A trip to Hong Kong? I can help you planning your visit in order to discover the essential of the city in 3 days: Kowloon, Hong Kong Island and Lantau Island.
ITINERARY - HONG KONG & MACAU: here is the full itinerary for a tour of these 2 cities.
Visiting Hong Kong is pretty easy thanks to the public transportation network which is very well developed and that connects the 2 main islands and the peninsula together. I recommend spending one day per island and one day for the peninsula. That’s why 3 days is the minimum time you need to stay, in order to visit the city. Staying longer will allow you to go shopping or to go having fun in a theme park (Disneyland or Ocean Park).
With that being said, let’s go to see the details of the schedule:
Day 1: Kowloon
Tip: you can also click on the link down below from your smartphone, to open the itinerary to follow on google maps:
« Kowloon » walking tour
To start your first day in Hong Kong, you can go to visit the Museum of History. It’s the most beautiful museum in the city and the admission is free. Over there you will be able to discover the terrestrial origins of the city, the fauna and flora and the cultural aspects.
Tip: To get there, take the subway and get off at « Hung Hom » station (exit D). Then cross the underground bridge and when you’ve reached the end of it, turn left. You should be able to see the museum from the bridge, but be careful, the entrance is located behind the building (in the photo, follow the path along the brick wall to get there). Then to enter the museum, you’ll need to climb a huge escalator.
After visiting the museum, go to « East Tsim Sha Tsui » MTR station (exit J). For this, you can either take the MRT or you can also walk down Chatham Road which is the street facing the museum, and you’ll arrive at the pier. From there you can stroll along the Avenue of Stars, take some pictures with the Clock Tower and enjoy the view of Hong Kong Island.
After lunch, I suggest walking down Nathan Road which is one of the most important streets in the city. This street is located right next to the Peninsula Hotel. Walking down this street will allow you to notice the contrast between the luxury shops located on the ground floor and buildings located above. Once at « Jordan » MTR station, turn left on Jordan Road and take the third street on the right: Temple Street, where you can stroll in the popular market. Over there you will be able to find all sort of trinkets going from the simple souvenir to small electronic gadgets.
Then, you can go to « Mong Kok » MTR station. To do so, you have 2 options:
- taking the subway (exit D3): when leaving the station by the stairs, go to the intersection located just behind you. Then turn right without crossing the street and take the first street on the right (Tung Choi Street).
- going there on foot from Nathan Road: when at the corner of Dundas Street, turn right and then take the second street on the left (Tung Choi Street).
Once in Tung Choi Street, you should see the Ladies Market. There you’ll find the same goods than in the Temple Street Market. This one is just bigger.
Tip: I recommend walking through the whole market before buying anything, otherwise you may find the item cheaper on a stall located a bit further. And always remember to bargain especially if you are buying multiple items from the same seller.
Day 2: Hong Kong Island
Tip: there are two ways to get to Hong Kong Island from Kowloon:
- Subway: you can either take the red line or the yellow line.
- Star Ferry: in Kowloon, go to the pier located close to the Clock Tower and in Hong Kong Island, take the overpass at « Central » station. Then you’ll just have to choose between the « upper deck » and the « lower deck ». You won’t need to buy tickets, simply use your Octopus card (if you don’t know what the Octopus card is, go to the end of the post).
Subway is more convenient but Star Ferry is way more fun!
Tip: you can also click on the link down below from your smartphone, to open the itinerary to follow on google maps:
« Hong Kong Island » walking tour
For the second day, direction Hong Kong Island ! Start by visiting « Victoria Peak », it’s a hill from where you can have an amazing view of the island. To go uphill, you’ll need to take the « cable car » called tram, but there may be a lot of people already queuing. In September, I’ve queued for about 1 hour.
To get there, get off at « Central » MTR station (exit F2) and follow the arrows (you can also take the Star Ferry which also take you to « Central » station). Then go in line and once you’ve reached the ticket booth, it will be time to buy a ticket:
- if you just want to take the tram to go uphill: you won’t need to buy a ticket because you can use your Octopus card. Just make sure you have enough money on it, the return ticket costs HK$45.
- if you want to take a pass that contains several attractions in addition to the tram ticket: it will costs HK$88 and you’ll be able to enter museums and points of view located on top of the hill.
The tram ride is for sure the most interesting part because you’ll see that once up there, there’s not much things to do. There is just a big mall and on some floors, you’ll be able to go out on a terrace to enjoy the view.
After lunch, it will be time to go to visit some districts of the Hong Kong Island, like Wan Chai and Causeway Bay in order to go shopping. Also take the opportunity to take the tram to go from place to place. It’s nice and really cheap (about HK$2 to HK$3 whatever the distance). And don’t worry about directions because in the centre of the island, all trams follow the same route. Just try to find out if they go toward Central or to the opposite direction.
For the evening, you can go to Lan Kwai Fong district located close to « Central » station.
Day 3: Lantau Island
For your last day in Hong Kong, you can’t miss the visit to the Great Buddha located on Lantau Island. Getting there is simple, just take the MTR and get off at « Tung Chung » station (exit B).
Tip: I don’t recommend taking the boat to go to Tung Chung as some recommend because it’s not very convenient and the trip is very long.
Then you’ll have 2 options in order to go to see the Great Buddha:
- cable car: which is as expensive as impressive (single trip: HK$130 and round trip: HK$185, add HK$50 for a clear cab). To get there, just follow the arrows when leaving the MTR station.
- bus: which is really cheap (about HK$10). To take it, just follow the same direction as if you wanted to take the cable car, but before taking the escalator, turn right and then you’ll see a kind of large bus station. Take the bus No. 23 that goes to Po Lin.
Once on the top, you’ll walk through the Ngong Ping Village which is made of shops and restaurants. Then simply follow the direction of the Buddha which can be seen from afar. You’ll pass through large doors and will see many statues before arriving to the Great Buddha. And just so you know, there are lot of steps to climb before being able to see it closely. In addition, on top of the hill, where the Buddha stands, there are many things to visit, including temples where you can have lunch.
Once you’ve finished visiting Po Lin, you can go to Tai O, the fishermen village. To do so, get back to the Ngong Ping Village and the inside of it, on the side you will be able to see a kind of bus stop. Take the bus No. 21 and once arrived you can walk into the village which is really interesting and you can also stroll among the many dried fish markets. You can even go until the Heritage Hotel. And to go back to Tung Chung, take the bus No. 11.
Tips
Airport
It is very easy to reach Kowloon, Hong Kong Island or even Lantau Island from the Airport, because it’s directly connected to all these places via the subway (Airport Express line).
But of course, it is also possible to take the bus or the taxi.
Octopus Card
The public transportation in Hong Kong is well developed: metro, bus, tram, ferry. In order to take all these means of transportation, you’ll need an Octopus card! It’s a card where you put money on, and the fare of each trip will be taken from the card. There are several types of cards, but the standard version is enough. When you take the card, it costs HK$150:
- HK$50 deposit: refundable at the end of your stay.
- HK$100 credit: also refundable if you didn’t spend it all and refillable if you need more credit.
You can take the Octopus card at any MTR station (except the « Racetrack » station), even at the airport!
Hotels
Pay attention, on weekends, hotels almost double their price in Hong Kong!
Thanks for reading :)
