Hong Kong travel guide

Our essential guide to what to see and where to sleep, eat and shop in the former British colony of Hong Kong. By Michelle Jana Chan.

360-degree tour of Hong Kong

In pictures: Hong Kong's top sights

Google Map: featured sights, hotels and restaurants

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It is impossible to resist the alluring synthesis of this city's Chinese roots, British influences and the cosmopolitan cherry on top. Even from the air, Hong Kong captures the imagination with its gleaming skyscrapers, dramatic mountain peaks and lush outlying islands dotted around the South China Sea.

On the ground, travellers confront the hustle-bustle dynamism that has come to epitomise the Chinese diaspora. But the slower-paced, antiquated Hong Kong is still here, and that may be why this city is so beloved.

Turn right off the Mid-levels Escalator (the longest in the world) and you will find elderly Chinese haggling at market stalls for gnarled ginger root and swimmingly-fresh carp. In Victoria Park, locals gather every morning to practise Tai Chi, a slow-motion martial art. In the incense-filled Man Mo temple, the panicky come to pray to their ancestors for good fortune.

There is no better place than Hong Kong to see old-world heritage in the same snapshot as a vision of the future.

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Top five sights

1. Star Ferry

Hong Kong's dazzling cityscape is best seen from the water and after more than 100 years, the Star Ferry still traverses the "fragrant harbour'". Sadly, after all the land reclamation, the journey now lasts less than ten minutes but at 14 pence a crossing, you could yo-yo back and forth a few times.

Terminals at Central, Tsim Sha Tsui, Wanchai and Hung Hom
00 852 2367 7065
www.starferry.com.hk
6.30am-11.30pm daily
HK$2.20 (14p)

2. Botanical Gardens, Hong Kong Park and the Peak Tram

Perhaps surprisingly, more than 70% of Hong Kong is farmland, forest or mountain. You can get a quick taste of the city's greener side in the Botanical Gardens and Hong Kong Park, with its expansive walk-through aviary. On the edge of the park, the Peak Tram ascends up Victoria Peak, but it is only worth boarding if the summit is free of cloud.

Botanical Gardens, Albany Road, Central
00 852 2530 0154
www.lcsd.gov.hk/parks/hkzbg/en/
Daily 6am-10pm
Free

Hong Kong Park, 19 Cotton Tree Drive, Central
00 852 2521 5041
www.lcsd.gov.hk/parks/hkp/en/
Park 6am-11pm, Aviary 9am-5pm

Free Peak Tram, behind St John's Building, 33 Garden Road, Central
www.thepeak.com.hk
00 852 2522 0922
7am-midnight
HK$33 (£2) return

3. Hong Kong Museum of History

An excellent exhibition covers the 155 years of British colonial rule from the Opium Wars until 1997. There are evocative old photographs of early Hong Kong, recreated Chinese streets and faux-fishing villages.

100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
00 852 2724 9042
http://hk.history.museum
Mon & Wed-Sat, 10am-6pm, Sun and public holiday, 10am-7pm
HK$10 (63p), free on Wednesdays

4. At the races

Happy Valley Racecourse, smack in the middle of downtown, is the place to go for a flutter. If you take your passport to prove you are a tourist, you can enter the Members' Enclosure. Get tips from the South China Morning Post newspaper. At weekends, the races shift to the larger, but less atmospheric, Sha Tin Racecourse.

Happy Valley Racecourse, 2 Sports Road
00 852 2895 1523
www.hkjc.com/english/hrc
Usually Wednesday 7pm
HK$10-150 (62p-£10) depending on seats

5. Stanley

Take the number 6 double-decker bus from Central to Stanley, sitting in the first row of the upper deck. It is a perilous journey, brushing beneath tree branches and hugging hairpin bends. Tourists visit the daily market, which sells embroidered linens, brushed-wool Chinese jackets and silk souvenirs. Afterwards, immerse yourself in the history of Murray House, which now hosts an interesting Maritime Museum.

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