outer Ferry Terminal. There is also an option with Cotai Water Jet which brings you to the Macao Taipa Ferry Terminal instead.
Depending on how long you're planning to stay and what you want to see you could choose the company that brings you to the more convenient terminal. If you want to see some of the Portuguese architecture, you will need to visit the Macao pensinsula. If you want to have some of the best Portuguese influenced food, Taipa is the place to be. This is also where the casino's are based. Our experience is that you will want to spend time both on the Macao peninsula as Taipa which means you will be visiting both regions and will need to think of a form of transport between the two. We skipped the panda pavilion and A-Ma temple as we were running out of time.
Macao Peninsula
We arrived at the outer ferry terminal so it made sense to start with the Macao Peninsula. We did a tour of Senado Square, St. Dominic's Church and the ruins of St. Pauls. When walking through the streets, you will see lots of nods to Portuguese architecture. The Portuguese style tiles, the street signs in both Chinese and Portuguese and countless shops selling egg custard tarts. However, try to wait until you go to Taipa to get yourself some of these treats.
Taipa
Even if you're not into casino's, if there is one you should consider visiting whilst in Macao it's The Venetian. It's the second largest casino of the world at 39 floors and a size equivalent to 56 football fields. What was quite impressive was the canals built inside the casino complex that resemble Venice with actual gondola's and gondoliers. The Venetian also has a hotel, shops and restaurants so if you're not into gambling there is still plenty to do and see. Is it better than the real deal in Italy? Of course not but nevertheless funny to see a replica and if you're in the area you should go and have a look for yourself!
For food, make sure to walk down Rua do Cunha. It is a bustling food hub and the place to be for street snacks. It is advised to come early and to be prepared to queue up around lunch time.
We had a bit of an adventure trying to get back to the Macao Peninsula to catch our ferry. Basically our bus didn't show up on time so we got back with a combination of another bus and a taxi. Taxi's are pretty cheap in Macao and they are metered. Lesson learned: go back earlier than planned!
Good to know:
Official languages: Chinese and Portuguese (however, it is estimated that only 2.3% of the population speaks Portuguese)
Currency: Macanese Pataca (MOP) but they will also accept HKD (typically 1:1)
Macao is the most densely populated country/territory in the world (more than 3 times more densely populated than Hong Kong)
Cash is king, the best thing to do is find an ATM when you arrive in Macao.
Macao has their own transportation card (the octopus card from Hong Kong will not work) but if you're only planning on staying a day, you can pay by cash in buses. Just make sure you have exact as they don't provide change.
Macao is made up of the Macao Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane.
Bring your passport and check visa requirements. 81 countries are visa exempt.
Depending on which form of transport you take to Macao your drop off-point will be different. Just make sure you know where it is so you can make the most logical route for yourself.
If you take the ferry to go to Macao, immigration on both sides are efficient. Once you get to the waiting area there are typically people queueing up at a desk where an employee will assign you seats.
Top sites to visit:
Ruins of St. Paul's
Senado Square
St. Dominic's Church
The Venetian Macao
A-Ma Temple
If you have time to go to Coloane:
Macao Giant Panda Pavilion
How to get around:
Bus
Walk
Taxi
For the foodies:
Since we were only there for one day, we made it our mission to try as many Portuguese influenced food items as we could! The first two places in our list are also mentioned in the Michelin Guide. Due to their popularity, many reviews warn for long queues but we found that if you come before lunch time there weren't any queues.
Lunch/snacks
Lord Stow's Bakery Taipa (disclaimer: they do taste different to the Portuguese pasteis de nata, however these are quite possibly the closest thing you'll get to freshly baked egg custard tarts in Asia. They were delightful and absolutely worth a try. The original bakery is in Coloane village).
Pastelaria Fong Kei (for their almond cookies, we recommend eating these with tea or coffee as they are quite dry. The first bite left us confused as to why these were worth mentioning but as we ate more of them we understood. They're a great snack for the ferry ride back to Hong Kong)
Sei Kee Café (this place is famous for their pork chop buns which reminded us of the Portuguese bifana. The pork chops at Sei Kee are deep fried and if you want to treat yourself you can go for the option with egg which is a super soft omelette. Be prepared to queue around lunch time, and they only announce the order numbers in Chinese)
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