Hong Kong travel guide
Where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Things to do in Hong Kong, planned over three days
Best time to visit Hong Kong
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Winter, cool and dry with the clearest Peak views and prime hiking, except Lunar New Year week prices and closures.
Spring, warm, humid and foggy, arts season carries the trip while Peak and Ngong Ping become weather gambles.
Summer, hot, wet and typhoon season, early morning hiking only and beaches best between storms.
Autumn into early December, best weather of the year, low humidity and long views, prime for outdoors.
What's on
- Lunar New Year Jan/Feb, late Jan to mid Feb
TST night parade, harbour fireworks and flower markets, priciest week with 2 to 3 days of closures.
- Hong Kong Arts Festival and Art Basel Hong Kong late March
Arts month with touring opera, dance and theatre plus the fairs, hotels and restaurants spike.
- Hong Kong Sevens spring, usually Mar/Apr
Three days of rugby as a fancy dress city party at Kai Tak Sports Park, tickets go first.
- Cheung Chau Bun Festival late Apr to May, around Buddha's Birthday
Floating colours parade and midnight bun tower scramble, expect island wide crowds.
- Dragon Boat Festival May/Jun
Races at Stanley, Aberdeen and Tai O, Stanley internationals are the spectator version.
- Mid-Autumn Festival and Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance three nights around the Mid-Autumn full moon, 14 to 16 September in 2027
67 metre fire dragon through Tai Hang streets and lantern displays in Victoria Park.
- Hong Kong Cyclothon October
Ride closed bridges at dawn with a carnival at West Kowloon afterwards.
- Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival four days in late October
300 plus booths on Central Harbourfront with tasting rooms from starred chefs.
- Clockenflap 4-6 December 2026
Hong Kong's biggest outdoor music festival on Central Harbourfront with the harbour as backdrop.
- Hong Kong International Races December
World class turf racing at Sha Tin, with WinterFest and the New Year countdown in the same month.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Hong Kong
M+
Visual culture museum with Asian contemporary art, design and a roof garden facing the skyline.
Hong Kong Palace Museum
Palace treasures loaned from Beijing plus big touring shows, a few minutes from M+.
Victoria Peak
The essential harbour panorama, best done by Peak Tram up then the flat Lugard Road loop.
Star Ferry
Ten minute harbour crossing running since 1888, still the best value sightseeing in the city.
Tai Kwun
Former police station compound turned free entry arts centre, the best heritage reuse in Hong Kong.
Dragon's Back
Ridge walk with sea on both sides ending at Big Wave Bay beach or Shek O village.
Ngong Ping 360
Cable car from Tung Chung over sea and country park to the Big Buddha plateau.
Tian Tan Buddha
The 34 metre Big Buddha above Po Lin Monastery, paired with Tai O for a full Lantau day.
Where to stay in Hong Kong
Tsim Sha Tsui
first trip, all-round base
Classic skyline view looking at Hong Kong Island, Star Ferry and two MTR lines, widest hotel spread.
Central / Admiralty
luxury, business polish and nightlife
Fine dining and bar centre, Tai Kwun walkable, Airport Express in about 24 minutes, highest rates.
Sheung Wan
character, food and value on the Island side
Temples, dried seafood shops, cafes and galleries west of Central, with smaller cheaper hotels.
Wan Chai / Causeway Bay
mid-range Island base for eaters and shoppers
Dense and local with excellent food at every price, on the MTR Island line and the tram route.
Jordan / Yau Ma Tei / Mong Kok
budget and street-level Hong Kong
Temple Street, markets and dai pai dongs at 30 to 50 percent below TST waterfront prices.
Think twice about
- Chungking Mansions guesthouses, Tsim Sha Tsui
Visit for the curries but do not sleep there on a first trip, fire safety and obstructed exits, tiny rooms and touting.
- Lockhart Road / Jaffe Road bar strip, Wan Chai
Hostess bar strip with touts, late noise and inflated bill risk, families and light sleepers should book streets away.
- Tung Chung / airport area / Disneyland
A fine last night for an early flight but a 30 to 45 minute commute tax on every sightseeing day otherwise.
- Tsim Sha Tsui East
Quiet office and hotel enclave with good hotels but empty streets at night, a 10 minute walk to the TST core.
Best restaurants in Hong Kong
The Chairman
Ingredient obsessed Cantonese, famous for soy sauce chicken and steamed flowery crab with Shaoxing wine.
Lung King Heen
Harbour view dim sum lunch at a two star Cantonese institution inside the Four Seasons.
Yat Lok Restaurant
Cramped one star roast goose shop, goose leg on rice eaten shoulder to shoulder in 20 minutes.
Kam's Roast Goose
The equally valid one star roast goose alternative to Yat Lok, do one goose not both.
Kau Kee Restaurant
Nine decades of beef brisket noodles in clear beefy broth, tiny menu and fast shared tables.
Mak's Noodle
The wonton noodle benchmark, small springy shrimp wontons in famously small bowls.
Yardbird
Whole bird charcoal yakitori with whisky and sake, the most fun group dinner in Sheung Wan.
Australia Dairy Company
Cha chaan teng breakfast at speed, fluffiest scrambled egg toast and steamed milk pudding.
Best bars in Hong Kong
Bar Leone
Roman neighbourhood bar with perfect classics, olives and mortadella focaccia. No bookings, so expect a queue.
COA
Mezcal and agave specialist a few streets from Bar Leone, together the essential two bar crawl.
Outdoor things to do in Hong Kong
The Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course
Hong Kong's only public golf, three 18 hole courses on an island reached by ferry from Sai Kung.
Hong Kong Golf Club
Prestige Hong Kong Open venue with Old, New and Eden courses, visitor play limited and weekday weighted.
MacLehose Trail
High Island volcanic columns then Long Ke and Tai Long Wan beaches for a swim and beach lunch.
Sunset Peak
Silvergrass mountain day on Lantau, a step up from Dragon's Back in climb and weather exposure.
Lantau Peak
Hong Kong's second highest peak, usually paired with Mui Wo or the Big Buddha side of Lantau.
Lion Rock
Steep short ridge that symbolises the city, with the best Kowloon side panorama.
Tai Mo Shan
Hong Kong's highest summit at 957 metres, a cool misty contrast with waterfalls on the way down.
Sharp Island
Guided sea kayak target in the Geopark, with a tombolo, Pineapple Bun Rocks and remote beaches.
Best hotels in Hong Kong
Rosewood Hong Kong
Arguably the city's best hotel: huge rooms, harbour views, CHAAT and Legacy House inside.
The Peninsula Hong Kong
1928 grande dame with Phantom fleet, Gaddi's, Spring Moon and afternoon tea in The Lobby.
Hotel ICON
Smart value luxury run with PolyU hospitality school, big rooms and harbour views below flagship prices.
Hop Inn on Mody
Credible TST budget stay on Mody Road, artist designed rooms minutes from the MTR and ferry.
Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
Original 1963 flagship and service benchmark, with Man Wah and Mandarin Grill inside.
The Upper House
Minimalist residential luxury with huge rooms above Pacific Place, the couples and design pick.
Mini Hotel Central
Central's rare genuine budget hotel, tiny clean rooms by Lan Kwai Fong and the escalators.
99 Bonham
All suite, calm and design led, a short walk from Sheung Wan MTR and Tai Ping Shan cafes.
Is Hong Kong expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | HK$1,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | HK$2,000 a person |
| Splurge | HK$4,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- M+: a few days ahead
- Hong Kong Palace Museum: a few days ahead
- Victoria Peak: a few days ahead
- Ngong Ping 360: a few days ahead
- The Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course: weeks ahead
- Hong Kong Golf Club: months ahead
- Sharp Island: a few days ahead
- Private junk charter: weeks ahead
- The Chairman, reserve as soon as bookings open for your dates, weeks ahead.
- Top Cantonese fine dining including Lung King Heen dim sum weekends, book 2 to 4 weeks out.
- Peak Tram, book a timed ticket online for weekends, holidays and sunset.
- Ngong Ping 360, book online and go first cabin up on a weekday.
- Hotels in Lunar New Year, Art Basel week, Golden Week and Christmas, book months ahead.
Is Hong Kong safe?
- Very safe for violent crime, realistic risks are pickpockets in packed MTR cars and market streets.
- Typhoon Signal 8 and Black Rainstorm warnings shut transport and attractions, obey them and stay in.
- Summer hiking, start early, carry more water than you think and turn back without shame.
- Carry ID, drug penalties are severe including cannabis, no eating or drinking on the MTR, emergency 999.
Hong Kong travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- A Symphony of Lights, be on the promenade for the skyline not the widely panned show itself.
- Ladies Market and Temple Street as shopping, tourist tat at haggling prices, Temple Street is for food.
- Sky Terrace 428, a paid deck for a view Lugard Road gives free without the mall funnel.
- Copy watch, tailor and electronics touts on Nathan Road, follow nobody and buy only at authorised chains.
- Seafood by weight in Sai Kung, Lamma, Cheung Chau and Temple Street, confirm total price before cooking.
Getting around Hong Kong: public transport and more
- Get an Octopus card on arrival for MTR, buses, trams, Star Ferry and Peak Tram.
- Airport Express reaches Hong Kong Station in about 24 minutes, A21 and A11 buses are the budget option.
- Red taxis are urban and cheap, have the destination on your phone and carry small cash.
- Check island ferry timetables before dinner, last ferries back are around midnight or earlier.
- Walk less than the map suggests in summer, hills and humidity are real, use MTR, tram and escalators.
Who Hong Kong suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Hong Kong your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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