City Tours and Excursions in Hong Kong
City tours
Tram tours
You can take a ‘Galaxy of Light’ tour on a luxury tram that can be booked through JTT Tours , a tour operator recognized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. This night tour, which sits on an old-fashioned, elegantly renovated tram, takes you along the impressive Hong Kong night skyline from the Western District to Causeway Bay.
Phone: 21 39 31 87 (JTT Tours)
Boat tours
Boat tours are offered by several organizers. Watertours organizes a variety of harbor and island tours , the Star Ferry makes crossings. Watertours has jetties all over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, though boat trips start from Queen’s Pier on the Hong Kong side or from the Kowloon Public Pier on the Kowloon side. Star ferry tours depart from the star ferry terminals on both sides of the shore. HKFF Travel Ltd offers a 5-hour boat trip to the Outlying Islands that departs from the Outlying Islands Ferry Pier in Central at 9:15 a.m. daily.
Telephone: 29 26 38 68 (Watertours); 21 18 62 41 (Star Ferry); 25 33 53 59 (HKFF Travel Ltd)
Bus tours
The Hong Kong Tourism Board offers numerous themed tours, including the Heritage Tour , a Come Horseracing Tour , Healthy Living Tour , Morning Tea and Tai Chi Tour and a Land Between bus tour to the more scenic and popular areas of the New Territories. The tours usually last five hours. For more information, visitors should contact the Events and Tour Department at the HKTB or the Sky Bird Travel Agency .
Phone: 28 07 63 90, 25 08 12 34 (HKTB); 23 69 96 28 (Sky Bird Travel Agency)
Tours
The Hong Kong Tourism Board offers some tours; the Heritage and Architectural Walks take place on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon. Guides and audio guides are available, and tours last two to four hours. Further information can be obtained from the HKTB visitor info hotline or from tourist information. Other operators who offer tours recognized by the HKTB include Gray Line Tours and Splendid Tour and Travel .
Visitors who want to travel further afield have a variety of trails available that go deeper into the rural areas of the New Territories and the forests of Hong Kong Island, such as the 100 km MacLehose Trail, the 50 km long Hong Kong Trail and the 3.5 km Peak Trail. In summer you should definitely take water bottles with you.
Phone: 25 08 12 34 (HKTB); 23 68 71 11 (Gray Line Tours); 23 16 21 51 (Splendid Tour and Travel)
Website: http://www.hktourismboard.com
Trips
Lamma Island
Lamma Island is Hong Kong’s third largest island and a green oasis that is particularly popular with Hong Kong residents. The landscape is beautiful and the beaches are charming, there are also a few great pubs, bars and restaurants. The best thing about the island is that there are no cars here.
The main ferry terminal is in the largest residential area, Yung Shue Wan. Sok Kwu Wan, the second largest settlement, specializes in open-air fish restaurants, and Hung Shing Ye has the largest beach. The most beautiful beach can be found in Lo So Shing. The best way to get to the beaches of Sek Pai Wan and Sham Wan is to rent a junk. Hikes between the two villages are popular, as is the climb to Mount Stenhouse.
Ferries to Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan on Lamma Island depart from Central.
Tel: 25 08 12 34 (Hong Kong Tourism Board Visitor Information Center hotline)
Website: http://www.discoverhongkong.com
Lantau Island
Lantau is twice the size of Hong Kong Island and fortunately has not been ruined by the new Chek Lap Kok airport. Over half of the island is parkland, and residents can enjoy the tranquility of Discovery Bay (also called Disco Bay) all year round, but visitors also come for a taste. Walking and hiking are popular in this area, but the main attractions are the Po Lin Big Buddha, which is said to be the tallest seated Buddha image at 26m, and the Po Lin Buddhist Monastery, the largest in Hong Kong. The monastery, which was the setting for numerous kung fu films, has some beautiful buildings, and there is a tea garden nearby; the beaches and the waterfront restaurants on the south coast are also idyllic.
To reach the island of Lantau, visitors should either take the MTR train connection to Tung Chung and then bus line 23 to Po Lin or from Central the ferry to Mui Wo, then bus line 2. The steps to the Big Buddha are accessible to visitors every day. Lantau Tours Ltd (Internet: www.lantautours.com.hk) offers island tours and trips to the monastery.
Tel: 25 08 12 34 (Hong Kong Tourism Board Visitor Information Center hotline)
Website: http://www.discoverhongkong.com
Macau
A popular destination from Hong Kong – and a completely separate travel destination – is Macau. It was under Portuguese administration until it was returned to China in December 1999, making it the last part of China to be in foreign hands. Macau’s people are completely different from those in Hong Kong: relaxed, hedonistic, almost Mediterranean.
Because of the many beautiful colonial monuments, it has a much more nostalgic atmosphere than the larger, neighboring Hong Kong, which can be reached by hydrofoil in just an hour. The buildings with their stucco decorations in Mediterranean style give the restaurants and bars of Macau a Mediterranean flair. Macau’s main industry is gambling.
This tiny area has a couple of beautiful churches – St Augustine’s and St Dominic’s, a 17th century cathedral and St. Paul’s Cathedral with its famous facade; all three churches survived a major fire in 1835. The Kun Lam Temple and the A-Ma Temple also date from the 17th century. Monte Fort, built by the Jesuits shortly after 1600, still has its original guns. The Sun-Yat Sen Memorial Home is an extremely interesting historical site for Chinese and Chinese connoisseurs. Here, the founder of China’s first republican government practiced medicine when he was younger.
Macau can be reached by hydrofoil from the Macau Ferry Terminal near the Shun Tak Center or from the China Hong Kong City Terminal at Tsim Sha Tsui. Further information is available from the Macau Government Tourist Office, 9 Largo do Senado.
Phone: Tel: (853) 31 55 66
Website: http://www.macautourism.gov.mo
Stanley Market
Stanley is a small settlement on the south coast of Hong Kong Island and has a few nice beaches and waterfront restaurants. Visitors flock to the Stanley Market (daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.), where there are countless stalls selling clothing, souvenirs, sporting goods, art objects and many other products from the sweatshops in Hong Kong and the mainland.
Other attractions include the Tin Hau Temple, the Kuan Yin Temple, St Stephen’s Beach, the Old Stanley Fort, the old police station, the military cemetery with prisoner of war graves and wonderful paths along the Wong Ma Kok Road. The market is very crowded, especially on weekends, so it makes more sense to come during the week. You can get to Stanley Market by bus (lines 6, 6A, 6X or 260X) from the Exchange Square bus station in the Central District, by green bus (# 40) from Hoi Ping Road on Causeway Bay or by Minibus No. 14 from Shau Kei Wan.
Tel: 25 08 12 34 (Hong Kong Tourism Board Visitor Information Center hotline)
Website: http://www.discoverhongkong.com
Shek O
Shek O is a small seaside resort on the southeast coast of Hong Kong Island and remote enough to be spared by the crowds on weekends, but the best time to visit is during the week. It’s also very exclusive, has outdoor restaurants, and some of Hong Kong’s best beaches. During the other stages of the two-hour tour, you can enjoy interesting landscapes. There are also some rocky outcrops and bays that can be easily reached on foot or by bike from the village. Shek O is the terminus of bus line 9, which departs from Shau Kei Wan MTR station.
Tel: 25 08 12 34 (Hong Kong Tourism Board Visitor Information Center hotline)
Website: http://www.discoverhongkong.com
