Hongkong
Star Ferry, Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront & Victoria Harbour: The Soul of Hong Kong
The Star Ferry crossing of Victoria Harbour — the 7-minute journey between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon — has been described by Lonely Planet as 'the world's best commute' and was named one of the '50 Greatest Wonders of the World' by Time magazine. The Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront promenade and the Avenue of Stars frame the most famous urban waterfront in Asia.
Victoria Peak, Peak Tram & Central: Hong Kong's Defining Panorama
Victoria Peak (552 metres, the highest point on Hong Kong Island and the most visited tourist attraction in Hong Kong: 7 million visitors per year) towers over Central and the entire urban panorama of one of the world's great harbour cities. The Peak Tram (opened 1888, the oldest funicular railway in Asia) ascends 373 vertical metres in 8 minutes through the forested slopes of the Mid-Levels to deliver visitors to the most famous urban view in Asia.
Lantau Island: Big Buddha, Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car & Po Lin Monastery
The Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island — at 34 metres the world's largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha, completed in 1993 after 12 years of construction — presides over the Ngong Ping plateau from atop 268 steps, visible from Macau on clear days. The journey by Ngong Ping 360 cable car (5.7 kilometres, the longest bi-cable gondola in Asia) across the mountains and harbour of Lantau Island is itself one of the most dramatic approaches to any monument in Asia.
Mong Kok: Ladies' Market, Goldfish Market, Flower Market & Bird Garden
Mong Kok (旺角, 'prosperous corner') holds the Guinness World Record as the most densely populated urban area in the world, with 130,000 people per square kilometre, and is home to the most famous street markets in Kowloon: the Ladies' Market (Tung Choi Street), the Goldfish Market, the Flower Market, the Bird Garden, and the Sneaker Street of Fa Yuen Street — each a specialist market operating in its own dedicated street.
Cheung Chau & Lamma Island: Hong Kong's Car-Free Outlying Islands
The outlying islands of Cheung Chau and Lamma — together forming the most visited island destinations beyond Hong Kong Island and Lantau — offer the most complete contrast to urban Hong Kong available within the SAR: car-free communities (Cheung Chau has been car-free since the British era, with only emergency vehicles allowed), traditional fishing village architecture, independently-owned seafood restaurants, and hiking trails connecting secluded beaches that feel genuinely remote despite being 30-60 minutes by ferry from Central.
Central, SoHo & the Mid-Levels Escalator: Hong Kong's Vertical City
The Central-Mid-Levels Escalator — the world's longest outdoor covered escalator system at 800 metres, ascending 135 metres from Central Market to Conduit Road in the Mid-Levels — threads through the densest concentration of restaurants, bars, and street life in Hong Kong, from the colonial financial district of Central through the cosmopolitan dining neighbourhood of SoHo (South of Hollywood Road) and its antique shops, galleries, and international restaurants.
Stanley, Repulse Bay & Aberdeen: Hong Kong's Southern Coastline
The southern coast of Hong Kong Island — Stanley, Deep Water Bay, Repulse Bay, and Aberdeen — is the antithesis of the dense urban north: a series of curved sandy bays, colonial-era architecture, boat-filled typhoon shelters, and the oldest surviving settlement in Hong Kong at Stanley, with its famous market, Tin Hau temple, and the last resting place of the British WWII garrison.
Wong Tai Sin Temple, Chi Lin Nunnery & Nan Lian Garden: Kowloon's Sacred Side
The Wong Tai Sin Temple complex (1921) — the most visited Taoist temple in Hong Kong and the most famous fortune-telling destination in Asia — contrasts with the serenity of the Chi Lin Nunnery (1998), Hong Kong's only Tang Dynasty-style wooden temple complex, and the adjacent Nan Lian Garden, the most meticulously maintained classical Chinese garden in Hong Kong, together forming the most spiritually concentrated cultural walk in Kowloon.
Sai Kung & Clear Water Bay: Hong Kong's Wild East
Sai Kung (西貢, 'Western Tribute') — the easternmost district of the New Territories, nicknamed 'Hong Kong's back garden' — encompasses the Sai Kung Peninsula Country Park (the largest country park in Hong Kong at 7,471 hectares), Sai Kung Town (the most famous seafood destination in Hong Kong), and the volcanic rock formations of High Island Reservoir that are inscribed on UNESCO's Global Geopark list as evidence of a catastrophic volcanic eruption 140 million years ago.