Hong Kong Itineraries

Sleep in Central or Sheung Wan so the Peak Tram, the trams and the Central Ferry Piers are all walkable. Day one is Hong Kong Island; day two crosses the harbour to Kowloon.

The Peak Tram queue at the Garden Road terminus reaches an hour by mid-morning on weekends, so be there at opening or buy a timed ticket online. Go up by tram and down on bus 15 (to Central Pier) or the green minibus 1 (to Hong Kong station), which are cheaper and quicker than the descending queue. The Sky Terrace 428 viewing deck costs extra; the free deck on top of the Peak Galleria and the Lugard Road walk give almost the same view. In the afternoon, the 800-metre Central to Mid-Levels escalator runs downhill until 10am and uphill after, so walk Hollywood Road west to Man Mo Temple and Sheung Wan rather than climbing.

Day two belongs to the harbour. The Star Ferry is the cheapest great boat ride in the world, and the Tsim Sha Tsui side has the skyline view of Hong Kong Island. The Museum of Art and the Cultural Centre sit on the waterfront; M+ and the Palace Museum in West Kowloon are a 20-minute walk west if you prefer modern design or imperial treasures. Kowloon’s temples are an MTR ride north: Chi Lin Nunnery and its Nan Lian Garden at Diamond Hill are free and quiet, Wong Tai Sin, one stop away, is free, busy and full of incense and fortune sticks. Back south, the 10-minute light and laser show starts at 8pm nightly.

Cost: about HK$110 for the tram, HK$50 in MTR and ferry fares, HK$200-400 a day on local meals and HK$150-250 for a drink. Two mid-range days with a HK$1,200 hotel room run about HK$4,000 ($510) for one person.

Keep days one and two, and give day three to Lantau Island. It is the biggest island in Hong Kong and the airport’s home, so you can also fold this day into an arrival or departure if you leave bags at the airport or your hotel.

The cable car opens at 10am on weekdays and 9am at weekends and holidays; arrive at opening or the ticket line at Tung Chung runs 45 minutes, and check the website for maintenance closures, which happen for a week or two most years. When it is shut, bus 23 from Tung Chung climbs the same hill in 45 minutes for a fraction of the price. The Big Buddha is free; the 268 steps take ten minutes and the view over the South China Sea is the reward.

Tai O is the afternoon’s slow half. Walk the stilt-house lanes along the creek, buy dried scallops or a bag of shrimp crackers, and take one of the small boats from the bridge that loop out to the estuary where Chinese white dolphins sometimes surface (sightings are not guaranteed and have dropped since the bridge to Macau was built). For a different route home, bus 1 runs from Tai O along the south coast past Pui O’s water buffalo to Mui Wo, where the ferry reaches Central in 40-55 minutes.

Cost: add about HK$450-550 for day three with the standard cabin and a monastery lunch. Three mid-range days come to around HK$6,000-7,000 ($770-900).

Five days lets you see Hong Kong as the people who live there do: a ridge hike above the sea, an island lunch, and a day across the water in Macau. Keep the three days above; days four and five can swap order depending on weather and the day of the week. Avoid Macau at weekends and on public holidays, when ferries sell out and the old town is shoulder to shoulder.

Dragon’s Back is the most popular hike in the city because it is short, well signed and finishes at a beach. Start at To Tei Wan, climb 30 minutes through scrub to the ridge, and follow it south with Shek O and the South China Sea below; the rest of the trail drops through woodland to Big Wave Bay, where surfers and a row of beach cafes wait. Bring 1.5 litres of water, go early from May to September, and expect queues for bus 9 on Sunday mornings. A taxi from Big Wave Bay back to Shau Kei Wan MTR costs about HK$80-100.

For Macau, take your passport: it is a separate territory with its own immigration check and its own currency, the pataca, although Hong Kong dollars are accepted almost everywhere at par. Ferries from Sheung Wan run every 15-30 minutes in the day and arrive at the Outer Harbour terminal, 15 minutes by free casino shuttle bus or taxi from Senado Square. The bridge route suits people staying in Kowloon or on Lantau: Tung Chung Line to Tung Chung, bus B6 to the HZMB Hong Kong Port, then the 24-hour shuttle bus. Walk Senado Square up to St Paul’s and Monte Fort in the morning, eat minchi or African chicken in Taipa village at lunch, and see the Cotai Strip’s resorts after dark before the last ferries back.

Cost: five mid-range days come to about HK$10,000-12,000 ($1,300-1,550) per person including a HK$1,200 hotel room; the hike day is the cheapest of the trip.

Hong Kong has more country park than city: 40 percent of the territory is protected, and the MTR reaches most trailheads. This plan suits travellers who have seen the skyline before, or who would rather spend their days on ridges and ferries than in malls. Base yourself in Central or Wan Chai for the outlying-island ferries, which all leave from the Central Ferry Piers.

Lamma is the easy day and the best introduction to island life: no cars, a hippie-era village at Yung Shue Wan, and a concrete trail over the hill past Hung Shing Yeh beach to the fish restaurants of Sok Kwu Wan, where you can catch a ferry straight back to Central. Lantau is the hard one; Lantau Peak’s stone steps from Ngong Ping take 1.5-2 hours up and the sunrise climb is a local ritual. Sai Kung is the wild one: the East Dam of the High Island Reservoir sits in the UNESCO Global Geopark, reached by taxi from Sai Kung Town or bus 94 to Pak Tam Chung and a long walk, and the beaches of Tai Long Wan beyond need a full day and a ferry or taxi plan to get out. Cheung Chau and Peng Chau make good substitutes for Lamma, with ferries from Central Piers 5 and 6.

First-timers: follow the two-day plan as written; the Peak in the morning and the Star Ferry the next day give you the harbour’s geography, and everything else hangs off the Island and Tsuen Wan lines. Stay on Hong Kong Island for a first visit; see where to stay in Hong Kong for the area-by-area comparison.

Families with children: swap a temple for Ocean Park (South Island Line to Ocean Park station) or Hong Kong Disneyland (Disneyland Resort Line from Sunny Bay), add the free Zoological and Botanical Gardens above Central and the Science Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui East, and ride the tram’s top deck. Strollers struggle on the Peak trails and island steps; a carrier works better.

Rain, heat and typhoons: summer from June to September brings 31-33°C (88-91°F), afternoon storms and typhoons. When the Observatory hoists Signal No. 8 or a Black Rainstorm warning, ferries stop, the cable car closes and most shops shut until it lowers. Keep a flexible day for Lantau and the islands, and have the museums, Kowloon’s malls and a long dim sum lunch ready as the backup.

On a budget: sleep in a Tsim Sha Tsui or Mong Kok guesthouse, eat in cha chaan tengs and noodle shops (HK$40-70 a meal; see the Hong Kong food guide), take the bus down from the Peak, use bus 23 instead of the cable car on Lantau, and spend more days hiking, which is free. Two days then cost under HK$1,000 in total beyond the bed.

Slow travel and onward trips: the high-speed rail from West Kowloon station reaches Shenzhen in 15-20 minutes and Guangzhou in under an hour, and the East Rail Line runs to the Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau borders for Shenzhen. Check the mainland China entry rules for your passport before booking; many nationalities now qualify for visa-free or transit stays.