If you’re thinking of stopping in Hong Kong, here’s everything you want to do in just 3 days.

Hong Kong is one of those places I always wanted to visit but never thought I would get the opportunity to go. When planning the travel route for our November trip we decided to break up the journey to Australia by stopping of in Hong Kong and also in Singapore. I had absolutely no idea what to expect but I definitely didn’t think I’d love it as much as I did. The mixture of English and Cantonese culture is so interesting, as well as how ‘British’ areas of the island are – so many English shops like M&S’s. It really is just such a diverse and vibrant city. 

Hong Kong is somewhere that can be done in just a few days so it’s perfect for adding in as a stopping point before continuing your onward journey or as a flight lay-over. The easiest way to get around Hong Kong is either by the MTR (Mass Transit Railway) the ferries, or by walking. We walked a hella lot of steps when exploring so just a heads up to wear comfy shoes. We spent 3 full days exploring and this is everything that we got up to. 

Day 1

We arrived the night before, but super late so all we did was get to the hostel and go to bed. Today was the first full day which we had and we’d sorted some plans to do before we left the UK because we didn’t want to be faffing. First thing we wanted to do before it got too warm was to head over to Lion Rock. We headed there on the MTR before walking the final part. It was quite a walk from the nearest station and we’d done a fair few steps before we’d even reached the start of the trail, another 20,000 later and we reached the top. It was absolutely worth the effort as the views at the top were amazing and still stand out now as one of my favourite ever view-points. About half way up Lion Rock is a monkey colony which we had been pre-warned about but weren’t aware of how many we would encounter. They can be spotted in the trees and occasionally one would cross the path in front of us but we didn’t stick around to have a good look!

After making it (safely) back down we headed to Nan Lian Garden in Diamond Hill. This was such a beautiful garden to wander and its designed in the Tang-Dynasty style, so was really interesting to see the contrast of the garden against the backdrop of more modern tower blocks. The garden isn’t far from the MTR so we hopped back on and headed back towards the hostel. Later on in the evening we headed down to Victoria Harbour to watch the light show – Symphony of Lights, which is displayed on the buildings across the water. The show happens every night at 8pm so definitely include it in your to-do list and take a walk along the front too, as it gives a different view across the water and there’s some interesting architecture on the front.   

Day 2

Our second day was another jam-packed day as we headed out early to catch the train to Tung Chung for the cable car over to Ngong Ping on Lantau Island. Ngong Ping 360 is a big tourist attraction for the Big Buddha – Tian Tan, which was pretty spectacular. We could see it from the cable car over and it was huge from a distance. We opted for the 360 Sky-Land-Sea Day Pass which was $315 Hong Kong dollars. It seemed pricey but with the exchange rate it worked out to be £31.15 and with all the extras we had included it was really reasonable! 

We spent a fair few hours wandering and exploring the village before using the other part of our ticket which included a return bus and boat ride in the fishing village, Tai O. This part of our excursion was definitely my favourite, less touristy and just full of locals going about their day. The houses are amazing as they’re all built on stilts over the water and it was such a lovely village to explore. The boat trip which was included took us out to the open water after a trip around the houses on the hope we’d spot some dolphins (sadly not) before dropping us back. As part of the additional trip to Tai O, the ticket included a sweet treat. On taking the tickets to the local bakery we were handed these delicious freshly cooked, sugary doughnuts (obviously my favourite bit of the trip!). Take your time in both of the villages, there’s loads to do and see, and if you headed back early evening like us, you can see the sun going down from the cable car which was a real beauty. Hans Hint: there’s food places in Ngong Ping, but it’s pretty pricey so take lunch if you’re hoping to save some money. As this was an all day excursion we didn’t do much other than finding some dins back in Kowloon and heading back to the hostel.

Day 3

Today we finally headed across the river to Hong Kong Island. We got a return ticket for the Star Ferry, which was really cheap and a nice way to head across to the island. We started with a quick walk around the harbour, finding a spot to eat our 7/11 sandwiches before heading to the World’s Longest Outdoor Escalator System. We thought it was going to be a singular escalator but it’s made up of a few and it was a pretty fun way to travel up through the city. It was pretty popular busy with tourists and locals as the city is super hilly and it’s the easiest way to climb the 800 meters. We hopped off nearish the top and headed to the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens as this was a detour on the way to Victoria Peak. This is a worthwhile stop as the zoo in the gardens is free to enter and had so many animals. It was so random to find a zoo the hills of the city but it was a really cool concept to bring nature into a city of concrete. What seemed even stranger is that the botanical gardens are eerily quiet, yet when considering their location, you wouldn’t expect the peace and tranquillity that they bring to the city. We spent a lot longer wandering the gardens and the zoo than we expected just because we felt like we had been transported to somewhere so serene. 

Heading on to Victoria Peak or just The Peak was next on our list. The access to the peak is by tram, and we purchased our tickets at the ticket office not far from the tram station itself. Hans Hint: Purchase the Peak Tram Sky Pass ticket as we originally purchased just the return tram tickets and when at the top realised we couldn’t get out onto the viewing platforms as this was the sky pass part. We were able to purchase this at the top, so if you’re not sure you can purchase it when you get off the tram, but we spent most of the time out on the viewing platform because inside was more of a shopping/eatery area. The views were also amazing as you can see down both sides of the mountain which is so impressive.  

Hostel: Rainbow Lodge Kowloon

This was the very first hostel either of us had ever stayed in so we were slightly apprehensive but it had good reviews on Hostel World and luckily, it was a good choice. It was slightly confusing to find the building entrance as its situated on a floor within an apartment block, but once we’d worked that out and checked in we felt really chilled. We’d booked a 6 bed dorm but we were the only ones in the room for our whole stay, so that was a lucky bonus. It was a v quiet hostel in downtown Kowloon regardless so if you’re looking for a quieter place to stay this is definitely a good choice. There was a kitchen/lounge area in the reception, separate/clean bathrooms to the dorm rooms, and nice big lockers too. We chose Kowloon as it was nearer to what we wanted to see and do in HK and it was also a lot cheaper. 

Food & Drinks:

Our eating and drinking habits of our time in HK weren’t the most adventurous – blaming it on it being a mixture of the first stop of our trip and jet lag! What we did eat was all really good but that did include one or two maccies… I mean, it was intriguing to see what was on the menu so we HAD to try it. 

Other than the maccies, our lunches and breakfasts were from 7/11 as it was the quickest and cheapest option for picking something up on the way out each day. Dinner wise we tried a couple of different spots. If you’re fancying something more traditional but with a twist, head to Yum Cha for cutest and quirkest dim sum. We also went to Din Tai Fung in the Miramar Shopping mall which is actually a Michelin Starred restaurant. Its the least fussy Michelin Starred eatery I think to exist, we didn’t feel out of place as back-packers and it focuses on quality service and food without the extortionate price tags. There was a good selection of food in both but if neither of these appeal, there are restaurants/takeaways absolutely everywhere.

Sweet treat wise there are plenty of options on the smaller back streets. Both sweets we had were SO good and I cannot recommend trying them enough. The first is the Michelin Starred street food, Mammy Pancake. Their famous bubble waffles are delicious – I had mine filled with chocolate, but there are lots of filling options. Because its street food it’s cheap, another way to eat Michelin Star quality food on a back-packers budget!

The other very interesting and very delicious treat was a Japanese style soufflé pancake. I mean I might just be really late to the hype but I had no idea about these wobbly pancakes of heaven. Mine was topped with honeycomb, whipped cream, nuts and caramel sauce. The other treat, eaten by my bestie, was a honeycomb soft serve – also 10/10. The shop name is just Soufflé Pancake and its located on the ground floor of the shopping centre at 132 Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. 

Getting from the Airport to the Hostel:

From the airport we took the Airport Express bus to Kowloon Station, and then the free shuttle bus K3 to the 1st stop at the Holiday Inn on Golden Mile and walked just a couple minutes from there.

Summary itinerary of our 3 Days in Hong Kong:

Day 1 – Lion Rock, Nan Lian Garden, Victoria Harbour Lightshow. 

Day 2 – Ngong Ping, Tian Tann Buddha, Tai O. 

Day 3 – Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island, Escalator, Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, Victoria Peak & Tram. 

Hope you’ve enjoyed this blog. If you’ve been to Hong Kong, leave me a comment below, I’d love to hear what you thought of the city and what you got up to! 

lots of love, 

Han x