Attraction
Victoria Peak
Hong Kong Island's highest hill, reached by the historic Peak Tram from Central, with harbour views from Sky Terrace 428 and the level loop walk along…
There are more things to do in Hong Kong than most visitors can fit into one trip, from riding the Peak Tram up Victoria Peak and crossing the harbour on the Star Ferry to visiting the Big Buddha on Lantau Island and the museums of the West Kowloon Cultural District. The city is split by Victoria Harbour, with Central, Sheung Wan, Admiralty and Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui, Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok on the Kowloon side. Hiking trails, beaches and outlying islands are never far from the towers.
Food is one of the main reasons to come. You can eat dim sum, roast goose and wonton noodles at modest prices, drink milk tea in old cha chaan teng cafés, or book a table at some of Asia's most awarded Cantonese restaurants and cocktail bars. Four or five days is enough for the main sights on both sides of the harbour, a day trip to Lantau and plenty of eating, with an extra day or two for hiking or the outlying islands.
Attraction
Hong Kong Island's highest hill, reached by the historic Peak Tram from Central, with harbour views from Sky Terrace 428 and the level loop walk along…
Attraction
The 34-metre bronze Big Buddha and the Chan Buddhist monastery beside it on the Ngong Ping plateau of Lantau Island, reached by cable car or bus…
Attraction
Hong Kong's museum of twentieth and twenty-first century visual culture on the West Kowloon waterfront, with art, design, architecture and moving image galleries and a free…
Attraction
A museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District showing treasures on long-term loan from the Palace Museum in Beijing alongside exhibitions of Chinese art and culture.
Attraction
One of Hong Kong's oldest temples, built between 1847 and 1862 on Hollywood Road and dedicated to the gods of literature and martial arts, with dim,…
Attraction
Kowloon's best-known temple, completed in 1921 and dedicated to the Great Immortal Wong, where worshippers shake fortune sticks and blend Taoist, Buddhist and Confucian traditions.
Café
A famous Jordan cha chaan teng running for more than 50 years, known for creamy scrambled eggs on thick buttered toast, steamed milk puddings and famously…
Café
A Gage Street institution for more than 70 years, credited with silky Hong Kong milk tea strained through stocking-like fabric and famous for its pork chop…
Café
A Lyndhurst Terrace bakery founded in 1954 whose egg tarts, with a buttery shortcrust case, were praised by former governor Chris Patten.
Café
A popular cha chaan teng on Bute Street near Mong Kok, famous for its pineapple bun with a thick slab of cold butter and Hong Kong-style…
Café
A vintage cha chaan teng on the corner of Temple Street and Public Square Street, open since 1950, with original wooden booths, wall tiles and stained…
Café
A specialty coffee café and roastery on Po Hing Fong in Sheung Wan, roasting on a 1950s Probat machine, with seven Hong Kong National Barista Championship…
Hotel
Hong Kong's grande dame, opened on Salisbury Road in 1928, famous for afternoon tea in The Lobby, its green Rolls-Royce fleet and the Philippe Starck-designed Felix.
Hotel
A harbourfront luxury hotel in Victoria Dockside, opened in 2019 and named the world's best hotel by The World's 50 Best Hotels in 2025.
Hotel
Central's classic luxury hotel, opened in 1963 on Connaught Road, home to the Captain's Bar, the Cantonese restaurant Man Wah and a well-known spa.
Hotel
A calm, residential-style luxury hotel designed by André Fu on the upper floors of Pacific Place in Admiralty, with 117 rooms and a top-ten World's 50…
Hotel
A design-led hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui East run by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University as a teaching hotel, with a Patrick Blanc green wall and…
Hotel
A 66-room Wan Chai boutique hotel whose bottle-green and brass interiors are inspired by the Star Ferry, with the coastal Italian restaurant Osteria Marzia downstairs.
Bar
Lorenzo Antinori's Italian-style neighbourhood cocktail bar on Bridges Street, named The World's Best Bar in 2025 and known for its pre-batched Leone Martini.
Bar
Jay Khan's agave bar on Shin Hing Street, with about 200 bottles of tequila and mezcal and a record three wins as No. 1 in Asia's…
Bar
Antonio Lai's molecular mixology bar on Hollywood Road, reinventing classic cocktails with foams, airs and bubbles in a moody industrial room.
Bar
The Ritz-Carlton's bar on the 118th floor of the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon, described by the Michelin Guide as the highest rooftop bar in…
Bar
A Wan Chai live music institution with more than 35 years of history, now in a larger Jaffe Road gastropub with a fully equipped stage, craft…
Bar
Central's compact bar and club district around Lan Kwai Fong and D'Aguilar Street, Hong Kong's best-known nightlife hub since the 1980s.
Restaurant
A Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant on Wellington Street that topped Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in 2021, known for steamed crab with Huadiao wine and fresh local produce.
Restaurant
A stylish basement Chinese restaurant under the Standard Chartered Bank Building in Central, known for its 42-day applewood-roasted Peking duck and Iberico char siu.
Restaurant
A small, family-run Wan Chai restaurant specialising in Cantonese roast meats, awarded a Michelin star in 2018 and run by the third generation of the Yung…
Restaurant
A Michelin-starred roast goose specialist on Stanley Street in Central, founded in 1957 and run by the Chu family, serving goose by the quarter with lai…
Restaurant
An early branch of the dim sum shop known worldwide for its baked barbecue pork buns, serving more than 20 dishes at low prices in Sham…
Restaurant
A Michelin-starred yakitori restaurant in Sheung Wan grilling local three-yellow chicken over binchotan charcoal, with rare cuts and a long Japanese whisky list.
Thing to do
The historic green-and-white ferries that have crossed Victoria Harbour since 1888, linking Tsim Sha Tsui with Central and Wan Chai for a few Hong Kong dollars.
Thing to do
Kowloon's best-known night market, filling Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei and Jordan with stalls selling clothes, souvenirs, jade and antiques alongside street food and claypot…
Thing to do
A cable car from Tung Chung to the Ngong Ping plateau on Lantau Island, offering a scenic way to reach the Big Buddha, with standard and…
Thing to do
A 4.8-kilometre ridge walk above Shek O on Hong Kong Island, part of Hong Kong Trail Section 8, with views over Tai Tam Bay, Shek O…
Thing to do
The restored Central Police Station compound on Hollywood Road, reopened in 2018 as a centre for heritage, contemporary art and performance with restaurants and bars.
Tour operator
A Hong Kong storytelling company founded in 2013 that runs walking tours on food, local living and history, covering neighbourhoods many visitors never see.
Tour operator
A food walking tour company whose Central and Sheung Wan tour visits six tasting stops for wonton noodles, barbecued pork, dim sum and egg tarts.
Tour operator
Harbour cruises on a traditional red-sail wooden junk, with daytime, evening and Symphony of Lights sailings from piers in Tsim Sha Tsui, Central, Wan Chai and…
Tour operator
A 45-minute harbour cruise on a restored fishermen's junk more than 60 years old, sailing from the Avenue of Stars with commentary and a complimentary drink.
Tour operator
Open-top hop-on hop-off sightseeing buses covering Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Stanley, with tickets that include a Star Ferry crossing.
Four or five days covers the Peak, the harbour, the main museums and temples, a day on Lantau and plenty of eating, with extra days for hiking or the outlying islands.
Central and Admiralty suit first-time visitors who want to be near the Peak Tram and ferries, Tsim Sha Tsui offers harbour views and easy access to Kowloon, and Wan Chai and Causeway Bay are good for mid-range hotels and local food.
The Airport Express train links the airport with Kowloon and Hong Kong stations, and airport buses and taxis serve all main districts.
Hotels are expensive by regional standards, but public transport is cheap and local food such as noodles, dim sum and roast meats is good value.
Hong Kong is generally considered safe for visitors; take normal care with valuables in crowded areas and follow official warnings during typhoons and heavy rainstorms.