South Korea is located near so many astonishing countries, with one of them being Hong Kong, one of China’s special administrative regions. By plane, it only takes 3 and a half hours to get there from Incheon International airport. Only, you say? Well, since my home country is located much further away from Hong Kong than Korea is, I consider a 3 1/2 hour plane ride to be quite short. Hong Kong has a humid subtropical climate, therefore if you want to prevent breaking out in floods of sweat, you should visit between October and December, which is what I did. Here are some of my highlights and some useful tips for your very own trip to Hong Kong and Macau.

When people think about Hong Kong, the first thing that comes to the mind of many probably is the majestic view of HK’s skyline. In order to experience it yourself, you can either head on over to the harbor (by the way, the Avenue of stars will be closed for construction works until the end of 2018) or go up to the peak. Getting to the peak is quite simple, you can either take the bus, taxi, or, like most people do, the peak tram, but be warned that you might have to wait in line for quite a bit. Once you’re up there, you will be greeted by not just an awesome view, but by tons of shops and restaurants as well.

Speaking of which, if you’re a fan of breathtaking sceneries, I recommend you take the cable car to Ngong Ping village (this is another hotspot for tourists so don’t forget to arrive early if you don’t want to wait in line for a few hours, which can happen during peak times). During the apx. 25 minute ride you’ll see what Hong Kong has to offer besides the huge buildings in the city centre, that is its fantastic nature. In Ngong Ping village, don’t miss your chance to climb up the 268 steps to the Big Buddha 😉 .

Another highlight of my trip definitely was going to Disneyland. Disneyland Hong Kong is quite small and only has two good rides (yeah, that’s a bummer… if you like roller coasters, you should rather check out Ocean Park), but, hey, it’s Disneyland and you can still feel the magic in the air ( 🙂 ), so it surely is worth visiting. Even though it lacks thrilling rides, as it is targeted towards families, there are a lot less people going on roller coasters compared to other amusement parks, so you won’t have to wait in line for too long (if you go for the family-friendly rides though, oh man, that’s a whole other story).

In terms of shopping, Mongkok is your place to be. There’s loads of clothing, make-up and electronic shops, markets and for all you vintage fans out there, don’t miss out on the huge amount of vintage clothing shops located in this colorful district of Hong Kong. When I went there, they even had a LINE exhibition in of the malls 🙂 .

If you want to make the most out of your trip, why not visit the nearby Macau? Getting there is fairly easy, all you have to do is take the ferry running every 15 minutes near Sheung Wan station and it will take about an hour to arrive at Macau Ferry terminal. Being a former Portuguese colony, you can still feel the Portuguese vibe all over the place, which makes it very unique. Macau is known not only for its European flair, but especially for its many casinos. Wherever you go, you will run into one. I’m not joking, they’re everywhere and most of them are breathtaking works of architecture. The most famous casino probably is the Venetian, with its interior looking like you’ve just landed in Italy. Keep in mind though that the minimum gambling age is 21 (it used to be 18 but they changed it a few years ago). Other places to visit are the Taipa village, the ruins of St.Paul cathedral, A-Ma temple as well as Senado square. When it comes to transportation, Macau doesn’t have a subway system and when you take one of the local buses you have to have the exact change of MOP (Macau’s currency). Therefore, if you don’t want to spend too much money on taxis, here’s my ultimate tip: take advantage of the free shuttle buses. You can take shuttle buses to most casinos at the ferry terminal and some casinos even offer shuttle buses to other ones. When I went there, I actually only took the taxi once and for the rest of the time I rode the shuttle buses (Venetian’s bus even had free Wifi 😀 ).

Transportation in Hong Kong, though, is much easier to figure out. They have a very convenient subway system and other transportation means such as buses, taxis, light rail, tram and the list goes on. And the best thing being that you can ride most of them with just one card: the infamous Octopus card. This little piece of plastic is definitely a must for everyone planning on visiting Hong Kong. You can recharge it in subway stations and convenience stores and then use it not only for getting from A to B, but you can also pay with it at, e.g., McDonalds or 7-Eleven. Make sure to get one at the airport as soon as you arrive!

That’s it for my post about my trip to China’s two special administrative regions. I hope you liked it 🙂 !

Till next time,

Julie