Things to do in Macau
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Macau
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best weather, everything open, clear skies for Guia and the trails, and the peak event calendar.
Mild and drier winter weather, with Chinese New Year crowds, prices and queues.
Mild then wetter and foggier spring, with softer prices and possible ferry delays in fog.
Hottest, wettest months with peak typhoon risk, lowest hotel rates and indoor Cotai most useful.
What's on
- Macau Grand Prix mid-November, four days, usually Thu-Sun
Street circuit car and motorcycle Grands Prix on the Guia Circuit, with hotels and grandstands booked months ahead.
- Macao International Fireworks Display Contest several Saturday nights in September and around 1 October
International teams compete over the waterfront by Macau Tower, free from the NAPE and Taipa waterfronts.
- Chinese New Year late January / February, varies
Fireworks, parades and temple crowds, with peak mainland visitation, prices and queues.
Best things to do in Macau
Historic Centre of Macau
One free walk linking Senado Square, the Ruins of St. Paul's and Monte Fort is the essential way to grasp old Macau.
A-Ma Temple
Macau's oldest temple, built in 1488, climbs a boulder hillside and anchors the quieter southern heritage walk.
House of Dancing Water
A pool theatre spectacle with high dives and acrobatics that is the one Cotai show worth splurging on.
Taipa Houses
Mint green colonial houses and village lanes give the clearest village, wetland and casino skyline contrast.
Coloane Village
A slow fishing village of temples, stilt houses and waterfront benches with almost no casino in sight.
Guia Fortress
A fortress, chapel and 1865 lighthouse on the Peninsula's highest hill, reached by a tiny cable car.
Performance Lake at Wynn Palace
Free fountains, a gondola over the lake and replica landmarks make Cotai best as one evening walk.
Grand Lisboa
Walk the gaudy historic Grand Lisboa floor and one Cotai mega floor once, briefly, to grasp Macau's gaming scale.
Where to stay in Macau
Historic Centre and NAPE, Macau Peninsula
first trip, all-round base
Walk to Senado, St. Paul's, A-Ma and the best local eating, with Cotai 20 to 30 minutes away.
Cotai Strip
resort-first trips, families, show and dine weekends
Pools, shows and starred restaurants without leaving the resorts, at strong weekday luxury value.
Taipa Village
food-first repeat visitors
Evenings of village dining and quiet streets, with Cotai ten minutes away and the Peninsula twenty.
Coloane
a deliberate slow weekend
Peace, beach and trail access, at the cost of a 25 to 40 minute leg to the Peninsula or Cotai.
Think twice about
- Far northern districts around the Border Gate, Ilha Verde and Areia Preta
Dense local housing, cross border queues and almost no visitor hotels of quality, so every sight starts with a commute.
- Deep NAPE and the Outer Harbour ferry-terminal strip
Safe and convenient for the ferry but characterless, when the historic centre is a few hundred metres away for similar money.
- Coloane as a first-trip base
Every Peninsula or Cotai plan starts with a long bus or taxi leg and late returns are taxi dependent.
- Cotai as a heritage and food first base
A mismatch that costs two cross town legs a day to reach the heritage centre and the best local food.
Best restaurants in Macau
Robuchon au Dôme
Three star French dining in the Grand Lisboa dome, with one of Asia's great wine cellars.
Jade Dragon
Three star Cantonese cooking where a dim sum lunch is the connoisseur's cheaper entry.
The Eight
Two star Cantonese with playful goldfish dumplings and porcupine char siu buns that taste as good as they look.
Chef Tam's Seasons
Seasonal Cantonese promoted to two stars in 2025 and the Cotai splurge inside Wynn Palace.
A Lorcha
The Macanese institution near A-Ma Temple for garlic clams, seafood rice and bacalhau in cream.
Restaurante Fernando
A beloved Portuguese beach restaurant for clams, grilled sardines, suckling pig and sangria by the black sand.
António
Taipa's polished Portuguese table for bacalhau and cataplana in an intimate village room.
Restaurante Litoral
Unfussy Macanese Portuguese home cooking loved for African chicken, stuffed crab shell and baked rice.
Outdoor things to do in Macau
Skypark Macau Tower by AJ Hackett
Home to the world's highest commercial bungy at 233 metres, plus a rim skywalk and a climb to 338 metres.
Coloane Trail
An 8.1 kilometre forested loop to Macau's highest point, with sea views and near solitude on weekdays.
Hac Sa Long Chao Kok Coastal Trail
A short paved coastal walk past sculpted rocks links Macau's largest beach to smaller Cheoc Van.
Macau Golf and Country Club
A tight hilly Macau Open course where the oceanside back nine and sea wind provide the real test.
Caesars Golf Macau
The more open and easier to book of Macau's two courses, a links flavoured layout at Cotai's south end.
Grand Resort Deck
A huge rooftop deck with a 575 metre rapids river and a wave pool, best for guests of Galaxy hotels.
Hong Kong
Ferries in about an hour or the bridge bus in about 40 minutes make a full Hong Kong day easy from Macau.
Zhuhai
Across the border for Lovers' Road, seafood in Wanzai and Chimelong, if your mainland documents allow.
Best hotels in Macau
Morpheus
Zaha Hadid's exoskeleton tower is Macau's design landmark and its first Three Key hotel.
Mandarin Oriental, Macau
A serene Five Star Peninsula hotel with no casino, a serious spa and views toward Macau Tower.
Wynn Palace
The most polished mega resort, with the Performance Lake, SkyCab and Chef Tam's Seasons inside.
The Venetian Macao
Huge all suite rooms and canals at weekday rates that undercut newer Cotai rivals.
Andaz Macau
A design forward Galaxy base whose main draw is direct access to the Grand Resort Deck.
Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16
The best located mid range Peninsula base for heritage trips, an easy walk from Senado Square.
Hotel Sintra
A no frills three star minutes from Senado Square that lets you spend on food instead of the room.
Ole Tai Sam Un Hotel
A small simple hotel just off Senado Square, ideal when the room is only for sleeping.
Is Macau expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | MOP 550 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | MOP 1,500 a person |
| Splurge | MOP 4,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- House of Dancing Water: weeks ahead
- Skypark Macau Tower by AJ Hackett: a few days ahead
- Macau Golf and Country Club: weeks ahead
- Robuchon au Dôme: weeks ahead
- Jade Dragon: weeks ahead
- The Eight: a few days ahead
- Chef Tam's Seasons: weeks ahead
- A Lorcha: a few days ahead
- Book House of Dancing Water as soon as dates are fixed, especially for weekends.
- Reserve Robuchon au Dome, Jade Dragon and Chef Tam's Seasons two to four weeks ahead for weekend dinners.
- Reserve A Lorcha, Antonio and Litoral days ahead.
- Book the Macau Tower bungy online ahead and book ferries at peak weekends.
- Sleep Sunday to Thursday if dates are flexible, as Saturday and Golden Week rates can double.
Is Macau safe?
- Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
- Watch for pickpockets in the Senado, St. Paul's and Rua do Cunha crowds.
- Casinos are 21 plus, passports are checked and photography on gaming floors is prohibited.
- Emergency number is 999.
- Typhoon signals T8 and above suspend ferries, bridge buses and outdoor attractions.
- May to September heat and humidity make midday walking genuinely taxing, so carry water.
Macau travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The noon St. Paul's scrum is the worst hour to value ratio in the city.
- Fisherman's Wharf is the clearest skip and replica fatigue in Cotai sets in fast.
- Boxed gift prices on Rua de Sao Paulo are tourist tier, so compare before buying in bulk.
- Casino tables are high minimum and complimentary drinks are not the free flowing Vegas model.
- Ignore ferry exit touts offering VIP transport or discounted show tickets.
Getting around Macau: public transport and more
- Walk the Peninsula historic centre entirely on foot.
- Use the free casino hotel shuttles for Peninsula to Cotai, Taipa and Coloane trips.
- Public buses are a flat MOP 6 and reach Coloane and Hac Sa on routes 21A, 25, 26 and 26A.
- The LRT links the airport, Taipa Ferry Terminal, Cotai and Barra but not the historic centre.
- Taxis are metered and fairly priced but scarce at peak hours and in rain.
Who Macau suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Macau your trip
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