Visitors can expand their vacations to Hong Kong Island with Hong Kong Tourism Board tours. Trips include cruises, hiking, culture, food and short day trips from Hong Kong Airport.
Hong Kong Islands
Living Culture Tours to the Outlying Islands visit some of the 260 islands near Hong Kong. Ferries from Hong Kong Island take about one hour.
On half- and full-day tours, participants visit villages and learn about the culture and lifestyle of their residents.
Lantau
Lantau in the biggest island near Hong Kong. On full-day Lantau Island tours, travelers visit Cheung Sha beach, Tai O, a fishing village with houses built on stilts and the Giant Buddha statue and Po Lin Monastery on Ngong Ping plateau.
The trip includes a guided tour of Po Lin Monastery and the Giant Buddha Exhibition Hall, the Wisdom Path, a vegetarian lunch and a 25-minute Ngong Ping Cable Car ride for views of mountains and the South China Sea.
The Lantau Island hike is a strenuous full-day walk through forests and ravines to the Giant Buddha, Po Lin Monastery and other Lantau attractions.
Cheung Chau
Cheung Chau Island Tour begins with a ferry ride from Hong Kong Island. Trip participants visit the 100-year-old Pak Tai Temple, ride a sampan around the typhoon shelter and visit Cheung Po Tsai Cave, where a pirate once hid. Legend claims that he buried treasure near here.
At the end of the six-hour tour, participants have a dim sum lunch and ride the ferry back to downtown Hong Kong.
Lamma Island
A three-hour Lamma Island Hopping Cruise brings visitors by boat from Stanley's Blake Pier to the Lamma Fisherfolk's Village to learn about the culture and lifestyle of Lamma fishermen, followed by a seafood lunch.
On the 7.5-hour Lamma Island Hike, hikers follow coastal paths through the forests of this traffic-free island. Lamma sightseeing highlights include Tin Hau Temple, the WWII Kamikase Tunnels, Lo So Shing Beach and Yung Shue Wan village.
Lamma hikers enjoy a seafood lunch at an open-air restaurant in Kok Kwu Wan, while overlooking fish farms in the bay.
Cruises
The Tung Lung Chau Cruise lasts about six hours. Passengers enjoy views of Hong Kong and islands, then disembark to visit the 300-year-old Tung Lung Fort. Tin Hau Temple, at Joss House Bay, is the oldest and most revered Tin Hau temple in the territory. Fishermen and sailors still visit Tin Hau temple to pray for safety at sea.
The cruise also stops in Lei Yue Mun, a small fishing village at the mouth of the channel into Victoria Harbour, for lunch at a seafood restaurant.
With its lush hills and mountains edging the ocean and beaches, Sai Kung is called the back garden of Hong Kong. The Sai Kung Coastal Treasures Discovery Tour brings visitors on a cruise to the UNESCO Heritage Hung Shing Temple, Hebe Haven, Port Shelter and Rocky Harbour, where they can walk along the waterfront promenade. Sai Kung Market Town is known for its seafood restaurants, fishing boats and sampans.
New Territories
The Northeast New Territories Islands Hopping Tour begins by boat from Sha Tin. Cruise passengers travel through the Tolo Channel and along the biggest fault line in Hong Kong, which has different rock formations on each side of the channel.
Yan Chau Tong Marine Park offers views of green hills, uninhabited small islands, calm bays and rock cliffs. At Crooked Island (Kat O) and Grass Island (Tap Mun) passengers get off the boat to learn about the culture and eat lunch in a village restaurant.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Airport offers two tours. Passengers can leave their luggage in the airport storage and board the free bus for Disneyland, located just 25 minutes from the airport. Hong Kong Disneyland features rides, attractions, restaurants and shopping. The bus returns to Hong Kong Airport every hour.
Hong Kong Airport also offers in-transit airline passengers the Transit Explorer - Lantau Island Highlights tour. Beginning at Tung Chung, next to the airport, passengers board the Ngong Ping Cable Car for the 25-minute trip up to the Ngong Ping plateau.
During the 5.7-kilometre journey, riders have 360° views of Hong Kong Airport, South China Sea, Lantau Country Park and the Giant Buddha, the tallest outdoor seated bronze statue in the world. The tour includes trips to Ngong Ping Village, the Giant Buddha, Po Lin Monastery and the Wisdom Path.
