A traveler's guide to Hong Kong
Book the big dinner. Then let the city be stairs, ferries, and snacks. The skyline is what you see between meals.
Hong Kong stacks a finance capital on a working harbor and then feeds you at every altitude. The view is famous. The meal is more important. Ride the tram, take the ferry because it is transport, and eat where the noodles come out fast.
When to go
October to December is clear and kind. Spring is humid. Summer is hot, wet, and typhoon season. Winter is the local idea of cold and the best walking weather. Avoid planning a hike in a typhoon signal. The city will tell you.
Neighborhoods
Central and Sheung Wan for the first walks. Kowloon for the night market energy and the ferry back. Wan Chai and Causeway Bay for ordinary city density. The outlying shores and ridge trails when you want out. Lantau is a day, not a neighborhood.
Eating
Dai pai dong and cha chaan teng culture, roast meats, and a banquet if you have the budget and the friends. Dim sum late morning. The view bar is a drink. It is rarely the best food you can reach in twenty minutes.
If you only remember this
- Octopus card on day one.
- Air conditioning is arctic. Bring a layer for the restaurant.
- Trails are real. Water and shoes.
- English is widely used and Cantonese is the city.