| P Mary dawson |
09 December 2002 |
Stayed at YMCA - The Salisbury - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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Time was limited, so we had a bus trip round the Island and a boat trip round the harbour, which gave us the flavour of old Hong Kong. We had the most magnificent buffet dinner in your 4th floor restaurant, reasonably priced, and a quick but excellent breakfast in the Coffee Bar downstairs. Neither could be bettered outside the hotel, I am sure.
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| D Simpson |
07 December 2002 |
Stayed at YMCA - The Salisbury - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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This was our second visit to Hong Kong and our first to Kowloon. We stayed 3 days on the Kowloon side before moving over to Hong Kong Island to join the rest of our group for a further 8 nights.
Walking is an ideal way to get around both on the Island and in Kowloon. We picked up a pamphlet from our hotel on walking tours and spent days exploring both the back and main streets and enjoying all the resulting cultural experiences. The MRT is very easy to use and city street maps are readily available and should be carried at all times - especially for when you pop up out of a station and have completely lost your bearings!
Use the Star Ferry. It's easy and the best value scenic trip there at HK$2.20 and do one of your trips at night time to see the lights on either side of the Harbour. Hong Kong harbour at night, especially if the Chrismas decorations are up, or a cruise liner coming or going, must nearly be one of the 7 wonders of the world.
We visited in early December and the weather was surprisingly cool - believe the guide books! 13-19 degrees during day with some 25 degree days thrown in for confusion.
You probably need to visit the many and varied markets: Stanley Market for the clothes and the bus ride there; The Night Market for hand bags, phones, watches; Ladies Market seemed to be the place for more handbags and the padded bra; The Bird Market, if only to be introduced to the 'live' bird food; the Flower Market, definitely the most pleasant smell we came across; the Jade Market - only a little knowledge would be a dangerous thing!
A trip up the Peak tram was a memorable experience - talk about life hanging on a thread. Enjoy the magnificent view on a clear day but leave your shopping money in your pocket as retail prices are high.
We did excellent tours to Macau and China on our previous visit so concentrated this time on the local experiences and were not disappointed. We were lucky enough to be granted temporary membership of the Hong Kong Football Club and full use of its facilities for our stay. A wonderful complex with free views of race night at the adjacent Happy Valley, thrown in.
Eating places are many and varied and it's good to try a variety. English translations are not always humourous misprints - 'stir fry seasonal vegetable' was indeed one vegetable and not a mixed stir fry as one wife found out when her meal of bok choy arrived. Smoking is still allowed in restaurants so some establishments lost our group's custom as a quick measure of the 'fog' levels quickly had us going somewhere else.
Hong Kong is a great place to visit. Our previous visit of 2 weeks had been 6 months prior to the handover to the Chinese. This time we noticed many more Chinese people and far fewer Europeans. Most seem to understand a few basic words of English and being a tourist there is no problem. Enjoy it!
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| E Wickli |
02 December 2002 |
Stayed at Bishop Lei International - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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I lived in Hong Kong for 20 years. Best tip to see Hong Kong: Jump on a tram and trundle around all day getting on and off where you want. Take a ferry to the outlying islands and watch the sunset from the Kowloon side Tsim Tsa Tsui walkway to right of the Star Ferry.
Go to the Felix in the Peninsula for the view. Take the Peak tram and the Nr. 15 bus down from the peak. Walk around Wanchais back streets and find the markets...
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| D Daly |
25 November 2002 |
Stayed at Wesley, The - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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Ferry ride (US$1.50) of 30 minutes to Lamma Island for relaxed seafood meal and quiet walk in the country. No cars. Central escalator (must be seen) to Peak Tram for visit to peak for view and large variety of food and drink by day and night. Go up to Peak in afternoon and see HK lighting up with window seat in Restaurant.
MTR easy to use and cheap. Airport Express brilliant and only US$25 return. Use taxis for short journeys everywhere. Flag fall US$2 and very cheap. People friendly and most shops speak English. Very helpful as all really want to do business. Excellent place overall. Very safe by day and night.
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| T Johnson |
18 November 2002 |
Stayed at Excelsior, The - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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Very convenient for the subway and surface transportation. If you like Thai food, Chili Cafe in Won Shai was good. Riding the double decker trolley really gave one a feel of HK. #6 bus to Stanley Market, upper level, front seat is a real thrill.
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| F Mrack |
11 November 2002 |
Stayed at YMCA - The Salisbury - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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We used the Octopus pass, which included the Airport Express, MTR, buses, Star Ferry and Victoria Peak tram. Great value! We also visited several markets and found the Stanley Market to be the best. We did the harbour tour at Aberdeen and found it quite interesting seeing the house boats. Walking down Nathan Road at night was quite an experience, all the people and all the lights. We found the people friendly, helpful and courteous. Twice while we were consulting our map we had people come up to us and asked if we needed any help.
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| E Kuzin |
11 November 2002 |
Stayed at Guangdong Hong Kong - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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Hotel was right in the middle of everything, which I really appreciated. Booked tours and airport transfers with ease at hotel.
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| D Clark |
11 November 2002 |
Stayed at Regal Hongkong Hotel - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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I visited a friend of mine in Hong Kong who showed me around in a whirlwind tour. I was impressed by the convenience of the subway system (especially the connection to the airport), and enjoyed taking the tram ride to the top of the city, visits to a couple of temples, and a ferry ride to an outer island. HK is a busy city with a lot to see, but I did not get from it much sense of a history - in a sense, it is irrelevant - so it may be disorienting to those who expect this as part of the package. Has a fun bar section, and for a tourist the city is easy to navigate.
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| D Van munster |
09 November 2002 |
Stayed at YMCA - The Salisbury - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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I have been to Hong Kong four times and the one thing that I do every time I go is walk down to the harbour (on the Kowloon side) at night and just sit and look at the skyline lit up.
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| G Gould |
08 November 2002 |
Stayed at Bishop Lei International - Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
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There was very much to see and explore just steps outside your hotel door. We walked from the BLI hotel to the Peak tram, past the old Governor General residence, through a large park and zoo and around the financial district.
On your 1st morning ride the escalators down to the harbour and you will get some good ideas for eating and shopping, ride the starline across the harbour and explore the waterfront and Nathan street. On your way back to the hotel the escalators are reversed so you can ride back up to your hotel in comfort. There's a nice pizza place just outside the door of the hotel if you're too tired to go out for dinner when you get back.
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Traveller's Tales: Things to do in Hong Kong
