Romantic Hong Kong and Macau: 5 slow days for two
Hong Kong is not an obvious romantic destination and that is exactly why this route works. What it has instead of beaches is a harbour that is genuinely one of the great sights of the world, a food culture that rewards two people ordering carefully, and an hour-long ferry to a Portuguese colonial to
- Duration
- 5 days
- Pace
- Slow
- Hotel changes
- 2
- Best months
- Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb
- From
- $2,250 per person
Five days, three of them in Hong Kong and two in Macau. Two hotel changes. One private boat at sunset. Nothing before nine in the morning, and no day with more than one fixed thing in it.
Who it suits: honeymoons, anniversaries, and a short trip for two that would rather be excellent than long.
Your specialist: Asaf Zamshtein, who runs our China desk, with our Hong Kong partner team on the ground.
A note on who is on the ground. Our own offices are in Japan, Vietnam, India and the Philippines. Hong Kong is not one of them. We run this route through a Hong Kong partner team we have worked with for years, and we would rather name them than imply an office we do not have.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive, a harbour room. Private transfer. Two nights in a room facing the water, which on this itinerary is the upgrade worth paying for and the only one we insist on. Everything else here is optional.
Late afternoon, the Star Ferry as the light goes, then dinner somewhere unambitious near the hotel. First evenings are for adjusting, not performing.
Day 2: The island, slowly, and the Peak at dusk. A late start. A private guided walk through Sheung Wan in the late morning: the herbal medicine and dried seafood streets, Man Mo Temple with its incense coils, the antique shops on Hollywood Road, and Tai Kwun, the restored former police compound that is now the best gallery and courtyard space in the city.
Lunch, then the afternoon free. Tea at a hotel that still does it properly, or nothing at all.
Late afternoon to the Peak, timed so you arrive with an hour of light. The Lugard Road loop first, which is flat, quiet and free and has the view the postcards use, then a table for the switch-on. If the hill is in cloud, our team says so in the morning and we move it to day 3.
Day 3: A private junk, and dinner. The afternoon everyone remembers. A private boat, traditional junk or motor yacht depending on your preference and the season, out through the eastern harbour and around the islands for four hours, with swimming stops from May to October and a bottle of something cold at sunset in the harbour.
Evening, one restaurant worth planning the day around. Tell us early what you want it to be: a Cantonese room where the seafood is the point, a tasting menu with a harbour window, or a nine-seat counter in Sheung Wan. The good ones book two to three weeks out and we hold them.
Day 4: Ferry to Macau. An hour across the estuary by high-speed ferry, or about forty minutes by bus over the sea bridge. Macau is a separate jurisdiction with its own immigration, so this is a border crossing, and for most Western passports it is visa-free. We confirm the current rule for your passport and your dates in writing before you book.
Two nights, and the change is total. Portuguese cobbles, pastel churches, baroque facades and Chinese temples on the same street, and a food culture that is genuinely its own thing rather than either Chinese or Portuguese. Afternoon walking the old town: Senado Square, the ruins of St Paul’s, the Mount Fortress and the lanes behind them, which are where Macau is actually pleasant.
Dinner: Macanese, which means African chicken, minchi, and clams cooked with coriander and garlic.
Day 5: Taipa, and back. Morning in Taipa Village, ten minutes from the modern district and a hundred years from it: two-storey pastel houses, small restaurants, and the best egg tarts on either side of the water.
Afternoon ferry back to Hong Kong and on to the airport, or one more night in the city if your flight is late. We will tell you which your timings actually allow.
What is included
Accommodation with breakfast in three properties, all with the room category we recommend rather than the cheapest available, private transfers throughout, ferry crossings to and from Macau in premier class, a private half day guide in Sheung Wan, a four hour private boat charter with drinks, restaurant reservations at the tables that take them, a guided morning in the Macau old town, a day-by-day document written around the light, and a WhatsApp group with your consultant and our Hong Kong partner team.
Upgrades worth considering
A helicopter transfer between Hong Kong and Macau, about fifteen minutes, which replaces the ferry and is the single most extravagant thing on offer here. A private car and driver for the full five days rather than taxis. A spa afternoon on the Macau side, where the hotel spas are larger and cheaper than their Hong Kong equivalents. Dinner at one of the two or three genuinely serious tables in Macau, which are quieter and easier to book than their Hong Kong counterparts.
Honest notes
Hong Kong hotel rooms are small for the price and a harbour view costs real money. We would rather put you in a smaller room with the view than a larger one facing a light well, and we will show you both rates so the choice is yours.
The Peak and the junk both depend on weather. In March and April the hill sits in cloud for days at a time and the harbour goes grey. We build both as movable days and we tell you the morning of, not the evening before.
Macau’s casino district is enormous, bright and not remotely romantic. We stay on the peninsula or in Taipa Village, and the towers stay on the horizon where they belong.
The ferry crossing is a border crossing in both directions, with queues at peak hours. We book the sailings that avoid them.
Built by Asaf Zamshtein, who runs our China desk, and checked with our Hong Kong partner team before it goes out.
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