What to do in Hong Kong
Discussion
As title states really, got a 2, 3 day stopovers in HK. Not overly much money to play with so cheap/free stuff would be good. Generally I quite like museums, sightseeing etc. Probably spend a day or 2 just walking around getting a feel of the place, but are there any "dont miss" activities/sights?
I love Hong Kong. Probably one of my favourite places so far...
Just wandering around is more than entertaining enough if that's your thing. I love looking at the odd sights in the city and buying food on the basis of fuzzy pictures.
I would recommend a very easy, quick metro ride out to Lantau Island. There's Po Lin monastery at the top and the "Big Buddha" which is well worth a look. Doesn't have to cost money apart from about a fiver for the cable car up from the metro station. You can then wander to the bus stop and get a bus down to the small town there. It's again very cheap and lovely for an extended wander by the sea. A great day in itself.
Other than that, you need to see the illuminations of the buildings down by the Waterfront- Cross on the Star Ferry, a lovely relic of the colonial past.
The Peak Tram is worth riding, but the queues can be major. The view from the Peak is brilliant.
Oh, and whilst the above will more than occupy you for a few days, I would thoroughly recommend a day/afternoon at the horse races. It's the only legal form of gambling AFAIK and the Chinese go mental for it. Sha Tin and Happy Valley racecourses are both quite easy to get to on the metro, and it's a brilliant day out. Combo deals including monkey nuts and beer, and a few small bets- Ideal.
Other than that, just wander and enjoy. Plenty of cheap restaurants about in the local-ish areas. Beer and similar in Lan Kwai Fong and surrounding expat bits can get a bit pricey.
Can I go back, please?
Just wandering around is more than entertaining enough if that's your thing. I love looking at the odd sights in the city and buying food on the basis of fuzzy pictures.
I would recommend a very easy, quick metro ride out to Lantau Island. There's Po Lin monastery at the top and the "Big Buddha" which is well worth a look. Doesn't have to cost money apart from about a fiver for the cable car up from the metro station. You can then wander to the bus stop and get a bus down to the small town there. It's again very cheap and lovely for an extended wander by the sea. A great day in itself.
Other than that, you need to see the illuminations of the buildings down by the Waterfront- Cross on the Star Ferry, a lovely relic of the colonial past.
The Peak Tram is worth riding, but the queues can be major. The view from the Peak is brilliant.
Oh, and whilst the above will more than occupy you for a few days, I would thoroughly recommend a day/afternoon at the horse races. It's the only legal form of gambling AFAIK and the Chinese go mental for it. Sha Tin and Happy Valley racecourses are both quite easy to get to on the metro, and it's a brilliant day out. Combo deals including monkey nuts and beer, and a few small bets- Ideal.
Other than that, just wander and enjoy. Plenty of cheap restaurants about in the local-ish areas. Beer and similar in Lan Kwai Fong and surrounding expat bits can get a bit pricey.
Can I go back, please?
Copy of my things to do in HK list that I pulled together for some friends earlier this year:
Things to do in Hong Kong:
Explore Causeway Bay especially get to Times Square shopping mall above exit A on the MTR. The street outside has some of the most expensive rent outside of Fifth Avenue NYC and the Champes Elysee Paris. Gives you a good idea of shopping in HK. Prices will probably cause heart attacks against GBP though, check out the well dressed and well heeled wandering around.
Get a cab to Stanley and explore the market and bay, make sure you go across to the beach and have a look there too. Its easily missed but worth a look.
Get the bus back to Central from Stanley bus terminus (6, 6A, 6X and 260 all go to Exchange Sq Central) sit upstairs on the left so you can see out over Repulse Bay. You can’t miss Repulse Bay as you’ll see The Lilly apartment building on the right, it’ll be obvious when you see it.
Ride the Peak Tram to the top of Victoria Peak, pay to go to the viewing platform too. Alternatively if you’re feeling strong walk up, or just walk around the circular path at the top for views over all Hong Kong Island and Victoria Harbour.
Head back to central and check out the mid-‐levels escalator and SOHO. It’s very ex-‐pat oriented and full of nice bars and restaurants.
Take the Star Ferry from either Central (Pier 7) or Wan Chai ferry piers to Tsim Sha Tsui ideally around 1900 at night. Then go and watch the light and sound show over the harbour at 2000. Even better take the ferry as the sun is going down and watch the sunset over the harbour then go and explore Nathan Road in TST. You will get hassled to buy a suit/watch pass on both.
Go to the Ladies Market in Mong Kok (Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok: MTR: Mong Kok) ideally late afternoon or at night, its on until past 2300. Perfect for fake tat etc etc and general ambience.
Temple Street Market is also earby to Mong Kok about a 1km stretch of electronics and various mostly tat stalls but worth a look.
Take the MTR out to Tung Chung, maybe explore the outlet for some of the cheapest brand shopping in HK. Then take the Ngong Ping 360 cable car to see the Po Lin Monastery and Big Buddha, it is a really big Buddha. Buy a return ticket as the bus back down takes about a million years.
Night out – check out Lan Kwai Fong in Central or Wan Chai Road, Wan Chai can be a bit seedy but has plenty of good bars.
You could easily do as many or as few of the above in a day as you wanted if you were running about a bit, simplest way is to do HK Island first and then the light show, then Kowloon etc another day.
Tip: For easy travel buy an octopus card available from the customer service counter at any MTR station usable just about everywhere like Oyster only much more useful. Deposit is $50 (less than a fiver) and refundable at any MTR station, not available at the Airport Express though.....
English is well spoken in stores and tourist places.
Any questions just ask, enjoy.
Things to do in Hong Kong:
Explore Causeway Bay especially get to Times Square shopping mall above exit A on the MTR. The street outside has some of the most expensive rent outside of Fifth Avenue NYC and the Champes Elysee Paris. Gives you a good idea of shopping in HK. Prices will probably cause heart attacks against GBP though, check out the well dressed and well heeled wandering around.
Get a cab to Stanley and explore the market and bay, make sure you go across to the beach and have a look there too. Its easily missed but worth a look.
Get the bus back to Central from Stanley bus terminus (6, 6A, 6X and 260 all go to Exchange Sq Central) sit upstairs on the left so you can see out over Repulse Bay. You can’t miss Repulse Bay as you’ll see The Lilly apartment building on the right, it’ll be obvious when you see it.
Ride the Peak Tram to the top of Victoria Peak, pay to go to the viewing platform too. Alternatively if you’re feeling strong walk up, or just walk around the circular path at the top for views over all Hong Kong Island and Victoria Harbour.
Head back to central and check out the mid-‐levels escalator and SOHO. It’s very ex-‐pat oriented and full of nice bars and restaurants.
Take the Star Ferry from either Central (Pier 7) or Wan Chai ferry piers to Tsim Sha Tsui ideally around 1900 at night. Then go and watch the light and sound show over the harbour at 2000. Even better take the ferry as the sun is going down and watch the sunset over the harbour then go and explore Nathan Road in TST. You will get hassled to buy a suit/watch pass on both.
Go to the Ladies Market in Mong Kok (Tung Choi Street, Mong Kok: MTR: Mong Kok) ideally late afternoon or at night, its on until past 2300. Perfect for fake tat etc etc and general ambience.
Temple Street Market is also earby to Mong Kok about a 1km stretch of electronics and various mostly tat stalls but worth a look.
Take the MTR out to Tung Chung, maybe explore the outlet for some of the cheapest brand shopping in HK. Then take the Ngong Ping 360 cable car to see the Po Lin Monastery and Big Buddha, it is a really big Buddha. Buy a return ticket as the bus back down takes about a million years.
Night out – check out Lan Kwai Fong in Central or Wan Chai Road, Wan Chai can be a bit seedy but has plenty of good bars.
You could easily do as many or as few of the above in a day as you wanted if you were running about a bit, simplest way is to do HK Island first and then the light show, then Kowloon etc another day.
Tip: For easy travel buy an octopus card available from the customer service counter at any MTR station usable just about everywhere like Oyster only much more useful. Deposit is $50 (less than a fiver) and refundable at any MTR station, not available at the Airport Express though.....
English is well spoken in stores and tourist places.
Any questions just ask, enjoy.
In Kowloon there is the Hong Kong History Museum. We spent over 3hours in here and costs about £1 to get in, however it is shut one day during the week. It is a fantastics museum. Also Kowloon Park has large outdoor public swimming pools if you fancy a swim, about £1 again.
Wong Tai Sin Temple (Kowloon) is a lovely temple to go look around, again cheap to get in. To get there leave at MTR Wong Tai Sin Station Exit B2.
Wong Tai Sin Temple (Kowloon) is a lovely temple to go look around, again cheap to get in. To get there leave at MTR Wong Tai Sin Station Exit B2.
Hong Kong, in my experience is not one of the cheapest places in the world to visit. Food can be more expensive or the same than in the UK, especially if you eat in Western places or on the Peak. While transport is not overly expensive, it can add up with all the tube changes. For cheap food, you are best off finding some little Chinese eatery in Kowloon. The supermarket in the IFC Mall is more pricey than at home too. I wouldnt feel comfy with only £80 to last me, more like £120-150. It all depends on if you want to buy a few souviners. The markets in Temple Street Night Market and Stanley are good, but compared to main land China, they do not go very cheap and are not overly keen on haggling with you. They have a lot of trade so do not need to do so.
Edited by MaxMX5 on Friday 2nd September 20:14
fieldl said:
Get a cab to Stanley and explore the market and bay, make sure you go across to the beach and have a look there too. Its easily missed but worth a look.
Get the bus back to Central from Stanley bus terminus (6, 6A, 6X and 260 all go to Exchange Sq Central) sit upstairs on the left so you can see out over Repulse Bay. You can’t miss Repulse Bay as you’ll see The Lilly apartment building on the right, it’ll be obvious when you see it.
+1 spent many an afternoon looking out to the sea at Stanley. Get the bus back to Central from Stanley bus terminus (6, 6A, 6X and 260 all go to Exchange Sq Central) sit upstairs on the left so you can see out over Repulse Bay. You can’t miss Repulse Bay as you’ll see The Lilly apartment building on the right, it’ll be obvious when you see it.
OT, but Murray House was reassembled there after it was dismantled from its original location in Central. In a style that will be familiar to mechanically minded PHers, they dismantled it piece by piece and carefully re-assembled it in Stanley. Of course, when they had finished, they had a few parts "left over". They placed said parts outside the building afterwards and can be seen to this day
Some things have already been mentioned but here's my must dos -
Take a tram ride. The trams are all on HK Island and cost 20p per ride, get on at the back and off at the front dropping 2HKD into a box as you step off. I once spent 3hrs just going back and forth!
Use a Star Ferry. There are a few of these that cross Victoria Harbour to and from Kowloon (HK mainland) and HK Island, again only about 20p per ride. Use the lower decks, I garuantee you won't forget the smell of diesel, oil, heavily varnished wooden slated seats and the sea! Look out for the different names on each ferry as well, Twinkling Star, Shining Star etc and make sure you do a night crossing looking toward HK Island itself.
Can't remember the name of it but the free nightly laser, light and music show is a must, be on Kowloon side for this for the best views. It's the biggest in the world of it's type.
Victoria Peak. Go up by tram mid/late afternoon and sit on the right hand side for the best views as you go up. Walk aound the Peak Walk, it takes about an hour and you get a 360deg view of the Island and get to see the outlaying islands to the south, HK is actually made up of more islands than you'd think... There are many places to eat up there and I wouldn't say any of them were particularly cheap but do pay the extra for the viewing platform for quite simply the best 'man-made' view I've ever seen, especially at night.
Walk. Get a good pocket guide and if you don't mind walking then do so, you'll see/hear/smell so much more. HK is a bit like London in that some bits you could walk to and from, others you may want to catch the relatively cheap and very easy to use Metro.
Markets, both day and night. A good guide will tell you all about them but do walk around the food markets in the morning when the locals start to do their shopping.
Dim sum. Well, when in HK...! Visit the Luk Yu Teahouse on HK Island, can't remember the name of the road it's on. It's possibly the oldest of it's type out there and the waiters are probably just as ancient!
Big Bhuda. A bit touristy but well worth the trip, it's the largest sitting outdoor Bhuda in the world. The cable car trip to get there is pretty amazing, don't do it if you're afraid of heights!
Seafood. Take a ferry from HK Island to Sok Kwu Wan on Lamma Island for a selection of eateries on the waterfront and pick out your own live seafood, I can recommend the Rainbow Restuarant at the far end of the strip myself. Go during the day and come back at night for the views.
Drink. Lan Kwai Fong, Wan Chai (HK's red light district), Central and SoHo on HK Island have many bars, late afternoon and very early evening is happy hour. If you fancy something special then you must go to the Aqua Spirit bar in the Peking 101 Tower on Kowloon. Only a 5min walk from the TST Star Ferry terminal this place must have *the* best bar view in the world! The cocktails are around a tenner a go but they're worth it.
Afternoon tea. Not cheap but the Penninsular Hotel (the most famous of hotels in HK) does it very well, you can walk around the lower floor of the hotel anyway for a taste of grandeur.
HK is awesome, the first time for me was a 3 day stop over on the way to Oz, I've been back twice since and would happily go back again. You can spend as much or as little as you like really, again a bit like London. It's not a cheap city in general but that doesn't mean that cheap food/drink/activities can't be found. May post a pic or two when I'm home (and not on the work PC...)
ETA that 80 could be a bit stretched but on a budget myself the first time I went to HK I carried a small rucksack with me with some food and drink bought from the many 7elevens out there. You can eat/drink on the move and keep more money aside for getting about, attractions etc. The train from the airport to the city is the best part of 20 quid return if I remeber correctly, never taken the bus so can't comment on that. When you leave HK you can check in your luggage at HK's Central Station so if you have a late flight out check your case in in the morning and you can make your way to the airport seperately later.
And take a camera!
Take a tram ride. The trams are all on HK Island and cost 20p per ride, get on at the back and off at the front dropping 2HKD into a box as you step off. I once spent 3hrs just going back and forth!
Use a Star Ferry. There are a few of these that cross Victoria Harbour to and from Kowloon (HK mainland) and HK Island, again only about 20p per ride. Use the lower decks, I garuantee you won't forget the smell of diesel, oil, heavily varnished wooden slated seats and the sea! Look out for the different names on each ferry as well, Twinkling Star, Shining Star etc and make sure you do a night crossing looking toward HK Island itself.
Can't remember the name of it but the free nightly laser, light and music show is a must, be on Kowloon side for this for the best views. It's the biggest in the world of it's type.
Victoria Peak. Go up by tram mid/late afternoon and sit on the right hand side for the best views as you go up. Walk aound the Peak Walk, it takes about an hour and you get a 360deg view of the Island and get to see the outlaying islands to the south, HK is actually made up of more islands than you'd think... There are many places to eat up there and I wouldn't say any of them were particularly cheap but do pay the extra for the viewing platform for quite simply the best 'man-made' view I've ever seen, especially at night.
Walk. Get a good pocket guide and if you don't mind walking then do so, you'll see/hear/smell so much more. HK is a bit like London in that some bits you could walk to and from, others you may want to catch the relatively cheap and very easy to use Metro.
Markets, both day and night. A good guide will tell you all about them but do walk around the food markets in the morning when the locals start to do their shopping.
Dim sum. Well, when in HK...! Visit the Luk Yu Teahouse on HK Island, can't remember the name of the road it's on. It's possibly the oldest of it's type out there and the waiters are probably just as ancient!
Big Bhuda. A bit touristy but well worth the trip, it's the largest sitting outdoor Bhuda in the world. The cable car trip to get there is pretty amazing, don't do it if you're afraid of heights!
Seafood. Take a ferry from HK Island to Sok Kwu Wan on Lamma Island for a selection of eateries on the waterfront and pick out your own live seafood, I can recommend the Rainbow Restuarant at the far end of the strip myself. Go during the day and come back at night for the views.
Drink. Lan Kwai Fong, Wan Chai (HK's red light district), Central and SoHo on HK Island have many bars, late afternoon and very early evening is happy hour. If you fancy something special then you must go to the Aqua Spirit bar in the Peking 101 Tower on Kowloon. Only a 5min walk from the TST Star Ferry terminal this place must have *the* best bar view in the world! The cocktails are around a tenner a go but they're worth it.
Afternoon tea. Not cheap but the Penninsular Hotel (the most famous of hotels in HK) does it very well, you can walk around the lower floor of the hotel anyway for a taste of grandeur.
HK is awesome, the first time for me was a 3 day stop over on the way to Oz, I've been back twice since and would happily go back again. You can spend as much or as little as you like really, again a bit like London. It's not a cheap city in general but that doesn't mean that cheap food/drink/activities can't be found. May post a pic or two when I'm home (and not on the work PC...)
ETA that 80 could be a bit stretched but on a budget myself the first time I went to HK I carried a small rucksack with me with some food and drink bought from the many 7elevens out there. You can eat/drink on the move and keep more money aside for getting about, attractions etc. The train from the airport to the city is the best part of 20 quid return if I remeber correctly, never taken the bus so can't comment on that. When you leave HK you can check in your luggage at HK's Central Station so if you have a late flight out check your case in in the morning and you can make your way to the airport seperately later.
And take a camera!
Edited by CardShark on Saturday 3rd September 11:36
Edited by CardShark on Saturday 3rd September 11:53
Sorry guys to hijack a thread...But I am not getting much feedback via another thread I started which is relevant to HK. I am looking to advertise some overseas property (In Italy) to people in HK. Does anyone know of publications read by the wealthy in HK which are property relevant?
Here is the link to my thread if you wish to reply there instead.
http://pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Thanks,
Louis
Here is the link to my thread if you wish to reply there instead.
http://pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Thanks,
Louis
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