I have travelled to Hong Kong few times and as recently as 2010 with my family, so familiar with the place as a traveller on what to see. Today one of my friends asked me help with a possible itinerary that he can do for his vacation next month, he is going with his two kids. I prepared the below itinerary modelling it on the one I used for my 2010 trip.
The itinerary assumes you want to do the trip leisurely and have got 4 to 6 days to spend. Of course, you can combine and rearrange the items for your taste. For example you can skip Day 3/Ocean Park if you are not travelling with Kids; similarly, you can skip the 2 days in Hong Kong Disneyland (but I will still recommend it for the beautiful resort there offering great service and food, ideal for a vacation)
Day 1
- 11 AM Hong Kong Arrival
- 1 PM check in at Hotel & finish lunch by 2:30 PM
- 3:30 – 7 PM visit Science museum and OMNIMAX show
- 8 PM – Dinner
Lantau island big buddha
Day 2
- Lantau Island Tour full day tour (8 Hours). There are a lot of places, and its quite far, so better to take a packaged tour. I booked for one at my Hotel organized by Splendid Tours, there are good tours from Gray Line as well. The tour normally covers Tsing Ma bridge view, Po Lin Monastery (the big Buddha in the open, the hilly terrain here is beautiful and unbelievable it is close to hustle and bustle of Hong Kong), Vegetarian Lunch at the Monastery (don’t miss this, the multi-course meal here is an experience by itself), Tai O Fishing Village & the stilts houses, Ngong Ping Skyrail cable car
- If you have the energy and the time, then plan for the evening to go to The Peak
- Take a ferry to Central Side, then go to The Peak by tram. Going by tram itself is an experience by itself, so go here before it gets dark so that you can see the views during the ride.
- While at The Peak, you can shop in many of the shops here (this is a popular tourist spot so items tend to be costly, but then you can get to see variety in one convenient place). Then visit Madame Tussauds wax museum
Day 3
- Start early and go to Ocean Park, if you have kids you can comfortably spend a whole day here, there is lot of activities
- If you have time in the evening, then take a taxi to go to Stanley Market and beach near-by
Stanley market
Day 4
- Travel to Macau and get back, kind of a day tour on your own. Remember to carry your passport, as Macau was a Portuguese territory and you will be going through immigration and on entry VISA. Your Hotel Travel desk can book the up and down ferry from HK to Macau or you can book online, the journey is about 50 minutes. There are ferry every view minutes, I will suggest you take the one leaving from Hong Kong at 10 AM and one leaving from Macau at 5 PM
- While at Macau Ferry terminal, you can take one of the free shuttle services to the many casinos and then on going to a casino you can spend some time there. Remember kids are not allowed only to the gambling areas
- There are quite a handful of places of interest to see in Macau, you can do on your own, travelling between places by a taxi or take a half-a-day bus tour The places to see will be Ruins of St.Paul (the free standing church facade you would have seen in many Macau albums), Na Tcha Temple, A-Ma Temple, Macau Tower, Museum of Macau (and near by Portuguese colonial buildings)
- If you arrive back to Hong Kong by 7PM, you can go for the Symphony of Lights at 8PM. Alternatively you can go for a stroll through the busy shopping area – Ladies Market, this is a must go place for shopping, remember to bargain here
Macau-House of the Portugal Regions
Day 5
- Enjoy extra hours of sleep in the morning, then checkout.
- Arrive at Disney Land say by 11 AM, Check-In at either of the two resorts here with the park (one themed Disney characters and other Hollywood), both offer excellent service and food
- Then spend the whole day at Disney Land theme park closing with the light and fireworks show. While you are sitting in the show feeling completely exhausted after a full day of rights, remember its just a few minutes from the park to your bed
Day 6
- Check out, leave bags at Disney Land resort
- Go around to near-by Lantau or any other place of interest in Hong Kong
- Leave out of Hong Kong International airport
For more details, see Hong Kong Tourism site and Macau Tourism site.