Hong Kong is a large and surprisingly diverse city. Although many tourists head here for the city life, Hong Kong is also home to beautiful beaches and long hikes through the countryside.
Choose the best accommodation with a view of Hong Kong
Symphony of Lights
Every day since 2004, a magical light show has lit up the skies above Hong Kong, accompanied by music from three locations on Victoria Harbour's waterfront.
The Symphony of Lights is even listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest permanent light show in the world.
What does the Symphony of Lights look like?
From the rooftops of 43 buildings on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon, laser beams light up and dance to the rhythm of the music.
The show always ends with a small fireworks display, visible only from central Hong Kong.
What are the SoL times?
The show runs every day of the year. The exceptions are days when there are tropical storms and other extreme weather.
The sky will always light up at 20:00.
The entire show lasts 10 minutes.
Best viewing locations
You can see the laser beams from many locations along the Victoria Harbour Channel, as well as from Victoria Peak.
Speakers with musical accompaniment are placed in 3 locations from where the greatest number of buildings can be seen.
- Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront (Kowloon)
- Avenue of Stars (Kowloon)
- Golden Bauhinia Square (Hong Kong)
However, these locations are also very exposed and an hour before the show starts (around 7pm) the best seats in the front rows by the railings are already completely filled.
Symphony of Lights is also great to see from the pier at "East Coast Park" for example.
If you choose a view without speakers with soundtrack, you can download the current music for each day to your mobile phone via the mobile app "A Symphony of Lights" (Google Play / App Store).
Swimming and beaches
Hong Kong has its beaches too, and not just the urban ones with a backdrop of high-rise skyscrapers.
On the numerous islands outside the city centre, you'll find many hidden and literally secluded tropical beaches that you wouldn't expect to find in a big city like Hong Kong.
The vast majority of local beaches are covered in fine white sand, the water entry is very gentle and comfortable, and the rugged coastline means there are no big waves. The exception, of course, is the typhoon season, when the sea is rough. But you won't go to the beach at these times anyway.
Take a ride on the cable car The Peak Tram
Cable car from central Hong Kong to the famous peak Victoria Peak. Offering 360-degree views of Victoria Harbour and the south coast, it's one of the city's main attractions.
The cable car is called "The Peak Tram", but it is actually a cable-drawn train and not a regular tram.
What makes the Peak Tram special?
The cable car is one of the oldest of its kind in the world and has been serving the public since 1888.
It is popular with tourists because of its extremely interesting route between skyscrapers and then through open countryside to the top of Victoria Peak.
The tracks have a gradient of up to 48% in places, creating an optical illusion during the ride. Looking at the high-rise buildings, they appear to be leaning towards the summit. In reality, of course, all the buildings stand exactly vertically.
The glass roof of the cable car allows a view even for passengers who are not lucky enough to be seated directly at the window.
The route currently runs new cars, completely rebuilt in 2022, but all of them retain the original character of the historic cable car.
How long is the Victoria Peak cable car? The entire run is 1,350 metres long and overcomes a height difference of over 350 metres.
Tickets - prices and where to buy
Tickets for the Peak Tram cost considerably more than the 15 bus service that goes to Victoria Peak, but we recommend choosing the cable car for at least one trip. The experience of the steep ride between the skyscrapers is unrepeatable.
Tickets can be purchased at the ticket office at both stations. You can pay with cash, Union Pay, Alipay or WeChat, Vista or Mastercard or Octopus Card.
Prices vary by day of the week and season. Peak days are always more expensive. These days fall on all Saturdays and Sundays, as well as the summer holidays, Chinese New Year or the run-up to Christmas. Detailed information and a list of the more expensive days can be found on the official website: thepeak.com.hk.
| One-way Ordinary days |
Return Ordinary days |
One-way Peak Days |
Return Peak Days |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults | 88 hkd | 62 hkd | 108 hkd | 76 hkd |
| Children 3-11 years Seniors over 65 |
44 hkd | 31 hkd | 54 hkd | 38 hkd |
Combination tickets with a ticket to "The Peak Tower" lookout can also be purchased at a discounted price.
However, we recommend visiting similarly beautiful viewpoints in the Victoria Peak area for free.
It is preferable to buy tickets online on the official website of the cable car: thepeak.com.hk/en/ticket-and-booking. You will save waiting in line for tickets (20-45 minutes).
Timetables and waiting times
There are always two cable cars running opposite each other on the route (there is a turnout in the middle of the route).
The cable car runs approximately every 15 minutes.
- The first connection departs at 7:30
- Last connection is at 23:00
On busy days (especially weekends and holidays) you can spend more than 60 minutes in line. Normal waiting times are between 20 and 30 minutes.
The best views of Hong Kong
The skyline of Kowloon and downtown on Hong Kong Island is one of the main things that attracts tourists from all over the world. The concentration of skyscrapers is huge and looks very photogenic.
Where are the best vantage points and views in Hong Kong?
You have two options. Either pay to ride one of the skyscrapers and enjoy Hong Kong from above, or walk the promenades and see the skyline from a natural pedestrian perspective.
The best views from the skyscrapers
In the case of Hong Kong, there's only one skyscraper to name, and it's the tallest.
In the ICC-100 building, visit by far the best, and in fact one of the few official observation points in the building, called Sky100.
Admission is 174 hkd and you'll get a perfect 360° view of the entire city and Victoria Harbour.
The best views from the hills
The surrounding hills offer the opportunity for natural elevated viewpoints that, while they don't offer 360° views, have the added value of combining the view with a trip into the countryside.
- Victoria Peak - Hong Kong's most famous hill with several viewpoints, hiking trails and an iconic cable car. The hill is famous and therefore widely visited and the viewpoints tend to be crowded with tourists.
- Breamer Hill (location on google.com/maps) - a viewpoint overlooking the centre and Kowloon on rocks jutting out of the dense forest, but easily accessible after about a 20-minute walk from the "Breamer Hill" bus stop (bus routes 23B, 25, 25A, 27, 81A, 85, 85A, 85P, 108).
Views from the promenades
The best viewpoints are from the promenades all along Victoria Harbour.
Enjoy a ride on the double-decker tram
Hong Kong's famous trams are double-deckers, modelled on London's buses, and are one of Hong Kong's main attractions.
The incessant clinking is one of the city centre's main attractions, and the views from the second floor of Hong Kong's bustling streets are simply phenomenal.
For more information on travelling by tram in Hong Kong, see the Transport chapter.
Hiking and nature
Hong Kong is criss-crossed with dozens of kilometres of marked and unmarked hiking trails and is one of the most pedestrian-friendly cities.
- Lamma Island - an island to the south of Hong Kong. We recommend visiting it if you want to get away from the crowds of crowded Hong Kong and still take a hiking walk in the countryside. You will get beautiful views of the sea and nature on the island. The entire route is on a paved walkway and there is a small elevation gain after the island's main beach.
- Sai Kung - Sai Kung Nature Park is located in the east of Hong Kong and is one of the least populated areas of Hong Kong. The park is protected and, with the exception of bus and taxi services, vehicular traffic is prohibited here. If you are planning to go here, we recommend preparing a route and having plenty of food and especially drink. The main marked trail is the Mac Lahose trail.
- Hong Kong Island - Apart from the relaxing hiking around Victoria Peak, you can also try other hiking trails on the island. One of the most popular ones is Dragon's Back in the eastern part of the island. A marked trail takes you to the top of the hill with spectacular views of the surrounding area and the sea. The route is very well described on the aforementioned website of the local tourist board.
- Lantau Island - Hong Kong's largest island is a hiker's paradise. The Lantau Ridge Trail will take you, among other things, to the 934m high Lantau Peak, the 2nd highest mountain in Hong Kong.
Best boat trips on Victoria Harbour
The views of Hong Kong's breathtaking skyline, with hundreds of skyscrapers and high hills in the background, are at their best from a boat.
Take a boat tour of the Victoria Harbour Channel for the best views of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.
Regular ferries
The cheapest way to take a boat trip is by regular passenger ferry.
With open cabins on the historic boats, using the "Star Ferry", which pendulates every 8 minutes between the Central Wharf and the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade in Kowloon, is definitely the best option.
The ride costs just 5 hkd and you can find detailed information on all the boat routes in Hong Kong in the Transport section.
Boat Tours
As the ride on regular ferries takes only 10 minutes on average, many different shipping companies also offer sightseeing cruises around Victoria Harbour lasting between 30 and 60 minutes.
The most popular cruises are, of course, those on traditional wooden boats called "Junk" with the typical red or orange sails.
These "Junk" boats are one of Hong Kong's icons and you can easily book a cruise with them online with two companies.
Cruises last around 30 minutes and prices range from 190 hkd (daytime cruise) to 330 hkd (cruise during the Symphony of Lights).
Trip to Macau
Take a trip from Hong Kong to the former Portuguese colony and now a world centre for casinos and gambling.
Roughly 50km as the crow flies west of Hong Kong lies the Macau Special Administrative Region on two islands, like Hong Kong part of China but with extensive autonomy and no visa requirements for most of the world.
A trip from Hong Kong to Macau can easily be completed in a single day, thanks to the numerous and fast transport links by boat or bus.
However, for the ultimate experience, we recommend staying overnight in Macau for at least one night.
For aviation enthusiasts
There probably isn't a single aviation enthusiast in the world who isn't familiar with Hong Kong's former legendary Kai Tak Airport. It was located right in the heart of the city in the Kowloon district. Planes would land just a few metres into the densely built-up area, having to make a last-minute sharp right-hand turn before landing to avoid a hill known as Checkerboard Hill (the name comes from the tell-tale red and white "checkerboard" warning planes of high terrain in the flight path).
The runway is now the site of a modern terminal for large cruise ships.
