What To Do in Hong Kong in 24 Hours
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Today Agness of eTramping presents her tips on how to spend 24 hours in Hong Kong. All photos within this post are courtesy of Agness and Cez of eTramping.
Hong Kong – the city of action, filled with stunning skyscrapers, relaxing beaches, neon lights, posh dim sum restaurants and shopping malls. Is it possible to explore it all in just 24 hours? Sure it is! You just need to know where you should start and what places are worth seeing. Believe me or not, but this quick visit will cost you much less than you think, so here we go!
Hong Kong in 24 hours itinerary
#1 Breakfast at a street vendor at Chungking Mansions.
One of the best located and affordable places to stay overnight in Hong Kong is the area of Chungking Mansions. This huge building consists of cheap hostels and hotels and the prices for a single room start from HK$100.
This area is also filled with food vendors from where you can get a nice breakfast in the morning. Grab two youtiao (deep-fried breadsticks) and a cup of soy milk on the go or enjoy a nice plate of Chinese noodle soup with mince, carrot and chives – so yummy!
#2 Go for a walk around Tsim Sha Tsui Harbour
After your breakfast, one of the most relaxing things to do in Hong Kong on the cheap is visiting Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade. Grab a map of the city and go for a nice walk along the promenade admiring the stunning skyline and impressive skyscrapers. If you’re travelling with your partner, heading there at night would be a nice idea for a romantic walk.
#3 Head up to the Peak
The Peak is one of the most interesting things to do in Hong Kong for those who fancy active sightseeing. If you are a big fan of hiking, you should pack some fruits, a bottle of water and head up to the peak! You will certainly be blown away by the immense views so don’t forget to take your camera to capture this moment! There is also a tramp up to the top so you can get it within 30-40 minutes (if you don’t like walking). On the peak-tram, it’s HK$80 return, but if you walk up and down – it’s totally free.
#4 Eat Dim Sum
After heading up to the peak, it’s time for well-deserved lunch on the cheap in Hong Kong. Where should you go? I recommend two places. One is called Tsui Wah, and this is a local chain of well-priced restaurants offering a great variety of delicious meals, for example, fried noodles with egg and veggies or Western-style burgers. They have Wi-Fi there so you can surf the Internet when digging into your plate of goodies. If you like dim sum dishes, you can’t miss Dim Sum Square restaurant located at 88 Jervois St, Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island. Although it’s extremely small, they have the best dim sum meals in Hong Kong. You can choose grilled pork, seafood or plain veggie dim sum. Each dish costs around HK$2 so you can order plenty of them and try a little of everything.
#5 Browse Temple Street Market
If you feel like doing some shopping, head to Temple Street Market. You can find there everything you can think of – from electronics to clothes and cosmetics at affordable prices.
#6 Quick visit to Hong Kong Space Museum
It’s a typical museum of astronomy and space science located in Tsim Sha Tsui. Admission to Exhibition Halls costs around HK$10, so it’s worth visiting and spending there at least 1 hour.
#7 Finish off your day with a walk across the Flower Market
After the exhausting day full of sightseeing, you deserve to relax. Flower Market is one of the best places to chill out. It’s filled with flowers and small restaurants where you can have a nice dinner and breath some fresh air. It’s a quiet area where not many tourists go so you can definitely get some rest there!
About the Authors
Meet the eTramping crew – Agness and Cez – best friends and travel companions from Poland. These two are sharing their budget travel tips on how to travel the world with $25 in your pocket. Since 2011, they have been travelling the world while teaching English in different Asian countries such as China, Thailand or Cambodia. They are both photography passionate obsessed with Chinese cuisine and culture.
Things To Know
Note from Alouise: While in Hong Kong I stayed at the Pearl Premium Guesthouse. This is a great option for budget travellers to Hong Kong, and is only a two-minute walk from Kowloon Park and the MTR (subway). If you can stretch your budget, there are plenty of moderate and high-end luxury hotels in Hong Kong you can book here.
Have you been to Hong Kong?
I visit Hong Kong very often, nearly twice a month and I keep discovering new restaurants, farmer’s markets and temples. It seems like I’ll never get enough of this glamorous city!
This is a super itinerary! I was also only in Hong Kong for a short time and am actually pretty sad I missed out on the Chungking Mansions – because of the reference in Chungking Express, one of my all time favourite films – and that big old buddha! Now I’ll have to go back…
Charlie I haven’t been to Hong Kong, but I can say that sometimes a second (or even a third visit) somewhere can be just as good as the first. Hope you’ll be able to go back to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong seems like a big city. I’m sure you could return again and again and find something new to discover.
Great itinerary, and the food sounds yummy! Hong Kong looks like a huge city where you could probably go back over and over with something new!
Yes, Agness’s post is really making me consider Hong Kong for my next trip. It looks like an exciting city. Thanks for the comment Vanessa.
So many beautiful places to see… Thanks for the great 24h guide…
This is a pretty cool list! I have also never been to Hong Kong…this tempts me 🙂
Hong Kong looks like a great city to visit. Thanks for the comment.
i have not been to hong kong but reading ur blog makes me feel likes going there
Yes. There’s certainly a lot to do in Hong Kong in a day.
I just went to Hong Kong last month, and it’s become one of my favourite cities. Definitely recommend visiting if you get a chance.
Thanks for this lovely post! My husband and I are going to visit HK soon, we’re traveling with our 7yr old daughter. Our arrival time is at 9:30pm.Is it possible not to go directly to our hotel and roam around with our daughter? We are planning to check in the hotel in the morning. I need your opinion with this travellers 🙂 thanks!
I wouldn’t really be able to say specifically as I don’t know where you’re staying. If I were you I’d probably check in at night, and get some sleep (to try to get on local time). If you’re looking to go around at night there could be night markets and restaurants open, depending on where you’re staying. You might want to go to the hotel in the evening and see if they can store your bags for the night, and see if they have any recommendations on things to do. Attractions, museums and that sort of thing will probably be closed.