Our favorite Hong Kong tours and excursions

Hong Kong may be best-known for its skyscrapers, but remnants of the old city still cling on between the glass and steel — and we know where to find them.  

Start your half-day guided tour at the Chi Lin Nunnery, a huge wooden temple built in Tang Dynasty style. Wander the paths of Naan Lian Garden, winding between sculpted shrubs, trees, multi-level waterfalls and waterwheels against a dramatic backdrop of skyscrapers. Then, head into Mong Kok: formerly the preserve of gangsters and massage parlors; now one of Hong Kong’s most characterful districts. Here, food booths hawking fish balls and fried tofu line roads with colorful nicknames such as street bird garden, goldfish street, flower market road and even photocopy street. Get your HK dollars ready and prepare to haggle!
 

From eggette waffles to stinky tofu and from curry fish balls to charcoal-cooked chestnuts, Hong Kong’s street-food scene is stonking.  

This tour will give you an introduction to the city’s culinary heritage, starting with the seafood vendors, herbal medicines and ginseng shops of West Hong Kong, dipping into the oldest temple in the city, then gliding down the world’s longest outdoor covered escalator to catch the iconic Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor. At every turn you’ll be sampling siu mai fish parcels or soy-braised octopus, slurping imitation shark fin soup or sipping sweet milk tea — always skipping the tourist traps in favor of time-honored local haunts.

After ultra-urban Hong Kong, beachy, forested Lantau Island is a whole different kettle of fish (or shrimp paste, if you prefer).  

Join your local guide to explore a traditional Tanka fishing village, where stilt houses crowd together over tidal flats and super-fresh seafood is the order of the day. Head to one of HK’s most important monasteries to wander in gardens full of fragrant flowers and tropical birds, then tackle the 300-or-so steps up to the icon of Lantau, Tian Tan, the world’s largest seated bronze buddha. Even the journey back is a treat: hop in a cable car across the water and enjoy panoramic views over Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the South China Sea. Lantau Island is a breath of fresh air.

Hong Kong’s irrepressible energy doesn’t slow when the sun goes down — it just gets brighter, buzzier and infinitely more fun.  

Begin your tour in Temple Street Night Market, the hub of Kowloon’s nightlife. Weave between stalls overflowing with everything from I heart HK t-shirts and knock-off watches to deep-fried pig intestine and bubble tea, while street opera performers serenade the crowd and roving fortune tellers offer to predict your future. Then, jump onboard a cruise boat and set out on Victoria Harbor, flanked by double skylines as you watch the Symphony of Lights: a nightly lights-and-lasers show that plays out across 42 skyscrapers to the strains of disco-infused classical music. Of course, it wouldn’t be a night out in Hong Kong if you didn’t round it off with a cocktail in one of Kowloon’s famous skybars, the lights of Hong Kong Island glittering below you.

Just 60km across the Pearl River Delta, the Portuguese enclave of Macau makes a fascinating counterpoint to Hong Kong.  

 Having spent 450 years under colonial rule — longer than anywhere in Asia — Macanese culture is an all-embracing mish-mash of Portuguese and Cantonese influences. This unique hybrid flavor touches everything from its UNESCO-listed buildings (think Chinese characters carved into European baroque architecture at St. Paul’s) to its cuisine, which embraces everything from egg tarts and almond cake to pork chop buns and salt cod. Zip across by Turbo Jet in the morning, tour some of the city’s most famous historical landmarks, grab a delicious Macanese lunch, then (if you like) try your luck at the second-largest casino in the world. Macau may be a gambler’s paradise, but it has so much more to offer than poker and slot machines.