The Best of Hong Kong Travel Guide

Hong Kong S.A.R

Planning a trip to Hong Kong and need a little help planning your trip? Then you’ve come to the right place.

Hong Kong is our 8th stop on our One Year journey through Asia.

We spent 5 days exploring around Hong Kong and 5 days pretty much catching up on sleep, editing YouTube videos and of course trying new restaurants.

Not subscribed to our channel? Make sure to check us out!

We focused very much so on food second to sightseeing. In this guide we will cover the best restaurants, public transportation, must do sightseeing and lastly some travel tips.

This post covers The Best of Hong Kong Travel!

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a small commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information. Thanks for your support!

Hong Kong Fun Facts

Official Language: Cantonese and English
Currency: Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)
Population: 7.5 Million
Major International Airport: Hong Kong International Airport
Best Time to Visit: March-April and October-December
Hong Kong used to be a fishing village.
It’s home to one of the busiest shipping ports in the world.
Hong Kong boasts the world’s longest covered escalator.
There is no 4th floor in buildings because “four” sounds like death in Chinese and therefore considered unlucky.
Dim Sum Originated in Hong Kong

Public Transportation in Hong Kong

In general Hong Kong is very expensive, we have traveled to over 50 countries and I’m pretty sure this country takes the $$$ prize.

For this reason taking the public transportation will save you some serious cash. On the positive side Hong Kong has a truly amazing public transportation system. It’s extremely easy to get around the city using a combination of Metros, Buses and Ding Ding’s.

Purchase an Octopus Card. This card can be used for all public transportation, some local restaurants and even convenience stores. COST $6 USD/ 50 HKD but you will receive $5 USD/ 39 HKD back once you return the card or refund as they were calling it. Load it up with whatever amount you think is appropriate for your stay. We did 300 HKD each and it lasted us our entire 10 day trip.
Purchase of Octopus Card can be made at the Airport Express Train Ticket Counter.
Top ups can be made at Metro Stations with Credit Card or Cash and 7-Elevan or Circle K stores with Cash Only.
You can take the Airport Express Train, Bus or Taxi into the City. Express Train will cost $15 USD/ 115 HKD while the Bus will run you $5.50 USD/ 42 HKD.

Tip: Before departure take your Octopus Card back to the Express Train Ticket Counter at the airpot to receive your refund (deposit and whatever $$$ you didn’t use back)

Best Places to Eat in Hong Kong

We did not expect to eat so much while we here but as you can tell by the list below we in fact did. Here are some recommendations on where to eat in Hong Kong.

One Dim Sum
Sun King Yuen Curry
Gyuugoku Stone Grill Steak- One of the best lunch specials you’ll find in HK. Order your meat which comes on a sizzling plate and during lunch you get unlimited rice, soup and salad.
Chukfo
Bakehouse -Breakfast was really good here. The Avocado Toast was amazing but definitely order some pastries, like their Sourdough Egg Tart. We had some almost every day.
Sun Heung Yuen ( HK Style Cafe )
Northern Dumpling Yuan- The sweet and sour noodle soup was Mathew’s favorite dish in our 10 days in HK, the fried pork and shrimp dumplings were also so delicious.
Wah Lok Cafe ( HK Style Cafe )
Mammy Pancake
Cheung Hing Coffee Shop ( HK Style Cafe )
Australia Diary Company ( HK Style Cafe )
Sushiro Sushi
Pang’s Kitchen
Total Desserts House- Try the Sago with Coconut Milk, Mango Chunks , Taro & Sweet Potato Balls
Hey Tea
Any Street Stand Selling Mango Mochi

During your visit try at least one or two Hong Kong Style Cafes, it was honestly the best part of our mornings. Some of my favorites eats were:

French Toast, Beef and Egg Sandwhich, Egg and Ham Sandwhich, Macoroni Soup with Satay, Laksa with Crispy Pork Chop, Crispy Chicken Leg, Pineapple Bun with Butter, Egg Tarts and of course HK style Milk Tea. If you like coffee ask for Half Coffee/Milk Tea, it’s amazing.

Tip: Hong Kong Style Cafes and small mom and pop restaurants accept CASH ONLY.

Places to Visit in Hong Kong

5 days is the ideal time to spend in Hong Kong, this gives you the perfect amount of time to try some food, explore the city and squeeze in a day trip.

While Hong Kong is a great place to visit I do recommend combining it with a nearby country, although we enjoyed our stay there’s not a ton of things to do.

CENTRAL

Central-Mid-Levels Escalators ( The longest escalator system in THE WORLD )
Central Market
The Peak and Peak Tram
Ride a Ding Ding
Experience the Star Ferry

VICTORIA HARBOR

Bruce Lee Statue
Victoria Dockside
A Symphony of Lights ( Starts at 8pm everyday )
Hong Kong Sky100 Observatory

KOWLOON

Nan Lian Garden
Wong Tai Sin Temple
Temple Street Market
Kowloon Walled City Park
Walk West Kowloon

LANTAU ISLAND

Ngong Ping 36 0
Ngong Ping Village
Tian Tan Buddha
Po Lin Monastery
Wisdom Path
Tai O Fishing Village

Additionally, three other great day drips are Tsz Shan Monastery, Lamma Island and Hong Kong Disneylan d. Advance booking is needed to visit Tsz Shan Monastery.

With this in mind, I recommend booking at least 2-3 weeks before desired date of visit.

Tsz Shan Monastery website

Popular neighborhoods to explore include: Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui, Causeway Bay, Kennedy Town, Sheung Wan, Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po.

Other Things to Know About Hong Kong

US Citizens receive a Free Visa on Arrival with a validity of 90 days.
Hong Kong is HOT and HUMID! We went during the Summer and although it was tolerable I did find myself fatigued and exhausted by mid day, instead visit during March-April and October-December, which is said to be the best time to visit Hong Kong.
I was so surprised to find no ATM’s at 7-Eleven or Circle K, ATM’s are only available at local banks and Metro Stations.
When using an escalator stand to the right if you are not walking up. To clarify the left side is used for those walking up the escalator.
We found it very easy to communicate with locals, while most spoke some English, in the event that they didn’t an English menu was usually available. We rarely used google translate.
The SIM card sold at 7-Eleven is terrible, it worked for only 4 days and then the network was pretty much non existent. We used China Mobile but I highly recommend finding a different user.
During our stay in Hong Kong we stayed at two hotels and would recommend both.
- 1. Wharney Hotel
- 2. Best Western Plus Hotel Hong Kong

Short and sweet and straight to the point. To conclude I Hope The Best of Hong Kong Travel Guide helps planning your trip just a bit easier.

Happy Travels!

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE:

Travel Resources

Here you can find all the travel site links that we personally use and recommend.

CAMPSITES/CAMPGROUNDS We like to use a couple apps for last minute campsite bookings. Our favorites are HipCamp, The Dyrt and Campendium.

ACCOMMODATION: We find the best deals with BOOKING.COM. The more you book the better the perks, like free breakfast with your stay, room upgrades and even higher discounted room rates.

CAR RENTALS: We have always used RentalCars.com and find them to have the best deals, customer service and selection of locations.

FLIGHTS: Our go to for looking up flights is SKYSCANNER, but we try to always book directly with the airline.

TOURS/EXCURSIONS: GET YOUR GUIDE and VIATOR are two very reputable sites with easy and hassle free bookings.

TRAVEL INSURANCE: It’s so important to travel with insurance and for this we use SafetyWing. We are currently using them for our 1 year trip.

TRANSPORTATION: For all our bus, ferry and train transfer needs in Asia we use 12go.as ia.