Hong Kong, Macau and Lantau – 6 Nights 7 Days

The Peak Tram from Garden Road up to Sky Terrace 428 for the view the city is famous for, then down through Central. Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road is dark, tiny and free, and the Central–Mid-Levels Escalator runs uphill after 10am. Cross back by Star Ferry at dusk — a few dollars for the best view in Hong Kong.

Wong Tai Sin Temple sits at the top of the stairs from its own MTR station, and Chi Lin Nunnery with Nan Lian Garden is one stop away at Diamond Hill — a nail-free timber complex and the quietest place in Kowloon, both free. Sky100 in the afternoon if the Peak was hazy, then Temple Street after dark for the clay pot rice rather than the souvenirs.

Ngong Ping 360 from Tung Chung — twenty-five minutes over the water and the hills, glass floor optional. The Tian Tan Buddha is free; the 268 steps are the only admission. Carry on by bus to Tai O, the stilt-house fishing village an hour further on, which most day tours skip and which is the better half of the island.

Bus 6 from Exchange Square over the hill to Repulse Bay and Stanley Market — the ride is as much the point as the destination, so sit upstairs at the front. Alternatively head north to Sha Tin for the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, 400 steps lined with gilded statues, no two the same.

Across to Macau by ferry or bridge shuttle, whichever suits your routing — it is a border, so passports out. The historic centre is UNESCO-listed and walkable: Senado Square, the stone façade of St Paul, Monte Fort above it and A-Ma Temple at the southern tip. Evening on the Cotai Strip, where the Venetian and the Londoner are free to walk into.

Transfer to Hong Kong International for your flight. If you are flying out from the Macau side, the bridge shuttle drops at the airport port, which saves crossing the whole of Hong Kong on your last morning. Spend any remaining patacas before you leave Macau — Hong Kong will not take them.