1. Go to the highest rooftop bar in the world (Ozone)
Ozone is the highest rooftop bar in the world and is located on the 118th floor of the ICC Tower. Finding it might be a little challenge as first you need to go to the lower floor lobby of the Ritz-Carlton where you can take an elevator to floor 102, which is the actual lobby of the hotel. There you can take another elevator to the 118th floor, which is 1608ft or 480 meters above sea level. From the bar you have a great overview over the city of Hong Kong. We selected this bar with free entrance above Sky100 which in only at 390 meters. I must add that drinks in Ozone are quite expensive. We had a cocktail (36 euro each) and a beer (12 euro each) which brought our total bill to 96 euro. The best option is to go just before sunset as then you can see the skyline with daylight and in roughly an hour you can see the evening skyline with all the lights.
2. Visit Victoria Peak with Peak Tram
A must do is a trip with the Peak Tram towards Victoria peak. You will get a marvelous view over the skyline of Hong Kong. On peak times you can count on quite some waiting time. When heading up the best places are on the right side of the tram, as there you will have the views over the city. On the left windows you will only see some trees. When heading down, select the same side. This tram has a super steep incline to overcome. On the peak there is also a shopping mall and several view points. The one above the tram terminal is paying but we skipped that one as our Lonely Planet state the free ones are as good.
3. Cross the harbour with legendary Star Ferry
The legendary Star ferry is the cheapest way to cross the harbour. The quay has the same colors as the iconic green-white boats. Best is to take them to the direction of Hong Kong as the views is more dramatic in that direction. The trip only takes a few minutes and costs a few dollars. I read that lower deck tickets are a little cheaper, but I would advise upper deck tickets as those are already cheap anyways.
4. Spot the iconic Junk boat
The junk boat is the iconic view which many people associate with Hong Kong and that you often see on postcards, t-shirts or ceramics. Dukling is the last remaining Hong Kong junk boat available for public use. In her first life, Dukling was built in 1955 and was home for a seafaring local family. She is 18 meters long and weighs 50 tons, offering locals and visitors alike a chance to experience Hong Kong’s man-made and natural beauty from the water.
5. Stroll over Avenue of the stars
A popular spot along the Victoria Harbour waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui is the avenue of the stars, modelled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On this walk artists, directors and other figures that contributed to the Hong Kong cinema are represented. There is also a 2 meter tall statue of Bruce Lee, who lived in Hong Kong. If you go towards the end of the day, you are in the right spot to observe the Symphony of lights (see later).
6. Survive the Central-Mid-Levels escalator
The Central–Mid-Levels escalator and walkway system in Hong Kong is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. According to Wikipedia the system covers over 800 m in distance and traverses an elevation of over 135 m from bottom to top. (picture see later)
7. Ngong Ping 360
This is a very popular attraction so you can expect quite some queueing times, certainly on weekends or holiday periods. You can buy your ticket online which makes you can partially skip the line. If you don’t want to wait, there are also busses up to Tian Tan Buddha, which is a cheaper option. We took a regular cabin but there are options to have a glass cabinfloor or a private cabin. I would not advise to take those. Most of the time you are even above water or above trees, so I don’t expect you to see much more than through the normal windows. However I must admit that this is a great marketing trick to make you spend more money.
The cable car connects Tung Chung and Ngong Ping on Lantau. It covers 5.7 kilomers and in roughly 25 minutes you’ll be at the terminal station. We took a single ticket up and came back by bus as we wanted to get out at Tung Chung fort (see later).
8. Tian Tan Buddha and Po Lin Monastery
Since 1993 this 250 tonnes heavy and 34 meter tall bronze statue (including lotus pedestal and base) near the Po Lin Monastery can be visited. You’ll need to conquer 268 steps before you reach the statue and my advise would be to go as early as possible as this location really gets busy later on the day. You can visit the base of the statue if you want. Make sure not to miss the Po Lin Monastery which is also impressive, certainly the Grand Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas.
9. Relax at Hong Kong & Victoria park
Hong Kong park was established in 1991 and covers an area of 80,000 square metres and is an example of modern design and facilities blending with natural landscape. There is a pond with fishes and turtles, a Olympic Square which can host 880 people and a nice view on the Lippo Centre twin towers. You can also visit the clock tower, a tea museum and a the center of a water fountain which is funny.
After crossing the harbour with the Star Ferry we hiked towards Victoria Park where you can see people to yoga in the morning. There is a pond for remote controlled boats, food and drinking stalls and a great way to get some nature feeling insige this huge city.
10. Admire Hong Kongs magnificient skyline
Whether you select Victoria Peak, Avenue of the Stars, the Ozone bar or another spot, the skyline of Hong Kong stays impressive. Dozens of skyscrapers with all different kind of shapes are worth your time to admire them. Make sure to check the skyline out by daytime and nightime. Often it’s a great idea to have a drink or food during the golden hour. In less than an hour it goes from daytime into nighttime and the lights in the skyscrapers make it a unique scenery.
11. A Symphony of lights
We had high expectations from this Symphony of lights however it was not exactly what we expected from it. Yes, there is some music and some lights on the buildings. It’s nice but not extraordinary. When around I would still advise to watch it, but if you are short off time, don’t bother too much. There are plenty of other things to explore in Hong Kong.
12. Shop till you drop
Shopacholics will have a great time in Hong Kong. There are plenty of malls, night markets and designer shops. If you fancy Louis Vuitton, Dior or Bvlgari you won’t be dissappointed as they all have several shops throughout Hong Kong. At some shops you might need to queue before you will be allowed to enter them, so you might want to plan accordingly.
13. Tung Chung Fort
This desolated fort doesn’t get a lot of visitors. I would not recommend to make a detour if you are short in time. When coming back from Tian Tan Buddha and the Po Lin Monestery we took the bus in order to be able to stop and take a quick peak. You won’t need more than 10 minutes to explore the site. There are several older canons and you can walk on a part of the wall, but during our visit we couldn’t go around due to trees that were fallen down.
14. See the dubble deck trams
The dubble deck trams are an affordable way to get around in Hong Kong. They also have their own design and in Belgium we are not used to these dubble deck variants, so they are worth checking out. Which was funny is the moment we said we should take a picture of them none were passing by. After waiting for several minutes and snapping this nice BVLGARI one, they passed again frequently in bigger numbers.
15. Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower
Located closeby the Star Ferry terminal near Tsim Sha Tsui you can find the only remnant of the original site of the former Kowloon station on the Kowloon–Canton Railway. If you are interested in taking a picture without people like we did, make sure to avoid the weekends as this area get very crowded. When we passed on Sunday evening hundreds of people where sitting near the water pounds while it was abandoned on Monday.
16. See some temples
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17. Night markets
We didn’t spend much time on the night markets as we were still to visit Taiwan and planned several visits to them over there. You can find literaly everything on those night markets and also plenty of food stalls. We didn’t eat on them in Hong Kong. We didn’t spot that many European tourists on the night market when we were there, so you can expect an authentic atmosphere.
18. Visit HSBC building
At the one side of the HSBC building you will find 2 big Bronze lions and below the building you will 2 stairways to enter te building. It has something of entering a space ship. You can freely enter the building and the inside architecture is quite impressive. Make sure to visit and spend a few minuts in this extraordinary building.
19. Centurion Lounge (by American Express)
The Centurion Lounges by American Express are mainly located in the United States but there are also a couple of them across the globe. As we have an American Epress credit card we were eligible to visit this lounge. It was a great experience with a more extensive offer compared to most airport lounges. There is a very big bar where cocktails are freshly served and even Champagne (G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge) was included. Great to finish our breakfast and wait till we could depart to our next destination (Taiwan)
20. Things we didn't check out, but might be interesting for you
It were busy days during our 3.5 day visit of Hong Kong and we focussed on things that interested us. We didn’t visit any museums but there are plenty of them:
- Hong Kong museum of History
- Sheung Yiu Folk museum
- Hong Kong Science museum
- Maritime museum
- Madame Tussauds
- Flagstaff House museum of Tea Ware
- …
Futhermore you could visit Disneyland theme park or you can do a day trip to Macau which seems to be a copy of Las Vegas (including the Venetian).
There are also several nice beaches and longer hikes like the MacLehose trails for the adventurous people.
So as you can read, you won’t bore yourself quickly in Hong Kong and we really had a great time and want to encourage you to go out and check it for yourself.